Garth, You pegged it for me—a 12 or 13 cm stem would have worked if they made it, or sticking with a less pulled back bar like the Albatross. Love the Billies more to hold all my handlebars “stuff.” I wanted to start with what I had purchased for the bike before starting to buy other fixes.
Btw, because of my neck issues, all my stems are near max level. Viola—no more neck pain! I’m so happy I don’t cry anymore when riding. I’m glad I found Rivendell. I look forward to seeing your custom. Roberta On Sunday, November 21, 2021 at 8:29:57 AM UTC-5 Garth wrote: > Does anyone even know what the seat tube angle is on the Platypus ? > Likely not as the frame geometry was never included in the table. It's > either 72 or 71.5. All 'n all in my opinion Grant/Will could do a better > job of educating buyers on fitting their bikes rather than saying "just > trust us". That rather irks me actually as it's the same-ol-same-ol bike > shop mentality that's been around since I can remember. "We know better > than the customer." No, they don't, as if they did they'd take the time to > share in the process of fitting the bike to the customers sensibilities, > not the bike shops as their take is inherently of their own self interests. > Buying a bike virtually makes it challenging for everyone of course. I take > it upon myself to check a frame before I buy it to see what all specs are, > if the seat angle is 72 or less, if it has enough f-c, stack and reach and > all that jazz. Learn what it all means and how that will translate to > actually fitting into the frame. Besides the Bombadil, the only other frame > I considered suitable from them was a Susie, which I bought but as of yet I > don't feel any enthusiasm to build. > > With a Platypus and a swept back bar I suspect Leah and Roberta could use > a longer stem, assuming the saddle is now in the "sweet spot" of what feels > right and what feels right is intuitive, a centering balance of being "in > the bike" and being able to pedal efficiently. No one can tell you what > that point is .... it's like an *ah-hah ! * moment when you understand > something within. It's the Intelligence that is "you", it's irrevocable. > Once you feel that sweet spot then the reach to the bar is likewise > intuitive. Feeling cramped in a frame really is a joy sucker isn't it ? ! > It's like wearing pants or a jacket that are too tight in some way that > you feel restricted, and nobody likes that feeling. I like stretched out > relax-forward too, I'm not riding a galloping horse straight upright with > the reigns on my thighs, you know ? That's why I ride a bike, whose wheels > are fixed and not galloping, unlike a horse ! Speaking of which I passed > by a pair on the road yesterday, a "country" road of course. Around here > you'll see that, and yes, the horses had riders. I know what you were > thinking , riderless horses running wild on the road ! They kept up with > me for awhile, I could hear their clickety-click behind me and I glanced > back and saw these two gaints galloping in tow, oh how majestic ! > > About the stems, I get the attachment to the Nitto negative rise road > stems but if you used a threadless adapter and a threadless stem that has a > positive rise, or even the Nitto Hi-Riser quill, you don't need nearly as > long of a quill. Frankly though, if you're having to use such a tall stem > in the first place the stack height of the frame is too low to start with. > Consider a custom frame, if not from Riv then from someone else. I'm having > a road frame built here in Ohio and he, Jack can build all sorts of frames > including mixtes. With 27.2 posts too ! > > In regards to seatposts, in 26.8 setback posts are few to start with so > yeah finding one with more than 23-25mm of setback seems limited to the > IRD. Thomson's seatposts I call "lame-back" because it's a measly 15mm of > setback. Does that even count ? If you're gonna set it back you may well > make in back enough to notice. They had a prototype 25mm setback post a > couple years ago that never made it to market. Again though, with these > short railed leather saddles the seat tube angles should be more like 71 > degrees which usually puts them in the custom frame category as few offer > that as stock. Jones does but that's not the kind of bike we're speaking of > here ! With a 71 sta though that opens the door to less/zero setback posts > and/or placing a saddle in the middle of the rails rather than jammed to > the front of the rails. I ride luxurious "Royalgel" Selle Royal Lookin > saddles that have thankfully long rails and those are just long enough I > can use them with a 72 degree sta and a Salsa Shaft seatpost on the > Bombadil. I'm someone who finds leather saddles simply tortuous on the > ishiums, those inner parts of sitting bones. Ouch just thinking about it ! > > > > > On Sunday, November 21, 2021 at 1:48:03 AM UTC-5 Ray Varella wrote: > >> Leah et al; >> You pointed out exactly why the first thing I look at with bike fit is if >> I can achieve the desired setback for my preferred position. >> Everyone will differ and everyone will have their ideal range but once >> you know your comfort zone you can get a better idea where your frame will >> fit regarding your preferred riding position. >> For myself, I tend to avoid frames with seat tubes of 74 degrees and >> steeper because I can’t slide a Brooks saddle far enough back to achieve a >> comfortable riding position. Someone riding an identical sized bike might >> be fine due to either saddle choice, femur length, bar height or riding >> position. >> Bicycle manufacturers aim for the meaty part of the curve but it’s up to >> us to dial in our preferred fit. >> Kudos to you for recognizing this and hopefully others will optimize >> their fit for their riding style. >> >> Ray >> >> On Saturday, November 20, 2021 at 7:50:50 PM UTC-8 Lucky wrote: >> >>> —-The only hangup with the Thompson being, you can only get it into the >>> frame up to the bend in the post >>> >>> On Nov 20, 2021, at 18:13, Patrick Moore <bert...@gmail.com> wrote: >>> >>> >>> >>> You are *absolutely right* to change saddle setback for comfort and >>> balance (and torque too) instead of the stem length; saddle position, >>> including setback, is the anchor of bike fit, all else is adjusted in >>> reference to the saddle. I found this out the very hard way (see below). >>> >>> I don't think that the Wayback looks bad, but perhaps the Thompson >>> Layback in silver might look slightly more elegant? I used a Thompson long >>> ago to get a Brooks Flyer far back enough on a 73* seat tube on a mountain >>> bike and it worked well despite the rails way-too-short for a 73* seat tube. >>> >>> >>> >>> -------------- *** ------------- >>> Years ago when I still believed in "KOPS" -- "knee over pedal spindle" >>> -- and liking then as I do now a lot of leg extension, I ended up with a >>> Ritchey mountain bike seatpost on a road bike with saddle all the way >>> forward on the rails (it would slip *forward* under my weight until I >>> slathered the cradle in blue Loctite), and this had me installing a 140 mm >>> (later 135 mm) Cinelli stem, with bar 6" below saddle. I was a young 39-40 >>> something, so quite flexible. >>> >>> The frame was actually quite nice -- upper end British Falcon, tout 531C >>> -- with longish stays and very, very short front-center. You can imagine >>> what the bike felt like on fast downhill sweepers, especially with gusty >>> sidewinds. My weight was biased so for forward that I'd skip the rear wheel >>> when standing to climb. >>> >>> Alas, I sold the bike before I learned (from Grant, in fact) how to >>> properly set up a bike: "Get your bar up and back and you saddle back and >>> down." I've not looked back. Thanks, Grant. >>> >>> That Falcon would probably have felt very comfortable with a wayback >>> saddle to give torque over the top-dead-center of the pedal stroke and >>> enable the core muscles to support the torso, reducing weight on shoulders, >>> arms, and hands. With the rearward weight and the short front end, I'll bet >>> that Falcon would not only have pedaled very nicely, but handled very >>> nicely too, perhaps with something of Grant's signature "stable yet quick >>> in turn-in" feel. >>> >>> >>> >>> On Sat, Nov 20, 2021 at 2:03 PM Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! < >>> jonasa...@gmail.com> wrote: >>> >>> <4F9D0A57-31F2-46D8-9FC5-2B4CD19A8377.jpeg> >>>> <01A4B13F-B79C-4AD6-87AA-865A60510C77.jpeg> >>>> >>> .... . I had not been getting along with my stock seat post (the nose of >>>> the saddle would tip up) and my Brooks (it was rubbing me the wrong way - >>>> ha).... a Nitto S83 post, which didn’t offer enough setback. I wanted to >>>> scoot back, but was at the end of the Rivet. I was holding my bars forward >>>> of the grips to compensate. I wanted to be more stretched out; I felt >>>> cramped. ... >>>> >>> Rivendell sells an IRD Wayback seat post. I’m sure I’m committing some >>>> ergonomic sin by adjusting seat post and not stem, but it WORKED. >>>> >>> -- >>> >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com. >>> >>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CALuTfgtoY5J0_VHHcLWwLv-xE5tGiQ6GfrkrLNzbo1VwDNGXsA%40mail.gmail.com >>> >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CALuTfgtoY5J0_VHHcLWwLv-xE5tGiQ6GfrkrLNzbo1VwDNGXsA%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> . >>> >>> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/24ee6e32-fa56-4f2d-b566-b771df4a509an%40googlegroups.com.
