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Bike fit critique
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Hi all. Feel free to comment/abuse/shame/admire my DIY fitting job. Or my bike, my loungeroom, whatever floats your boat.

Me: 70kg, 185 cm, Saddle height 780 mm, 42 yo white suburban male


ISM Attack saddle
20mm offset reversed seatpost
110 x 35° stem (upside down)
PD Viper Wing Base bar
3T Clip On aero bars

I will probably only do shorter races (sprints mostly).




Sorry for the black-on-black (from both a fashion and visual perspective)
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Re: Bike fit critique [MattyK] [ In reply to ]
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mechanically sound. you could go more aggresive in many ways. You need your helmet on and show how well you can tuck your head. What are your goals?
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Re: Bike fit critique [MattyK] [ In reply to ]
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i like it, mattyk. you did a nice job. others might find something worth critiquing but i don't see anything really necessary of fixing. you look like clark kent and when you take off your glasses you become chris froome.

Dan Empfield
aka Slowman
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Re: Bike fit critique [MattyK] [ In reply to ]
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But you did not pay to get a "professional" bike fit. Shame on you. :)

Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep
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Re: Bike fit critique [Rider17] [ In reply to ]
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Rider17 wrote:
mechanically sound. you could go more aggresive in many ways. You need your helmet on and show how well you can tuck your head. What are your goals?
My main goal is to beat my work mates who have 10-15 years of youth on me :D and stay injury free (mostly from running).

There's a 10mm spacer under the stem, and a 20mm cone under that, so the front end could come down more. I might do that progressively...

Currently have a road helmet (Lazer Blade) so unless I find a bargain it's a bit of a brick, but at least it's rounded off on the tail a little.
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Re: Bike fit critique [Slowman] [ In reply to ]
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Slowman wrote:
i like it, mattyk. you did a nice job. others might find something worth critiquing but i don't see anything really necessary of fixing. you look like clark kent and when you take off your glasses you become chris froome.

Thanks.

I definitely have Froomey's arms! And I like looking at my stem.
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Re: Bike fit critique [MattyK] [ In reply to ]
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Dan is right (of course). You look solid. As far as minimizing frontal area you got it again. Do it slowly. Focus on turtling your head with your helmet. This is very important
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Re: Bike fit critique [MattyK] [ In reply to ]
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I'm not sure I'd bring you down more, as I think you're just starting to tip towards over-arching your back. But you're looking ok, pedaling very smooth with little body rocking. Nothing jumping out as a problem.

To unbrick your helmet, use packing tape to cover the vents. Go front to back with a little overlap. Probably 80% of the solution for $.10 worth of tape. Some of the domed skateboard helmets also do pretty well and tend to be cheap ($20-30). G-luck -J

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Life is tough. But it's tougher when you're stupid. -John Wayne
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Re: Bike fit critique [MattyK] [ In reply to ]
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Crank length?
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Re: Bike fit critique [MattyK] [ In reply to ]
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Biomechanically you look pretty good. But...and there's always a but on ST.

- Kyleyay is right in asking about crank length. Your cranks are probably a bit long considering they're on a road bike with tri bars.
- You could have a bit more reach but you're in the range - you can do this by comfort.
- Bike fit is all about saddle comfort and getting the hips open. Saddle looks good. Hips have some movement (refer back to crank length to help out here).
- Don't worry about the helmet. You don't do a bike fit to a helmet.
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Re: Bike fit critique [kileyay] [ In reply to ]
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kileyay wrote:
Crank length?
175
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Re: Bike fit critique [PennBen] [ In reply to ]
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PennBen wrote:
Biomechanically you look pretty good. But...and there's always a but on ST.

- Kyleyay is right in asking about crank length. Your cranks are probably a bit long considering they're on a road bike with tri bars.
- You could have a bit more reach but you're in the range - you can do this by comfort.
- Bike fit is all about saddle comfort and getting the hips open. Saddle looks good. Hips have some movement (refer back to crank length to help out here).
- Don't worry about the helmet. You don't do a bike fit to a helmet.

So why do you say his cranks are too long? Any power data to back this statement up?

Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep
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Re: Bike fit critique [h2ofun] [ In reply to ]
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Yes. There is quite a bit of research on this. You can google it and you'll get info there - from fitters to pro teams. You can go to google scholar and get peer reviewed info there. If you want something quick and accessible 51 Speedshop has posted on this. Lots of good information out there and 100s of fits in my own experience.
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Re: Bike fit critique [h2ofun] [ In reply to ]
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The other thing - more than sheer watts - is pedal efficiency. On a tri fit you want good, efficient circular motion. Yes, road bike too, but we're on a tri bike at the moment. So you want to clear space at the top of the pedal stroke to get up and over and make power on the downstroke. Most peoples hips are off. Again, most people's hips are off. So shortening the crank length - say 1 cm - gives us a cm at the top of the pedal stroke because you offset seat height to accommodate the change - e.g cranks get closer on the down and further away in the up strike. We say in the studio - quiet hips are fast. There's a lot more to it but some of this only becomes clear in practice. Pm me if you want - as they say in the south - the down the road about this.
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Re: Bike fit critique [MattyK] [ In reply to ]
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Follow up. Here's me in racing form.








I know I arch my back a lot, years of bad posture at work there...
I've still got one 10mm spacer under the stem, I tried lowering it but it just cramped me up too much.
I've pondered going to a longer stem (120 or 130 x 25*). Suspect that might help de-arch me a little.


Also, what are thoughts on a suitable helmet? Obviously I head tuck a lot. (I do look up regularly, but the photographer managed to catch me at the wrong times...)

And in terms of bike setup, any further thoughts on the next best (ie best value) to-do? Wheels are super heavy very spokey 30mm. But there are latex tubes and GP4000s on them.
Probably cut my shoe straps :D



Last edited by: MattyK: Mar 17, 18 0:20
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Re: Bike fit critique [MattyK] [ In reply to ]
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Position looks one of the best I have seen on here asking to critique. If anything I wouldn't drop the front, I'd look for some 170 cranks for starters and raise your seat 5mm and you shouldn't get the cramp problems and flatten the back.
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Re: Bike fit critique [Shambolic] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks. I didn’t mean “cramp” as in stabbing pains in the abdomen, I just meant “squashed up”, and trying too hard to hunch down if the bars were lower.
Not sure if shorter cranks/higher saddle would address that?
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Re: Bike fit critique [MattyK] [ In reply to ]
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Shorter cranks opens up your hip angle and is what ultimately will remove a squashed up feeling. Cranks of are long pretty long. Here's an article I posted on another thread the other day for you to read.

http://www.cyclingutah.com/tech/crank-length-coming-full-circle/


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