Fit: weight ratio between saddle and handlebars

[aicabsolut]

Really, this fix shouldn't be that hard. Set your bike up on a trainer. Move your saddle back a few mm. Sit on it. See if you can support your weight if you take your hands off the bars. It shouldn't take a crazy amount of core strength, though, yeah, you won't be able to do a lot without sitting upright. Just test to see if that feeling of falling on your face goes away. If not, move the saddle back some more. Try again. Do it until you find that spot. Then put a plumb bob on a string and with your foot at 3 o'clock, drop the line from about the center of your kneecap. If you're significantly far back (several cm) from the pedal axle, then you might need more of a total fit overhaul. If you're close to the pedal axle, then this is probably a good position to try out on the road.

If you've moved your saddle back a lot, then you're going to want to spin for a bit to see how comfortable the reach to the pedals is behind the knee. You might want to lower the seat a little bit to compensate. (not the same amount as the aft movement--try a couple mm at a time).

[Ana]

I'll make small adjustments myself and to see if it will the resolve the problems I'm having. A stem swap will probably be in order if I move my seat back.

One of the reasons I'd like to see a fitter is because I'm afraid my frameset might be too big for me overall, perhaps so much so that my bicycle really does not (and may not be able to) fit me well. But I do not feel that I am able to make that distinction with my lack of experience and while on the bike.

I'm going to keep looking into a professional fitting thing though

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I had this whole weight balance problem for 2 years on my other bike. The frame wasn't 'too big' but the geometry was just wrong for me. Husband has the exact same bike (larger though) and the geometry fits him perfectly.
Tweaked everything possible over 2 years to get it to fit me right but in the end even with all the little improvements, I still have too much forward weight on that bike.
I got a custom bike made to my measurements, and now my weight feels nicely balanced. No more falling on my face feeling, no more elbow pain.
It's a huge relief and a joy to feel my center of gravity balanced in a good place.
Some people get good results from fittings and tweakings. But if either a bike's geometry or size is poorly suited to you, there's only so much correction possible by changing stems, bars, saddle position, etc... sometimes it's all just not quite enough to make a particular bike fit right.

[Ana]

I had this whole weight balance problem for 2 years on my other bike. The frame wasn't 'too big' but the geometry was just wrong for me. Husband has the exact same bike (larger though) and the geometry fits him perfectly.
Tweaked everything possible over 2 years to get it to fit me right but in the end even with all the little improvements, I still have too much forward weight on that bike.
I got a custom bike made to my measurements, and now my weight feels nicely balanced. No more falling on my face feeling, no more elbow pain.
It's a huge relief and a joy to feel my center of gravity balanced in a good place.
Some people get good results from fittings and tweakings. But if either a bike's geometry or size is poorly suited to you, there's only so much correction possible by changing stems, bars, saddle position, etc... sometimes it's all just not quite enough to make a particular bike fit right.

How did you realize the geometry just wasn't right for you? Did you get fitted? What convinced you that the geometry wouldn't work with your body measurements, no matter what you did? I just need some guidance as to where to draw the line...

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

How did you realize the geometry just wasn't right for you? Did you get fitted?

Because the frame SIZE was ok- not too big, not too small. I had the right size frame- according to the manufacturer's charts and also according to the knowledgeable dealer for that manufacturer, who fitted the bike to me when I got it and looked me over and said I looked just right and the size was good. The size felt right to me as well. But my weight fell forward all the time and I felt unbalanced and uncomfortable. It was a subtle thing.
Yes, I didn't really know how I was 'supposed' to feel, and it took months of riding when I first got the bike for me to realize something was not right. I hadn't been on a bike since I was a kid!
But after a thousand miles or so I knew that I was supposed to feel balanced and easy, not like I was falling on my face all the time.

What convinced you that the geometry wouldn't work with your body measurements, no matter what you did?

Because the geometry wouldn't work with my body measurements, no matter what we did.
Seriously- because no matter what we did I could not get my center of gravity back far enough to feel balanced. As a result I felt I could not get enough power behind my pedaling, and also despite sufficient core strength, I could not ride no-hands sitting upright even for a few seconds- I kept falling forward back onto my hands. I also had elbow pain when riding.
We tweaked EVERYTHING over two years, by the way...various stems, different handlebars, various hood placements, for/aft saddle positions, bar height,.... We tested all fit possibilities, and gave each tweak or change a couple of months riding to evaluate it carefully. My DH knows a lot about bike geometry and fit.

The bike is a quality bike, and many many people love this exact same bike and are totally comfortable on it. (my husband for example)
We have it tweaked into its best possible fit for me, and I can certainly ride it whenever I want to. I love the bike, but it's not as much fun for me to ride because of that off-balance feeling, which I notice right away when I get on it. Plus, I get my elbow pain back when I ride it for more than an hour.
Getting back on my custom bike is a huge relief and feels so right.

[aicabsolut]

Unless you are moving your saddle back over a couple cm, you probably won't need a new stem. Even if you do move it back that far, you may find that you still feel comfortable with the reach just because you aren't leaning so hard on the bars. Before you buy a new stem, you could try adjusting the angle of your current stem to bring the bars up and a little closer to you. If that makes them too high, remove some spacers and then angle the stem up.

You also asked about what your shoulder/arm profile should look like on a road bike. Here are some examples of my positioning (note that I am not claiming that I have perfect positioning--in fact, my positioning is a bit abnormal in that when I race I have a lot of elbow bend and my bars are a bit high--not aggressive saddle to bar drop--but it's still what's comfortable for me).

Relaxed in the drops


Crit racing in the drops (I'm sitting pretty far forward, though my saddle hasn't moved)


Relaxed, on the hoods, compared to a friend with more aggressive positioning



TT effort, climbing, on the hoods

[fidlfreek]

Great pics!!

I dunno about you guys but I got a reference from a friend and showed up at the bike shop with fresh baked cookies for the friend's friend and got a fitting and tire changing lesson for free (slow day so he spent 2 hrs w/ me!)...I did end up buying a $120 saddle from him later that month so his helpfulness paid off in the longer term.

Ana, do you have local cycling friends who could help set you up w/ a connection like this?