Bike position, lowering the front end

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Bike position, lowering the front end

16 posts & 10 voices | Started 2 years ago by rto | Latest reply from rto

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rto - Member

How much is a lot when lowering the front end? I've changed from Pace RC40s to RS Rebas on my hardtail and I'm having trouble with the front end getting a bit wandery on climbs. There are no spacers left to remove and moving the seat forward disagrees with my back.

I've got mid rise Easton bars on there, so compared to flat bars I could lose 30mm, which sounds like a lot. Flipping the stem would have the same effect, 31.2 mm according to my trig. Flat bars and a 25 degree stem is a halfway house, but shortens the bike, which is what my back objects to. The sensible compromise seems to be low rise bars which would be 10mm lower.

What are your experiences?

Posted 2 years ago #
nuke - Member

All just trial and error I'm afraid when finding the right ride position to most suit you. I suffer backache if the front isn't nice and low when cycling general XC. With headtubes seeming to get longer on bikes these days I've had to be careful when choosing frames. I use Salsa flat bars, no spacers and a low stack headset (Crank Bros).

Lots of bars these days are wide and low rise (Race Face Atlas I've also used) and you can always swap the spacers if it drops the height too low. I've found a 90mm stem at 6deg will result in about a 20mm difference if flipped which can be useful without having to shell out on low riser bars.

Problem is when things get a bit more 'gnarly', its better to have the front higher so I use adjustable forks to bring the front back up and the extra travel is obviously a bonus.

Posted 2 years ago #
rto - Member

I'm going to try the flat bars, then at least if I'm wrong I'll know what too low feels like.

Posted 2 years ago #
cynic-al - Member

Saddle forward is better - your back may get used to that?

Posted 2 years ago #
Edric 64 - Member

move the seat forward and get a longer stem .Your back will still like it and your weight will be more over the front?

Posted 2 years ago #
Teetosugars - Member

Flat bars are great fun...

IMHO.

Posted 2 years ago #
rto - Member

I've tried saddle forward, it's as far forward as I can get away with at the moment

I like the green TeeTwo.

A longer stem might make sense, on 90 mm at the moment.

Posted 2 years ago #
rto - Member

Thinking about it, the easton flat bars I was thinking of are wider than my current bars which will lengthen things.

Posted 2 years ago #
stuartanicholson - Member

Why dont you flip the stem first...its free and it'll give you a feeling of the position.

Posted 2 years ago #
rto - Member

CRC have a 6 degree easton stem for £12, so that in conjunction with trying it flipped sounds good.

Thanks

Posted 2 years ago #
glenp - Member

Think I would flip the stem to find out what it feels like, but 30mm is a lot. How much did the forks add? 10mm increments are obvious enough to feel, so low risers sounds a good bet once you know you are on the right track. Or a flatter stem. Can you add sag to the fork too?

Posted 2 years ago #
brooess - Member

Inline seatpost if you currently have layback?
Not that different to bringing the saddle forward tho'

Posted 2 years ago #
wwaswas - Member

do you still have the PAce's - easiest thing to do would be to measure the Axle to Crown between the two and then use that as the basis for adjustment?

It's likely to be 20mm (440mm on the Reba v 420 on the pace)?

you may find that the difference you're feelign is as much to do with the basic geometry changes the frame has had with the new forks as how you're sat on the bike, though.

Posted 2 years ago #
rto - Member

Just swapped from my nice layback post to my rubbish USE layback post, just because it has more layback

Posted 2 years ago #
BigJohn - Member

If your back hurts when you move your saddle forward and you've already got a long (90mm) stem, I wouldn't change anything. Are the sagged axle to crown lengths of those 2 forks hugely different?

Just work on your climbing technique - getting your rusty bullet perched on the nose of the saddle.

Posted 2 years ago #
rto - Member

Yeah, I've still got the Pace forks, haven't found a use for them yet. The annoying thing is that the bike used to climb like a goat, the rebas are much nicer going down. Just trying to fix the going up.

Saddle nose up my bum works great for short climbs, not so good for the longer ones.

I'll get a tape measure out.

Posted 2 years ago #

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