Ah, bike fit. This is a topic close to my heart. I've been struggling with bike fit for a number of years now, but have recently discovered somethings that have really improved my comfort.
First off, in addition to reading Rivendell recommendations, I'd also start by reading Keith Bontrager's article "The Myth of KOPS," that is hosted on Sheldon's site: http://sheldonbrown.com/kops.html In addition to critiquing the old "Knee Over Pedal Spindle" philosophy, he lays out his kind of general philosophy of bike fitting. It doesn't exactly line up with the goals of, say, a Rivendell fit--Bontrager is concerned with sprinting power, for example--but his insights, esp. with regards to how saddle setback affects your center of gravity and weight distribution between your hands and seat, were particularly informative for me. Basically, in my mind, there are two key elements to fit, which often get conflated. First is overall front-rear balance and weight distribution, which is mainly determined by saddle position. Second, there is reach and stretching comfort, which is determined by the distance between saddle and bars. This isn't to say that the two aren't related--the more stretched out you are, the farther forward you are pulling your CoG. But I think sometimes we think that simply raising you bars and bringing them closer will take weight off your hands without ever thinking about where the saddle is; if you saddle is too far forward, you will be weighting your hands even with the bars above saddle height. On the other hand, it is possible to have a very "stretched out" position and still ride with little weight on your hands, providing you have enough setback to counterbalance your forward reach, and have the flexibility to ride in such a position. So, first, I would think about how you're balanced with on the bike WRT to saddle setback. Are you compensating for poor balance by tensing your back muscles? I've recently discovered that anatomically, i need much more setback than "normal" seat tube angles and seatposts can provide. Then, once having set seat position correctly for balance, if you still feel stretched out, i would incrementally reduce reach (either by raising the bars or shortening the stem) reduce reach until you are comfortable. On Monday, April 2, 2012 5:05:14 PM UTC-7, Bruce Curry wrote: > > Tis the season to be putting on more miles and I am experiencing more > pronounced lower back pain. For some reason climbing makes it even > worse. I feel like my bars are too far forward for me but don't wan't > to launch on a stem buying spree without some scientific study and > addl input from group members. The facts: > > 64cm Ram with the bars about 3cm over saddle height, 60cm cockpit w/a > 12cm stem and a VO wayback seatpost w/a brooks B17. I am tall with > long torso & short arms. When I look at my front hub thru my bars the > hub is about an inch ahead of the line made by the bars (but since the > bars are up so high this point is essentially moot). What I think is > probably the most telling issue is that my knees remain about 7" away > from my bars (measured horizontally from each other from a purely > eyeballed vertical plane separating my knee from the bars). The > method I used to take this measurement was to spin backwards holding > onto the wall looking straight down at a tape measure to judge the > imaginary horizontal distance from the farthest forward progress of > the knee. > > Has anyone else faced this challenge? Solution? Does the "knee-bar > quotient" seem like a rational metric. Anyone else care to share > their number? > > Bruce in Seattle -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/l-EML_V37bEJ. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
