Viewing 33 posts - 1 through 33 (of 33 total)
  • Road Bar suggestions please
  • palmer77
    Free Member

    Hello,

    I currently have a 90mm stem with 8 degree fall on a 53cm Cube Peloton with (I think) 40-42cm bars. I say I think as I have measured outside to outside, and am not convinced that this is the way these bars are measured. I also have a seatpost with around 10mm of setback and the stem is set fairly high.

    Riding with this setup is generally comfortable using the tops of the bars, but after a while my neck and shoulders feel stiff and I find myself shifting forward on the seat, particularly when attacking. I am going to lose some stem spacers and have just obtained a very nice Thomson which is 100mm with a 10 degree fall. And I plan to change the seatpost for an inline one.

    I am hoping that this will give more room for my shoulders, and pitch the weight forward. My question is regarding the bars. Given the current width, would I be advised to go for the same again, or wider? On my MTB I use a 720 bar with a 50mm stem and thought that the longer the stem the narrower the bars, is this different on road bikes? I am looking at these as options: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=92895

    Thanks in advance?

    fasthaggis
    Full Member

    set up

    Don’t change too much at once ,you can end up getting further away from a fit that will work.

    thomthumb
    Free Member

    i like to get the seat dialled in. then look at the bars.

    maybe get a bike fit. will save spending £100s on multiple bars & stems 😳

    nikxl
    Free Member

    A 9cm stem on a 53 is usually a bad sign a stem shorter than 10 is usually a sign of poor fit/bike size. Most average size people need a 40-42 bar I’m saying average because a 53 would suggest you are around 5’10?. If you find yourself shifting forward a lot and your neck and shoulders hurt why do you want to go lower?

    As an example I’m 5’10 I ride a 54 equivalent frame with a 12 cm stem with a 10mm spacer

    palmer77
    Free Member

    Thanks for the links :). It feels ok to ride, I am just finding that I am shifting forward a lot. Would 10mm on the stem make the difference? This is the current setup:

    [/url] Untitled by bushmills77, on Flickr[/img]

    [/url] Untitled by bushmills77, on Flickr[/img]

    palmer77
    Free Member

    A 9cm stem on a 53 is usually a bad sign a stem shorter than 10 is usually a sign of poor fit/bike size. Most average size people need a 40-42 bar I’m saying average because a 53 would suggest you are around 5’10?. If you find yourself shifting forward a lot and your neck and shoulders hurt why do you want to go lower?

    It’s what the bike came with. I am 5’6″ but it’s a Cube which I understand are smaller then other makes. The bike rides fine, but on a long ride, or when pushing hard it feels as though having the bars lower would help by shifting the weight forward and giving a bit more room?

    My understanding also is that 90mm stem is short for road bikes, although I am happy to be corrected 🙂

    nikxl
    Free Member

    That is just wrong on so many levels show us the whole bike

    palmer77
    Free Member

    Sadly it’s in the shed, and I am ill :(. It is the same as this but with more stem spacers.

    http://www.escapebikeshop.com/2012-cube-peloton-race.html

    whatnobeer
    Free Member

    The width of the bars should be relative to how wide your shoulders are, it doesn’t work the same way as a mountain bike. In theory the bars should be wide enough to just fit over your shoulders. Most folk will ride 42 bar, 40 if you’re slim, 44 if you’re a bit bigger. Small changes can make a big difference and it’s advisable to only do one change at a time to see what feels right. I’d echo the above advice about a bike fit, should tell you exactly what you need and means you wont be forever changing bars and stems.

    mudshark
    Free Member

    A 9cm stem on a 53 is usually a bad sign a stem shorter than 10 is usually a sign of poor fit/bike size.

    Hmmm I’d say that 90 to 110mm is normal so I think fine for a small/medium bike, a longer stem suggests the frame is on the small side for the rider IMO.

    Bars should be the same width (c-c) as the distance between the bones that stick up at the top of your shoulders.

    nikxl
    Free Member

    I’d buy nothing without taking that to a good bike shop and asking them to set you up on it.

    palmer77
    Free Member

    Here it is:

    [/url] Untitled by bushmills77, on Flickr[/img]

    TurnerGuy
    Free Member

    that’s a lot of stem spacers…

    palmer77
    Free Member

    That’s what I thought, hence the rationale to lose some.

    palmer77
    Free Member

    The width of the bars should be relative to how wide your shoulders are, it doesn’t work the same way as a mountain bike. In theory the bars should be wide enough to just fit over your shoulders. Most folk will ride 42 bar, 40 if you’re slim, 44 if you’re a bit bigger. Small changes can make a big difference and it’s advisable to only do one change at a time to see what feels right. I’d echo the above advice about a bike fit, should tell you exactly what you need and means you wont be forever changing bars and stems.

    Thanks for this, it makes sense regarding the bar width. I have been riding this since last September and slowly tweaking the setup. It currently ‘feels’ like I could shift the riding position forward, and my thoughts were to do so by changing to an inline seatpost,getting a longer stem and by reducing the stem height.

    TiRed
    Full Member

    Set the saddle height first, then fore and aft to ensure correct placement of feet (google Knee over pedal). Only then adjust stem length and height to suit. 90mm is a little short. I ride a 56.5cm top tube Kona with a 90mm. I also ride a 55.5 top tube TCR with a 120mm stem.

    The common mistake is to move the saddle to accomodate a poorly fitting frame. When set properly the weight is taken by the core muscles and the weight on the bars is relaxed.

    I suspect that your bars are a little too high, that’s causing you to hunch up and the pain in the neck. Taking out a couple of spacers to drop the bars a centimetre will help. This has the effect of moving the bars away slightly. Wider bars, other things being equal, require a shorter stem, but I suspect this isn’t the most likely reason.

    HoratioHufnagel
    Free Member

    Theres not much layback on that post as it is, and if you’re finding yourself moving forward on the saddle it sounds like you need a shorter stem than longer ?

    Maybe the bike is just too big?

    palmer77
    Free Member

    I suspect that your bars are a little too high, that’s causing you to hunch up and the pain in the neck. Taking out a couple of spacers to drop the bars a centimetre will help. This has the effect of moving the bars away slightly. Wider bars, other things being equal, require a shorter stem, but I suspect this isn’t the most likely reason.

    I think ‘hunched’ is it, I will try this.

    Theres not much layback on that post as it is, and if you’re finding yourself moving forward on the saddle it sounds like you need a shorter stem than longer ?

    Maybe the bike is just too big?

    I think the bike size is fine, the frame is actually smaller than it looks in the picture. And I’ve done a good 1500+ on it with no other issues.

    Regarding the seatpost; the plan was to reduce the layback rather than increase it, and to do so relative (10mm) to increasing the stem length, plus dropping the stem height. I think this will help the hunched shoulders.

    mudshark
    Free Member

    Pic of rider on bike would be useful.

    TiRed
    Full Member

    Agreed. Check the saddle is in the correct position relative to the pedals. I don’t think you need more lay back, nor do I think that the frame is the wrong size.

    Looking at the geometry suggests a 74 degree seat angle. A 1 degree difference in this angle equates to about a centimeter on the saddle rails (I was surprised at this), hence the difference in my frames. Your bike has a steep seat angle, so some more setback would not be unusual, but your saddle has plenty of room for play.

    Set this first, then remove a spacer. Only then, try a longer stem, but measure the full reach to the bars first.

    MulletusMaximus
    Free Member

    A 9cm stem on a 53 is usually a bad sign a stem shorter than 10 is usually a sign of poor fit/bike size.

    Really, So what about people with short arms and torso and longer legs?

    I’m 5’9″ ride a 54mc with a 90mm 6° rise plus I’ve had a Retul bike fit.

    whatnobeer
    Free Member

    Bike Stem Length Calculator

    Have a play with that too. It lets you compare stem lengths, angles and spacers to see what kind of difference in reach it will make. Might be helpful 🙂

    TurnerGuy
    Free Member

    Actually when viewing the whole bike the spacers don’t look too bad – it looks setup for comfort – you could try dropping one at a time.

    For adjusting the saddle I have found it illuminating to unclip one foot and move it out of the way, and then try to keep pedalling/spinning with just one leg.

    You won’t be able to do this smoothly if the saddle is too high or too low. Your hips must not rock when doing this.

    You can also feel the effect of moving the saddle backwards and forwards – if you move it too far back it will reduce the leverage you can get with that one leg. You can also feel the effect of moving your cleats around.

    But basically set the saddle height and position so the front of your knee is over the pedal axle, then mess around with the single leg thing for tweaking. I bought a cheap plumb bob from amazon.

    Then look to adjust the stem and/or the bar reach so your arms are nicely relaxed and at the right angle to your body. Look at soem fit videos on youtube.

    There are mobile people that will do a bike fit for you, e.g:

    Expert bike fitting from Sound Coaching

    palmer77
    Free Member

    I am the one on the right with said bike, not a helpful profile I’m afraid.

    [/url] Untitled by bushmills77, on Flickr[/img]

    Another with my 49cm Kona

    [/url] Untitled by bushmills77, on Flickr[/img]

    palmer77
    Free Member

    whatnobeer – Member
    Bike Stem Length Calculator

    Have a play with that too. It lets you compare stem lengths, angles and spacers to see what kind of difference in reach it will make. Might be helpful

    Really helpful, thank you. How do you work out reach? I can’t find the 2012 spec, but the 2013 seems the same geometry: http://www.cube.eu/en/road/road-race/peloton-race/

    MulletusMaximus
    Free Member

    Reach is the horzontal dimension from the centre of the BB to the centre of the steerer tube where it intersects to top tube.

    whatnobeer
    Free Member

    How do you work out reach?

    Mulletus Maximus is correct about ‘reach’. But I should of said stem reach. The diagram should show you.

    palmer77
    Free Member

    Cool, really helpful thanks! Methinks some fettling is in order 🙂

    crashtestmonkey
    Free Member

    90mm stem too short? Piffle. Different bikes have different length top tubes, people have different relative dimensions. My 54cm orbea has the same effective TT length as my 52cm Lapierre (55cm). The Lap came with 90mm as standard.

    Agree that having saddle and bar at same height might cause more comfort problems than it was intended to fix.

    stanfree
    Free Member

    Interesting thread , I have a 54cm Defy 2 that whilst fits fine It sometimes feels when Im on the drops feels a bit stretched. Im 5’9″ with a 30″ leg and I’ve just stuck on an old 90mm Easton stem , I’ve only tried it round the block but 10mm seems to have made a difference.

    unovolo
    Free Member

    Normally if you sliding forward onto the nose of the saddle whilst general riding then it would suggest your having to reach to far.
    If your sliding forward whilst riding hard,aggressive accelerating then that is fairly normal as your using your quad muscles a lot more,look at tri bikes and riders there saddles normally have more padding on the nose as they spend a lot more time perched there.

    One thing that has not been mentioned is flexibility,as in your bodies.
    You may be sliding forward as your body is not flexible enough to bend down comfortably to reach the bars so sliding forward to compensate.

    Personally I think a proper bike fit would be best as you may just be wasting money otherwise.

    edhornby
    Full Member

    you need a bike fit, someone who knows what they are talking about actually looking at you on the bike

    sore neck and shoulders

    ok, this may sound odd but what is your core strength like? If you are propping yourself up with your arms then this can cause stiff shoulder/neck, the tradional advice is use your core muscles to stabilise you on the bike and your hands should rest on the bars not really gripping, elbows bent

    palmer77
    Free Member

    I think my core strength is ok. However I do think I have too much weight on my arms, caused I think by having the seat too far back.

Viewing 33 posts - 1 through 33 (of 33 total)

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