After my initial fit, I found that the seat was too low. I went back to fitter and we raised it up and it seemed more comfortable there on the stand. But after a decent length ride I find that I now have a hard time breathing under full effort. The bike was originally set up pretty conservative (not very steep). I suspect that raising the seat has made it a little too steep for this point in my training.
My question is… can I just raise the bars up with headset spacers at this point? Basically the same amount the seat was raised?
It already has a lot of spacers, is there a limit to how many you can put on? And if so, would an adjustable stem be a better choice?
thanks for any help…
Jason
I suspect you are talking about when you ae riding aero.
Are your knees hitting your chest?
You can go very high with spacers as a functionality, but it will automatically revoke your ST posting permit.
Go ahead, add the spacers. In your fit, your saddle height and knee over the cleat is the most important part. Aerobar position is secondary.
When you pedal, are you able to pedal with the heel level? Or does that make your hips rock? Are you comfortable on the saddle where you are located (forward or back) and with the right tilt?
short answer: yes, you can raise the bars up to compensate.
within reason you can add more spacers and be just fine. (for instance, I’ve used 5" of spacers with an aluminum steerer before)
But obviously you must have more steerer available above your stem currently or that can’t be done. If you don’t have extra steerer tube to work with then a stem change is what you will need.
I just went and took a look at the bike. Looks like there’s no steerer left. I guess they cut off the extra? In any case, I guess I need a new stem?
will any adjustable work or do I just need a steeper non adjustable?
thx for the input
Jason
Yes, in the aero position.
Kness don’t hit my chest, but they do hit my gut (which is sizable).
Yes, I can pedal with the heel level without my hips rocking. I’m still playing with the tilt and such. I think it’s a bit to angled up.
Your current stem has either a 6 degree or 17 degree angle. If it’s currently angled down, you can just flip it over to point it upwards and gain clearance.
If it’s already up and is a 6 degree, you could get a 17 degree stem and install it angled up.
If it’s a 17 degree stem and angled up, you can try to buy an adjustable stem or start to look for another solution altogether.
Other solutions that come to mind:
- further bike adjustments to mitigate the issue (you can open up the hip angle by sitting more forward)
- bigger frame
- new fork with new (uncut) steerer