Position Critique...new Kuota Kalibur

OK, whaddaya think? Me on my new Kuota Kalibur going up and down the street in front of my house (sorry not to provide a background that you can also abuse me for…my house is to the back of the photographer). Its not a super low position, but I don’t think I could really go any lower…I’m still getting used to this position, as I was set up a lot more upright on my old P2K.

Spot

http://i10.tinypic.com/2rpbkf7.jpg

http://i10.tinypic.com/34fnndl.jpg

http://i17.tinypic.com/49i08ig.jpg

I like the tree growing from the back of your helmet in the middle picture, does this make you more aerodynamic?

That’s my telemetry antenna to beam my GPS data straight to my home computer. Its a little draggy…

Spot

George
I’m not educated enough to give input on your position but it looks cold!!. I guess I’ve been in SoCal to long. Nice Kalibur how do you like it?

are those new shoes?

Seat looks just a tad low and stem just a tad too long. But that is being very critical. Looks very sweet, Spot.

Looks very very good. The only improvement you might be able to make (based on these pics) is to get that elbow angle a hair closer to 90degrees. That might be via a shorter stem or it might be about back the aerobars up just a hair so that your elbows are under you a bit more.

Now for the compulsory BS comments - can you believe that someone wrote here on ST that you seat might be too low - incredible!!! And that watch, can you check you watch DVDs on that thing?

Ian
F.I.S.T Certified Fitter
General all around Slowman Devotee

Ian, the first picture is the only one with Spot’s leg nearer to the downstroke and the angle “appears” to show it at the bottom of the downstroke and looks quite bent. Unfortunately the other two pictures do not support or negate the opinion. As I stated it looks a tad too low and that was being picky. Just my opinion, until we get a picture on the turbo with less clothing to hide the true extension of the leg I stand by my statement.

Julian - You’re right about the fact that the angle of image and the leg coverings don’t allow for an acurate judgment of leg length at the bottom of the pedal stroke. My remark about “somebody saying the seat is too low” was ment in jest - after all, we are here on ST the land were all seats are too high :slight_smile:

Ian

I like it a lot…very comfortable yet stiff frame.

Today it was about 45 degrees with a 10mph wind…actually pretty nice for this time of year. Sun was out, too, which is rare for winter in Ohio.

Spot

Nope…I got 'em sometime in June or July, I think…rode IM Moo in 'em…

Spot

I don’t know anything about the bike position so I won’t comment on that - but you have a GORGEOUS home!

Ian, I got the joke and the irony of the location. I was trying to see if a fit guru saw what I thought I was “seeing” and my reasoning was along the right lines. I appreciate your confirmation.

Cheers

Interesting…I thought that maybe my seat was a tad high…I actually raised it up a bit just before this ride. Maybe I’ll bump it up another tad. Thanks for the input.

Spot

I wonder why there isn’t just one stickied thread at the top of this forum that is specifically for position critiques and questions instead of having several new threads about the same topic made every week…

Spot, I know you won’t take this the wrong way BUT get some pics on the trainer in less clothes. But ONLY so we can see your leg at full extension. Please wear a jersey and shorts minimum :wink:

Thanks for the input. The only thing that worries me about a shorter stem is that when I’m out of the saddle, I tend to bang my knees sometimes on the arm rests, and shorter might make that worse. I can keep from doing that by gripping the base bars near the bend, but I think I wouldn’t be able to avoid them if they were back much further. I might have a little more room on the seat rails to push the seat a little more forward, though, which would also help.

Spot

Haha!! Believe me, I have no desire to inflict the sight of my nekkid “body by Guinness” on the hapless ST’ers! People would be gouging their eyes out left and right…

Spot

Try and get some pics in shorts, that will give us a better idea of your seat height. As for knocking the arm pads with your knees try and climb in a more upright position. It seems obvious but I used to have the same problem on my Kestrel and positioned myself more over the bb when climbing and it solved that problem whilst also making my climbing more efficient.

That’s me for the evening so don’t expect a quick repsonse. Ciao, Spot.

You may make a double discovery here: keep from banging your knees on the pads and climb with better power if you keep your hips over the saddle a bit more when standing. Play with it and see how it feels. Keep tweaking those areas (seat angle, seat rail slide, aerobar length, arm pad angle, etc) millimeter by millimeter during rides. You’ll likely stumble into a breakthrough with the slightest of adjustment.

Ian