There is way to much ammunition in the background for this to go nicely…
But I am trying to figure out if this bike is too big…the saddle is fully forward but I don’t think I am on the nose in this picture…
The stem is already at 90 mm
I am concerned that the armrest pads are too far behind the basebar (not sure if this is a bad thing) and my shoulder to elbow is not at an ideal angle…
Thanks!
Your team kit is “red X”??
: )
Fixed!
seat is too high (heel isn’t even down)
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I’m not sure I agree w/ the seat is too high, it may be, but depends on your pedal style.
You could angel the stem down and take out a good bit of spacers and see where you are from there.
sorry bad going on, looks like all the blood has rushed to your face…
**There is way to much ammunition in the background for this to go nicely… **
Is that the signature in the lower right hand corner of that painting? Was it painted by JOHN HANCOCK?
But I am trying to figure out if this bike is too big…the saddle is fully forward but I don’t think I am on the nose in this picture…
There’s no saddle visible coming out of your behind, so I’d say no … you’re not on the nose of the saddle.
The stem is already at 90 mm
I’m not sure what you mean by this. There’s no harm in going another centimeter or so. I’m not sure you need to, though.
I am concerned that the armrest pads are too far behind the basebar (not sure if this is a bad thing) and my shoulder to elbow is not at an ideal angle…
Actually, I think your shoulder to elbow is pretty much spot-on. I study lots of photos of top triathletes and time trialists and it’s common to see a straight line from the shoulder, through the elbow and straight down the fork to the front hub. That’s exactly what you’ve got goin’ on in that shot. Sometimes the elbows are a bit in front of the fork, but the angle will still be the same. That depends mostly on the size frame the rider is on.
Your saddle does look too high to me. I’d like to see a zero-rise stem (one that would be horizontal to the top tube) to bring the bars and armrests down. You might try tipping those aerobars up a bit, too. (That’s just something to fiddle with to see how you like it. It lowers your elbows and helps flatten out your back. Some riders find “high hands” to be faster. Some don’t.)
A good test for whether or not those armrests are too far back is what happens when you jump out of the saddle and pedal. Do your knees hit the armrests? If not, they’re OK.
FWIW … I don’t think the bike is too big and you’re not far from having a pretty nice fit on it.
I’d like to see a shot with your head up as if you were looking down the road to see how high you hold your head. But that’s not an issue of frame size, obviously.
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I appreciate the feedback. and here is a photo of me heads up.
When folks say my seat is too high…drop it 1 cm? 2 cm? I know you can’t tell with a picture…but what should I be looking for…
Can removing spacers accomplish the same thing as a 0 rise stem? No big deal if not…just trying to be efficient.
I have thought about rotating the bars up…I assume it should just be the extensions and not the base bar?
My knees don’t hit the pads don’t hit when I get out of the saddle…but its close!
Oh…and no…John Hancock didn’t paint that picture…it is just a quote (wedding gift).
And yes…I am a red headed Irish kid…I get red in the face…
**I appreciate the feedback. and here is a photo of me heads up. **
Well … sorta. Can you see up the road in that position. The concern is just keeping your head out of the wind as much as possible, so think about relaxing your neck and the space between your shoulder blades and trying to ease your chin towards your hands to bring your head down, but also tilt your face up so you can see.
**When folks say my seat is too high…drop it 1 cm? 2 cm? I know you can’t tell with a picture…but what should I be looking for… **
If you go to the main forum and search, you’ll see some bike fit articles. They’ll give you specifics about the knee angles and hip angles you should achieve and how to measure them. Another problem evaluating your photo is that your pedal isn’t really at the bottom of the stroke. The true bottom is when the pedal is in line with your seat tube (more or less). You’re a little past the bottom in both your shots. So it’s hard to give you more specifics about how much to lower the saddle.
**Can removing spacers accomplish the same thing as a 0 rise stem? No big deal if not…just trying to be efficient. **
Sure. I just couldn’t tell if you had spacers below the stem that you could remove.
**I have thought about rotating the bars up…I assume it should just be the extensions and not the base bar? **
Correct.
My knees don’t hit the pads don’t hit when I get out of the saddle…but its close!
If it’s close on the trainer, it might be more than close out on the road when the bike is moving under you more. Just something to watch for.
Oh…and no…John Hancock didn’t paint that picture…it is just a quote (wedding gift).
Ah. OK.
And yes…I am a red headed Irish kid…I get red in the face…
I didn’t make that comment, but I was kinda worried about you. 
Not bad at all really.
on the subject of the arm pads…tri bikes are fitted for riding in the aero position. It’s not a problem if the arm rests end up interfering with your knees when you get out of the saddle. It’s just the nature of the beast. The only solution is to know this and adapt your standing position to push your butt backwards in the air far enough to avoid interference when you stand up (which should be less often than you’d stand up on your road bike).
Your arm angle looks great.
It’s a comfort/breathing trade off, but you would gain an aero advantage if you lowered your front end. First thing (if you decide to do so) is to flip your stem upside down.
As for the seat height…I actually like my seat height where you have yours. If you happen to pedal with your toe down at the bottom of the stroke, so be it. If you are a spinner (90+rpms) then that favors a lower seat, if you are a torque pedaller that favors a higher seat.
Nothing productive to add, but is that a wine bottle full of pepto bismol you have hanging out in that wine rack?
Jodi
**It’s a comfort/breathing trade off, but you would gain an aero advantage if you lowered your front end. First thing (if you decide to do so) is to flip your stem upside down. **
First thing is to remove spacers so you don’t have to unclamp your base bar and reposition it when you flip the stem … in case you don’t like the way it works out and need to go back. Removing spacers is MUCH simpler.
I don’t mean to be rude, but this is just a general comment about a lot of fits that I see in the sport these days.
I see a lot of people set up like this - basically with a lot artificial height having to be created at the front of the bike. I don’t know if this is the fault of the fitter, the rider, wrong frame size, the bike company making the bikes, or the consensus of the masses. Something does not look right, but I am not sure what the solution is either.
Well, to the extent that there might be a lot of this I would guess that one possibility is that the bike mfgrs are designing the frame for the idealized aero fit and riders for whatever reason aren’t willing to go that low (ie. Ironman)
In this bike for instance, if the rider lowered himself in to a flat-backed position then he wouldn’t need any spacers or an upturned stem, but then his fit might limit him to sprint triathlons.
In some cases the top tubes aren’t short enough and the rider ends up with a frame that’s too small for them in the seat tube which in turn means far too much drop to the top tube.
FWIW, he doesn’t have much spacer in there. By turning the stem upwards it gives the impression that he’s got a huge stack of spacers.
My observations:
You appear to be reaching with your right foot for the pedal. I find that setting myself up so that my foot is flatter at the bottom of the pedal stroke I’m able to put power to the pedals for a slightly longer period of time.
Your left leg is also very high and appears to to hitting your ribcage. You may find that flattening that foot out will stop that and make you more comfortable.
jaretj
Ha! Sometimes I wish!! Its a pink bow around a bottle…Its my wifes house…I just live in it!
Pink Bow?
Well overall I would say that you still need to get your head up and get that aero helmet on.
Not being rude at all…and I appreciate the input. The front end height is what I went in with (and what the bike came out of the box with). The fitter is my PT who I have been to see before…but I have also gone to see alot of people, sometimes I think it is too much info…
But you are right…there is a lot of height in the front. spacers under the pads, spacers under the stem, and an upturned stem.
I assume that I can begin to remove that height and see where it takes me
During a fit session on a fit bike I was told to look for a pretty large head tube bike…hence the K-Factor.
effen great! Thank you!
It does appear from the photo that your saddle is too high. If you feel good where it is, just measure it and write it down. That way you can always come back. I would start off dropping 1 cm on your saddle. When you do that, you are going to change your relationship to the bars as well, so you will probably need to remove a spacer, but do one thing at a time.
Other than that, what is your goal for this fit? Are you trying to find the fastest position you could be in? Maybe for a sprint? Or, are you looking for a position that you can ride for 100 plus miles? For most people the two are not the same.
You aren’t going to set the hour record with your position, but if you are looking for a comfortable, but reasonably aero position, you aren’t that far off.
It does not appear that your frame is too big, I am assuming you are worried because the saddle is all the way forward? If so, is your seatpost a setback post, or zero offset? Basically, do the saddle rails clamp directly over the post part, or is the clamp around 1 cm or so back? If it is setback, you could switch to a zero offset post and have a little more adjustment on the rails. If you can switch posts and have your saddle clamped a little more toward the middle of the rails, you should.