I am a HUGE fan of people posting pictures of their bikes, but that person always gets grief if they use some sort of device to get their bars higher. Please forgive my bike ignorance, but what’s wrong with not being as low as possible? I see some of these pros and they look like they are folded in half! God bless them, but how many regular folks can ride like that in comfort?
I understand that the higher bars may compromise handling, but a spacer or two wouldn’t hurt, would it? If so why would they even make them?
You are exactly right. I for one probably fall somewhere in the middle. I’m not looking like Bjorn but I’m not your grandam either.
The fit nazis on this board, many of whom haven’t a clue what they are talking about see spacers and cry foul. They however have not spoken to the person and in some cases haven’t even seen teh person riding the bike! Comfort counts for a alot, and if I need to be a few centimeters higher to save my back, taht is the better fit. Don’t listen to them and just make sure you are as aero and comfortable as possible. You might end up passing many of them anyway.
“The fit nazis on this board, many of whom haven’t a clue what they are talking about see spacers and cry foul.”
That’s what I thought, but I want to make sure I’m not missing something. Can anyone else help out with this? Someone recently posted a picture of a rider from Discovery with about 4 or 5 spacers on his road bike. Is that bad?
There is a fit issue and an asthetics issue here.
If you show a pic of the bike without rider some will call it unasthetically pleasing if there are spacers or upturned stem, regardless of whether or not that position is preferred by, or optimised for, the rider.
For example, my road bike has no spacers, but my track bike has spacers and an upturned stem… The positions are the same, it’s just that my track bike was second hand and has a shorter head tube. Beggers can’t be choosers.
Spacers are not bad things. If they are needed, they are needed.
However, for carbon steerers, there is a limit of about 2.5cm. Most fork manufactureres do not reccomend more than that for carbon steerers. So, if you see a bike( and I see many posted here and at races) that has a carbon steerer and it’s stacked up beyond 2.5 cm, it is a safty issue.
Pro road racers and triathletes and spacers: Heck even Lance was stacked up in the front. Thing is they HAVE to ride certain bikes and my understanding is the teams like to keep the run of sizes as narrow as possible. Hence the need for additional spacers to get the right fit. But in reference to #2 you NEVER see a pro, riding a carobon steerer stacked beyond 2.5 cm.
In contrast to pro athletes, regular consumers can ride anything they want. Problem is they think they NEED or WANT to ride a certain bike( Marketing is a powerful force)There may be a bike out there that fits them better, but they end up on the NEED/WANT bike which needs significant modifications( many spacers) to make it fit them.
Reality is that not everybody can or should ride as low in the front as possible. The second reality is that these same people shouldn’t bother to buy bikes like P3C’s, etc if they can’t take advantage of the short head tube. They should get a bike with a taller head tube to begin with and thus avoid the stack of spacers or the upturned stem. By doing so they’re losing aerodynamics from what a bike like the P3C could give, so why spend that kind of extra money when a bike like a Cervelo Dual for example, with a taller head tube would have been a better fit?
Nothing wrong with a small spacer or two or a +6 degree upturned stem. Many of the top pros ride like that, but when it gets excessive you have to wonder.
No, buying a bike that actually fits wouldn’t hurt at all. However, many people have no ideal on how a bike is supposed to fit and don’t have a FIST certified dealer that has their best interest in mind. So…wouldn’t a spacer or upturned stem be more convenient (and cheaper) than getting a new bike?
a 90 degree stem makes the most sense - it will be strongest and lightest. installed on the bike it will appear to have a slight upslope.
the only reason threadless stems have a horizontal-to-the-ground negative rise is fashion. when road bikes adopted the threadless system as the new standard the 90 degree stem did carry over for a while, but faded due to pure fashion reasons - it still is the smartest stem, tho.
Very observant. You have noticed something that many miss or at least fail to question in their urgent rush to get “aero.”
What you really want to identify is the point at which your cross sectional profile ceases to get lower. What I mean by that is that even though you keep lowering your shoulders and torso (front end), the high point of your back ceases to get lower. At this point, you have reduced your profile to its aerodynamic minimum cross sectional profile. Lowering your shoulders and torso further, in reality, is only compressing your lung capacity and your ability to breath and sustain your effort.
You must also realize that even at this aerodynamic minimum, you most likely have already compressed your abdomen to some degree and consequently, have restricted your breathing as well. Again, there is a balance here between your “engine’s” optimum performance position and your aerodynamic minimum cross sectional profile.
Now granted, one also needs to address one’s “narrowness” as well which, again, is a balance between getting narrow without restricting one’s ability to sustain one’s effort significantly.
A power meter or computrainer can help identify your engine’s optimum performance position but analyzing your cross sectional profile to identify its minimum aerodynamic profile almost always requires the help of a person trained in this science/art. This is usually something that comes with advanced fit training.
Many on this forum will not hesitate to drop thousands of dollars for aero wheels, frames, widgets and the like, but feel spending hard earned money for an advanced fitting is a “waste of money.” In reality, the few dollars (couple hundred if that) spent on an advanced fit to identify one’s optimum performance and aero postion with a trained and experienced assistant are the cheapest seconds one will ever purchase in the quest to ride faster.
