Looks high.

Um, can we address your choice of indoor head protection first?

I was going to say that.

Fair point. I couldn't figure out how to blur my face. Helmet because I was trying to at least somewhat follow the spirit of the bike fit video best practices (though I realize it's not really as important for a road bike fit).

Thanks I'll keep dropping and try again. I am realizing that I started way too high.

are you riding in running shoes? Is that normal for you? If not, film yourself with your bike shoes. The stack height difference between running shoes and cycling shoes will likely be different.

These are mountain bike shoes clipped in to spds. The cleats are all the way back to try to address a prior for high spot (which may have been due to saddle height).

Something looks off, you have long arms and short torso. I think reach on bike is too short. You might be able to raise seat and lower bars with longer reach. I might be totallyi off though

It looks about right to me, but I only know what the mechanics in my local bike shop plus some of my triathlon friends say.

- Your knee should be just slightly bent at the bottom of the pedal stroke.

- The heel of your shoe should be able to just reach the pedal with your leg straight.

- If you are rocking from side-to-side, your saddle is too high.

This was my thought as well, also people who have the saddle too high tend to move to the front of the saddle, where as seem to be sitting right at the back of yours.

What's the crank length sir?

Same, reach looks super short. Bike or stem too small. Could lengthen stem and remove those spacers maybe. Seat height doesn't look to high. Follow the steps listed above to get to a good starting point.

Thanks all, this is very helpful. Here are responses to some of the input so far. I'll trying lowering the seat a bit this afternoon to see if it feels any better (also maybe removing a spacer or two?). I'll also order another stem to try as soon as I decide on length.



You may be on the something. I've never considered myself short-legged, but I am definitely long-armed. I vaguely remember measuring my armspan as 4 inches longer than my height at one point.



I had saddle sore issues in my recent past that seemed to be made more severe by moving forward on the saddle so I am consciously try to stay back on the saddle.



Cranks are 172.5



The bike is 56 cm (I'm 5'10" with long arms as noted above). I don't have any other length stems around so I'll need to order. The current stem is 100 mm. Should I try 120?

Edited to correct current stem length to 100mm

Rereading the comments above I may have jumped the gun on a longer stem. Will try two scenarios:

1. Lower seat a bit more
2. Raise seat and remove spacers (how many? I'll experiment I guess) to increase reach.

Ok, I pulled all the spacers out and tried with same seat height, slightly up,and slightly down. Is this looking better? It feels less crunched.

http://imgur.com/a/yeDt3jQ

Relionpt...to me, the original video looks like the seat is too low.

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Team Zoot-Texas, and Pickle Juice

stem too short.

I'm not sure the wobble is seat too high as much as it looks like you need to lock your core in. You look floppy

If the objective is to be aero, get your back as close to level as possible by taking out the spacers and raising the seat. A longer stem might also help.

Every time someone post a link to imgur I spend a half hour looking at dumb photos, memes and gifs

He looks like he's going to rob a 7-11 or bracing for a sandstorm...

Aside, I think it is looking better with seat up and no spacers. If adjustments feel weird you can always mildly introduce them.

In bike fitting there are a range of values for many of the measured numerics that most fitters try to get you into, and then adapt based on the riders goals and such from there. I am sure somewhere here there are threads detailing those specifics that may be worth reading up on.

Seems to be a rough consensus to flatten back, engage core, raise seat and possible try a longer stem. Any though on how much to add? Start with 10 mm more? Buy 10 and 20 and see what works?

Before you buy a new stem, how far behind the bottom bracket is the nose of your saddle. If you're not running much saddle setback, you may want to try moving the saddle back. That would may eliminate the need to raise the seat and get a longer stem. If you're 5'10" on a 56cm frame, a 100mm stem seems like a good starting point.

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Mike Sparks


I have competed well, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Please excuse me for the following rant regarding the way bikes are shown in advertisements.

The following is my bike as shown on the Specialized website. Note the exposed length of the seatpost and the fact that the seatpost is turned to place the clamp aft of the centerline.



The following is my bike as I actually ride it. Note how much shorter the length of the exposed seatpost is. Also note that the seatpost is turned so that the clamp is forward of the centerline. I'm 5' 7". The size chart on the Specialized website shows I am at the short end of Medium (55 cm) and the tall end of Small (52 cm). Based on previous experience, I knew that I need to go with the smaller frame size in order to have a reasonable drop from the seat to the handlebars.



Tim Don is 5' 8". He used to ride the same frame in the same size as me. Note that he has the optional seatpost with an even larger offset for the seat clamp. He has more seatpost exposed than I do, but not as much as the Specialized website photo.



I'm picking on Specialized here, but other brands do the same thing in showing the bikes configured with the seat unrealistically high and far aft. This is probably just the decision of the photographer or advertising manager. They probably think it looks better. Specialized at least deserves credit for showing the bike with the standard wheels. Some manufacturer's websites show bikes outfitted with deep-section wheels that are an extra-cost option.

Okay, it felt good to get that off my chest. I know I must live a pretty good life to have this is the sort of thing to rant about.

Don’t rant at Specialized in this case. Nothing unrealistic with that picture of how the have the bike set up.
Yours is actually more out-of-range with such a tiny drop of saddle to armpads. It looks like only 4 to6 cm’s of drop.
Which is just not that much. Not saying you should ride with more but most of us do.
If positioned right on the bike and without any specific physical limitations I hardly ever arrive at the end of a fit session with less then 9 to 14 cm.
And this very comfortable for all of the riders.

Your comparison with Tim’s bike is also totally of. You compare exposed seatpost, but you should look at the difference between your and his cockpit. And that is not so much different from that original picture, just that the aerobars used by Spec and Tim are from a different kind, a high bar vs a low bar. His armpads are way lower then yours. So his position is a complete different one compared to yours.

You just seem to be sitting very high up for what ever reason.

Jeroen

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Owner at TRIPRO, The Netherlands