Seeking Bike Fit Help

[Ana]

Geez, I'm not sure it's possible to answer this question without seeing exactly what you're talking about... I think it's a matter of degree, and a matter of your personal riding mechanics.

When I am "low" in my drops (elbows bent a significant amount), I have a good deal of elbow/knee overlap. It's not a problem since I ride with my knees pulled in pretty close to the top tube, so my knees aren't hitting my elbows. However, is your position such that when you are in the drops, your thighs hit your chest? If that is the case, that is a bit of a fit problem, and probably means you need to have your bars higher (not necessarily closer). When your knees are hitting your chest, it restricts your range of pedaling motion and probably puts you in a crunched up position that constricts your breathing (and it's not very comfortable). I guess I wouldn't be inclined to worry about the knee/elbow relationship in and of itself very much -- it's more a question of how you feel on the drops, and whether your hip angle is really crunched up (I bring this up because *if* you are crunched up, it's almost certain that you will have a lot of knee/elbow overlap -- but you could have overlap without being crunched up).

Other people who know more than me will probably be able to help more .

Hello All,

Thank you for your insight

What I'm wondering is, if from a side view of someone riding a bike, the space where the knees come up on the top of the stroke, do the knees overlap space with the elbows while in the drops

I don't think my thighs necessarily hit my chest but....I'll have to check I think it's awfully close. My seat and handlebars are almost at the same height but I am a rather short person (5'3") and my inseam is about 29"-30". My crank length is 165 but doesn't the fit depend upon the length of your calf:thigh ratio?

I think my handlebar width is mostly correct, as I am quite broad-shouldered and now have a 38 I have had some neck pain before I was fitted but I'm hoping my saddle/seat height will address this (if not, I will go back into my LBS).

Hmm...anyway, I haven't yet found the drops comfortable and am only getting accustomed to my new bike fit on the trainer inside (too much snoooooow).