I borrowed this tt frame for a while and I’m trying to figure out oif its the right size. It’s pretty small, but notice the knee to elbow thing and my generally high position. There are no spacers left and I’m at about 4 inches of drop. I feel OK but kind of scrunched in this position. I don’t have a big belly, just a giant sized flappy jersey
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y173/jroden99/IMG_0946.jpg
Your seat is genuinely TOO HIGH.
The stem looks a bit long as well which is stretching out your position a bit.
Your ceiling is too low, I don’t see how you can get through the door!
Drop that seat about 1.5 inches, take another picture and repost.
Also, tilt the aero bars up so your hands are level with you elbows or slightly above. That will lower your armrests so you may need to raise the base bar.
You don’t looked strunched up to me. It actually looks like the stem is too long since the armrests are 2 inches up from your elbows.
jaretj
that’s not a TT frame, that’s an old road bike geometry Felt “tri” bike. Having said that, nothing you can’t make into a good fitting bike with a few different length stems, a good adjustable aerobar set-up, and a Profile Fast Forward seatpost, if needed.
I know of that which I speak. I used to ride an old Felt B2 like yours, and now ride a Felt DA. Worlds of difference.
As for your fit, I would say slide the seat forward some, and get a different, lower profile basebar and elbow pad combination, like Vision, or Zipp, etc. Those extensions sit much lower on the bars than Profile. On the other hand, you could put the Profile ones under the basebar and have the pads right behind the base bar… this would scrunch you up even more.
start off with moving the seat forward and the elbow pads forward, or a longer stem.
That is a 2003 S32 Tri bike with a 78 deg seat angle.
Why do you think it’s a road bike geometry bike?
jaretj
It actually looks like the stem is too long since the armrests are 2 inches up from your elbows.
Is the problem the stem, or the aerobars?
if the aerobars are too small, then the armrests will never be back near the elbows where they should be.
My 2 cents, is that you should try some slightly longer aerobars. Once your elbows are on the elbowbads, you might feel overall much more comfortable.
That’s a good point.
I based my response on the fact that he is choked up on the bars…that could be his prefered way of holding on to them. If that is the case then a longer aerobar would be in order.
jaretj
Thanks for all the replies, it sounds like i need to get some more drop, but my necks gets so freaking sore on that thing. I tried chocking up a bit on the bars to bring my elbows back. I raced on that bike today up in Canada, it did pretty well but I still feel like with a more comfortable position more of the power i MAKE ON A ROAD BIKE WOULD TRANSLATE OVER
Better, no? I’ve got to slap a tape on the seat ht, it looks too high.
I normally stay away from this stuff, but you’re going to injure yourself. Your saddle is too high. Your knee is over-extended at around 20-25 degrees, and your even making up for some of the saddle height by raising your heel. It also appears that you’re getting very little skeletal support for your upper body. Where is that saddle on the rails? That bike is designed to be ridden steep - it almost looks as though the seat is pushed back a bit. Either way, you need to shorten the reach and get your upper arms underneath you. Honestly, you should find a good. So much is going on here that one change will effect everything else and you’ll get lost in the overall position pretty quick. You’ll be much happier, comfortable, and efficient.
I normally stay away from this stuff, but you’re going to injure yourself. Your saddle is too high. Your knee is over-extended at around 20-25 degrees, and your even making up for some of the saddle height by raising your heel. It also appears that you’re getting very little skeletal support for your upper body. Where is that saddle on the rails? That bike is designed to be ridden steep - it almost looks as though the seat is pushed back a bit. Either way, you need to shorten the reach and get your upper arms underneath you. Honestly, you should find a good. So much is going on here that one change will effect everything else and you’ll get lost in the overall position pretty quick. You’ll be much happier, comfortable, and efficient.
I know, isn’t that an odd picture, I went out to the garage and re measured and found the seat was spot on to my road height that I have been using forever and ever. It might just be something strange happened the second the picture was taken, it looks awful. I need to snap some more or make a movie I guess.
In terms of the setback, the nose of the seat drop right through the center of the BB, about 2 inches too far forward for events that follow UCI specs. I don’t do many so I may just ride it as it sits, it feels better being more forward.
I’ll have to fiddle some more, I just set the thing up, it’s way more comfortable than the bike in the other pictures, I rode a 40K on that and my neck was sore for days.
The Roo fit looks much closer to correct. Saddle too high - beyond that I would shorten the stem 10mm and or raise the stem 2.5mm spacer at a time. The drop looks fairly aggressive.I found I could ride a very aggressive drop based on flexibility, but when I raised it 2.5mm I found a height were I was more comfortable and generating more power. It is important to make one change at a time. Bike fit is a live, multi dimensional maze. Keep in mind pro fitters will get you close, but even the final small tweaks will be yours to make. Good luck!
The Roo fit looks much closer to correct. Saddle too high - beyond that I would shorten the stem 10mm and or raise the stem 2.5mm spacer at a time. The drop looks fairly aggressive.I found I could ride a very aggressive drop based on flexibility, but when I raised it 2.5mm I found a height were I was more comfortable and generating more power. It is important to make one change at a time. Bike fit is a live, multi dimensional maze. Keep in mind pro fitters will get you close, but even the final small tweaks will be yours to make. Good luck!
Thanks, I may pop a spacer back in, I’m at about 6 inches of drop. I have a power meter and ride some of the same courses in practice oj my road bike, so I can make a comparison and see how I can go on this bike. I dropped the seat a little and slid it forward, I’ll take it for a spin tomorrow and see if it feels better It seems like the right size.
Great. For reference, Im 6’2 and ride a 58 Felt B12 - with an 80mm stem. They come with a 110 stock. So often times long stems on tri bikes are the norm, but not correct. You don’t need “longer aero bars” as suggested before. Also, see the middle of your back and trace it to your neck. This slopes down and indicates a very aggressive stance. Adding the spacer should level that out - which is “ideal.” You might see a hardcore TT position in the Tour de France, but those dudes don’t have to run after the Time trials! For Triathlon I would squeak some comfort and you will find a great balance. Good luck! I have a spacer set up for short races, and one for longer (its 10mm higher) and am going to just stick to the higher. But you are doing exactly what it takes, asking, fidling and being critical about the results - and being patient. You’ll dial it in. But as a general rule, get the saddle right, then stem/height, then arm pads and extensions - in that order.
Thanks–this power measuring is kind of new to me but for the last month or so, it seems like i am able to put out a lot more watts, maybe 25 more, on the road bike. over the longer tests and race efforts.
I find that interesting. That 25 watts would come in handy and would overcome a lot of wind drag, perhaps you are correct that at least some of those watts could be found by raising up the front a tad and trading power for drag. I’m no gymnast yoga master.