Boobage and drop handlebars

[alison_in_oh]

Anybody find that their knees hit their chest when riding in the drops? Now that I finally have a saddle that permits me to use the drops fairly comfortably, I find that I get good leverage and aero position for tough efforts (racing traffic into a headwind, whoo!) but my chest definitely interferes! (Fortunately not by much, thank goodness for sports bras. ;))

Any adjustments that spring to mind? For example, would changing my cranks raise my seat height, or could I get a longer stem?

[spazzdog]

I think this calls for a photo alison... load that bike on the trainer and get someone to photo you in that drop position (from the side - we're not going for cleavage here).

I can honestly say my little "coin purses" have never come in contact with my knees... that, of course, is changing as I get older and gravity does its work.

spazz - looking wistfully at her 34 A.5 pullover bras :eek: knowing Victorias Secret will always be a secret from me.

[alison_in_oh]

LOL. OK, I'll see what I can do but no promises.

I'm not massively endowed or anything, 36C or so and shrinking as I lose bodyfat :eek: but I do feel I have less clearance than the fellas I ride with, and they're no help in solving this dilemma. :p

[SadieKate]

Uh, girls just stick out farther in front. Either squish 'em more :( or raise your bars, though the latter will be a less aero position. Raising your seat height would make it worse because you still have to lower your back to the same level as your bars. Not sure what changing your cranks would do - what do you mean by that? You really don't want to sacrifice optimum position for your skeleton and muscles structure for this reason.

I'm a 34D and they're in the way when I'm on the drops, but I'm don't even notice after a while.

[singletrackmind]

36DD. I'll be on the aeros for a little bit but it just gets annoying as heck after awhile. I just thank my lucky stars they aren't the 36H's :eek: they were back when I was breast feeding!! I didn't even know that was a size!

I'm listenin' for ideas, too...aside from losing the fat. I'm workin' on it already. Don't understand why women go through makin' theirs bigger...they're a real pain in the back-and front. ;)

[betagirl]

Heh, don't have that issue with my tiny titties :eek:

I guess this is a good reason for being the "national average" in terms of bra size. Put on a sports bra and those babies are smashed to the point I look like a pre-pubescent girl. No really I do have boobs.

[alison_in_oh]

Uh, girls just stick out farther in front. Either squish 'em more :( or raise your bars, though the latter will be a less aero position. Raising your seat height would make it worse because you still have to lower your back to the same level as your bars. Not sure what changing your cranks would do - what do you mean by that? You really don't want to sacrifice optimum position for your skeleton and muscles structure for this reason.

I'm a 34D and they're in the way when I'm on the drops, but I'm don't even notice after a while.

I read on some forum about changing the crankarms changes the effective seat height and I was envisioning an altered riding position that might give me the few centimeters of clearance I need; but I see what you mean about sacrificing proper position.

If it's normal I'll deal. I tried to poll my "expert" friends on Monday night's ride -- "Hey, so my knees hit my boobs in the drops, is that normal?" but it degenerated into a conversation about what they, happily male-bodied people that they are, would look like with boobs. ;)

Thanks!

[SadieKate]

Changing the crank arms probably just means changing the length. If you go from a 170mm arm to a 172.5 your pedal at the bottom of the stroke will be closer to the ground. You will then have to lower your saddle so that you maintain the proper knee angle. Shortening your crank means the opposite. Again, you sacrifice optimum position. Choice of crank length is made on leg length, cadence preference, etc. I wouldn't make it based on amount of cleavage. :o

[Adventure Girl]

Choice of crank length is made on leg length, cadence preference, etc. I wouldn't make it based on amount of cleavage. :oOh, SadieKate..... :D :) :cool: :eek:

Possible response from a men's cycling forum: "That chic's got a nice set of cranks!"

[SadieKate]

Good one, AG! There is a good reason I don't let my hubby see this forum because he'd be off and running with more euphemisms. In another thread, I said he gave a jersey 2 thumbs up, actually it was more of a 10-digit assessment but we won't go there. :p

[RoadRaven]

A pic would be good, I agree

I wonder if you need to put your seat back a fraction?

I usually ride on the drops, I just prefer that to on the hoods (looking forward to getting my TT - think that position will suit me too)

I have never had this prob and at the moment I am a 36C (they are shrinking slowly --- my tum has been a prob as my thighs hit the high side of their cycle... but thanks to this exercise, my tum is slowly diminishing) so I wonder about the seat height, the seat position... I don't know

It would be damned irritating tho!


EDIT: I wear a crop top, not a bra... maybe that flattens me more and makes a difference?

[CorsairMac]

rode the road bike today and paid closer attention after this thread! (thanks alison) I didn't have any issues with knees hitting chest @ a 36C, but that's because the knees were actually hitting my tummy. :o I was laughing on the bike thinking about it! I'm with whomever said they prefer to ride in the drops - that is also my preference, I can only guess how much tummy would've been in the way last year at this time if I would of been riding! :rolleyes: I guess I'll have to get back with you on this if I ever lose enough of the tummy to let the boobs hang free!!!! (visual of boobs sighing that at last, Finally, they're free to hang when I'm in the drops without that nasty ol tummy getting in their way!)

[SadieKate]

Sung to the tune of the Continental Soldier


Do your boobs hang low? Do they wobble to and fro?
Can you tie them in a knot? Can you tie them in a bow?
Can you throw them o'er your shoulder like a Continental Soldier?
Do your boobs hang low?

[JesTutripup]

Sung to the tune of the Continental Soldier


Do your boobs hang low? Do they wobble to and fro?
Can you tie them in a knot? Can you tie them in a bow?
Can you throw them o'er your shoulder like a Continental Soldier?
Do your boobs hang low?


Sadie, I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!

At the young age of 14 I wore a 38C (my cousin, also heavily endowed, but smaller than I gave me the nickname, 'Over the Shoulder Boulder Holder').

Now 21 years later I'm a 54H:eek: . For some of us it doesn't matter what position we're in..

Alison the the best thing to do is grab some weights and do butterflies (lay on your back, or sit up straight or kneel halfway on an armless chair and bring the weights to you slowly.)

When I turned 20 I hit the gym and loved this workout as it tightened muscles around my breasts, back and shoulders.

The setback: HEAD LIGHTS!! Men always looked 'there' when greeting me even when I was smaller.

Good luck and enjoy.

[mikki]

Fortunately, I use a MTB for road riding - you'd have to see the roads to understand, it's a self-preservation thing. Anyhow, my boobs do not get in the way there (42DD). However, the guys do have their own troubles in this type of arena. My hubby is have the damnedest time not squahing his balls as he rides. Apparently, we aren't the only ones who suffer gravity as we get older. LOL.

Another thing, as we get bigger, sports bras become less effective. Anyone got the physics of it? Are we exceeding the rated tension of the fiber involved or something?

[beeba]

Thanks for a good laugh! I hit when in the drops too. 36b.5.. I've tried all the fixes but found that all messed with my position to much. I finally switched to a shebeast sport bra. It works but i still hit when the hammer drops!!

Over the shoulder boulder holder...Thats great, but I refer to the man I love as " Under the butt nut hut "... We laugh at that all the time!!

Bee

[tatormc]

This thread is killing me cause you girls are cracking me up! I guess I never realized that this can be a problem since mine are so small that there not even really there. Makes me kinda sad! ;) But I do realize a lot of women have problems due to the large size. I knew a girl in high school that had them reduced and she was glad to have that weight off her back!

[coolbeansbikes]

Anybody find that their knees hit their chest when riding in the drops? Now that I finally have a saddle that permits me to use the drops fairly comfortably, I find that I get good leverage and aero position for tough efforts (racing traffic into a headwind, whoo!) but my chest definitely interferes! (Fortunately not by much, thank goodness for sports bras. ;))

Any adjustments that spring to mind? For example, would changing my cranks raise my seat height, or could I get a longer stem?


I get that on my mountain bike if I'm trying to tuck to go down a hill -- haven't found a solution yet ....

[coolbeansbikes]

I'm listenin' for ideas, too...aside from losing the fat. I'm workin' on it already. Don't understand why women go through makin' theirs bigger...they're a real pain in the back-and front. ;)

I agree with you! Never did understand it ....

[coolbeansbikes]

Another thing, as we get bigger, sports bras become less effective. Anyone got the physics of it? Are we exceeding the rated tension of the fiber involved or something?

From what I've read (and experienced) it helps inthe larger sizes to go for "encapsulating" styles rather than "squashing" styles ....

I've tried the Enell bra (aka the Last Resort Bra at title 9), but right now I'm quite happy with the Maia bra by Moving Comfort ...

[alison_in_oh]

Well, it's interesting. Yesterday racing traffic home, I was in the drops (with a regular bra!) and didn't notice any banging. But then on my evening ride I got it in my head to challenge another rider on the road. I went into my drops, and then just kept getting lower and lower as I went harder and harder (there was a bit of a headwind so I noticed some aero benefit). And my knees hit harder and harder as a result! I may never find a solution to this dilemma. :rolleyes:

PS - I passed him. ;) Didn't stay away cuz I was afraid I'd dropped my riding partner and sat up, but it was a bit of a thrill anyway. :p

[Susan126]

This thread is really cracking me up. Today my hubby and I went on a 40 mile road ride and I kept scoping out my knee and chest clearance whenever I went into my drops. My hubby caught me once and asked what the heck I was doing and I said, "I just want to see how close my knees come to my boobs, can you tell me if they are close honey, like almost touching? barely touching? what?". . . . he just looked at me kind of strange. Well I have to report that my itty bitty tiny ones never got close but now my hubby thinks I am suffering some form of menopause weirdness. sigh

[CorsairMac]

Ohh Susan - too precious!.....thanks for the laughs.

I had this visual: me riding along seeing you and your husband staring intently at the side of your bike so I pull along side "is everything ok?" and having you answer "oh yeah everythings fine, we're just checking out knee to boob clearance"!!

[SadieKate]

Just sing THE Song at the same time. Then, he really think you've gone round the bend!

S.

[Susan126]

Sadie thanks for that song! I will definitely have to try it next ride and see what Joe thinks then! LOL He'll really start to wonder about me, huh?! LOL

[SadieKate]

Corsair's body snatchers thread reminded me. Susan, have you tried your little ride ditty yet?

[Susan126]

Not yet . . . at least not out loud! :p I've been going through the "change" the last year and poor Joe I think if I sang that right now he would really be concerned! I've put him through, ahhh errrrr, well let's just say I owe him! I'll save it for a rainy day! :p

[CorsairMac]

as I was riding home on the bike trail, some lady and her male friend were walking along the drainage ditch down off the side of the trail. As I drew close, she lifted her shirt and proceeded to show me that she too had no boob to knee clearance - of course she was standing which made her lack of clearance a very sad sight to see. As I passed them, I heard her male friend say " oh man...that was a girrrrrrllllll"! :eek:

[singletrackmind]

I once saw a girl with something like c boobs walking along the sidwalk. Normally I wouldn't notice a chick's chesticles but the undersides of hers were just peeking out from the bottom of her t-shirt, and it wasn't a crop top! :eek: :eek: :eek:

I doubled up on bras for weeks after that!

[SadieKate]

Alison - what happened with the relocation thing (I, erm, saw the discussion on another site). You all going to be out here in northern Calif? Will we need to plan a "get to know you" ride and group sing-along with the northern CA girls?

[Grog]

I'll get back to the last posts on this thread whenever I need a cheer-me-up about my A-cup-or-maybe-not-even-that-big boobs!

Poor women... :eek:

[alison_in_oh]

SK -- You cyberstalker! :p :D

We're definitely relocating, we'll know where in about 10 months and be there in one year! There are 139 programs in the country where my husband could do his residency. Eliminating states that I'm pretty sure we don't want to live in, there are 44 remaining programs in 13 states. We'd sure like to head West of here and be closer to family. That brings it down to 24 programs in 7 states. :)

Thirteen of 'em are in California, but only one is in No. Cal: the Davis program at Sacramento. I'm sure rooting for that one, as it has an excellent reputation (important for him, though he'll get a good grounding anywhere) and Sacramento sounds right up my alley (if a bit pricey, but what in CA isn't?). There are programs in LA and Fresno that we're considering too; Denver and Phoenix aren't looking too bad though.

I'll keep y'all updated as to whether you might have an occasion to roll out the red carpet and create choreography for the SONG someday in the not-too-distant future! :D

[SadieKate]

Keep us posted. We can always schedule a ride up Diablo as your welcome party! :) :) :)

[Pedal Wench]

Okay. I tried. I mean, I consciously went out trying to see where I was in this situation. There is no way I could ever have this problem! I mean, there's a good 6-8 inches of clearance. Now, I'm not the largest girl, but I'm a healthy 34B, C on a good day. I wonder if my seat is too high...

[SadieKate]

Audio - you're going to make everyone start giggling again! Fortnately, I've only the dog to look funny at me tonight.

[alison_in_oh]

Okay. I tried. I mean, I consciously went out trying to see where I was in this situation. There is no way I could ever have this problem! I mean, there's a good 6-8 inches of clearance. Now, I'm not the largest girl, but I'm a healthy 34B, C on a good day. I wonder if my seat is too high...

My bike has a "racing" setup; his bars are an inch or maybe more below the saddle. This might be part of my problem.

Also, the more I use the drops the less of a problem I have. There's no 6 inches of clearance (when I say "in the drops" I mean with my hands in the curve of the bar and fingers on the levers, is this where you are?) but I don't notice major banging any longer.

I think I'll have to re-test on my commute this morning. :p

[CorsairMac]

what alison said - my knees finally found them when I lowered my handlebars below my seat. Of course, I ended up with a bad cramp in my right shoulder so I raised the handlerbars level with the seat. (they were actually higher than the seat before! :eek: ) Now when I'm really "dropped" (like fighting headwinds) I don't have clearance between Anything! (jeez :p )

[Trek420]

this is too funny.

So I tried this, went on a ride and did jumps or whatever their called, wind sprints, whatever ... I rarely ride in the drops but tried drops, stand and sprint, no boob problem in any position and I have them, kinda standard size, encased in Primal bra that I bought on TE if you must know.

My LBS philosophy on bike fit is to make you a little more upright, viewed from the side my saddle is slightly lower than the bars. Most road bikes I see are parallel or the saddle is slightly higher. Sure I'm less aero but ... I'm not racing and I'm faster when I'm comfy, that's my theory anyway.

I think my cranks are shorter than avg. 165.

[Twice Daily]

I'm a 36 C and I've never had this problem...or if my legs are coming into contact with my boobs, I'm just not noticing it!

As far as sports bras go...I wear a soft cotton bra with an underwire under a regular sports bra...perhaps that's a bit much, but I need to keep the girls in check!

[Pedal Wench]

...I wear a soft cotton bra with an underwire under a regular sports bra...perhaps that's a bit much, but I need to keep the girls in check!


Hmmm, maybe this isn't a bike problem, but a bra problem! Alison, you ARE strapping those babies down, right? :p

[spazzdog]

bopp their breasts, I'm thinkin' "is this what boys do in regards to situatin' their "extras"?

And then there's the imagined group ride where we're all pedaling in the drops and the sounds of "hey! how much clearance do I have? You... oh you have a couple inches!"

Is a jersey in order here?


spazz "of the wee boobage"

[yellow]

Well, on my long-awaited and much-needed ride in semi dry conditions yesterday, I noted that, once or twice while in the drops, my thigh (just above the knee) touched my ribcage. Wha???

Spazz...and you think you have wee boobage! ;)

(For the record, I do know that I have a mighty rib cage, which explains my size 36A, almost a 38A.)

[Pedal Wench]

Well, I got caught. I was on a group ride with one of the guys I work with. We had a long straight stretch, he was up ahead of me, no one else was around, I checked again. While I'm looking down, trying different positions, I realize that he had slowed, or I sped up - whatever - he was next to me, asking me what the heck I was doing! "Oh, um... nothing!!!"
I did notice that if I really scrunched up and put my hands on the very end of the drops, and if I really leaned down, that I might, just maybe, (okay, in my dreams!) touch!

[SadieKate]

(For the record, I do know that I have a mighty rib cage, which explains my size 36A, almost a 38A.)Ah ha! Now I know why you're so fast. You must have cloned Lance's rib cage!

[alison_in_oh]

Hmmm, maybe this isn't a bike problem, but a bra problem! Alison, you ARE strapping those babies down, right? :p

Well, not as thoroughly as Twice Daily I guess! Today it was actually only at the last minute that I went with a sports bra instead of just an Underarmor tightly fitting undershirt. Probably good that I'd strapped 'em down good and tight, as I did make contact while pedaling in an aero tuck through some descents!

[anaphase]

This thread got me thinking about my own setup, which hasn't been all that comfortable, to be honest.

I feel like either my seat is too high, or my bars are too low. I am actually very comfortable in the drops (no boob-hitting, thankfully), but on the hoods my back begins to hurt after about 8 miles or so. It's always over my right sacroiliac joint/upper hip region, and only (temporarily) goes away if I stop the bike and just stand up for a minute or two. Right now the seat is noticably higher than the bars.

The whole thing made my 22 miler today kind of aggrivating.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

[annie]

Anaphase,

Here's an interesting article about bike fitting, saddle/handlebar height in particular. Maybe there will be something there to help.

http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/fitting.htm

As to touching knees/legs to boobs while pedaling - well I tried today. Really tried. Got as low on the drops as I could, my chin was almost touching my bars, and still no contact. ::::::::sigh:::::::::

annie

[sarahfixit]

I got curious and tried padding up to 36d out of curiousity :o since I am naturally barely b. No hitting at all. I guess I have a longer torso or something(5'8").
The much earlier refference to crank length is to extend or reduce leg stroke. The longer the arm, the more your knee will come up on the up stroke.
As far as the other pain, saddle tilt is very sensitive and critical to help that. On my road setup I have to have the saddle almost tilted forward to keep my pelvis at the right angle. On the MTB it is almost tilted back.