Saddle Fit

[Gypsy]

I'm thinking the fitter is not very good, if he didn't actually see you on the bike before or after you requested the adjustment.

The only reason not to tilt the nose too high is that it would cause discomfort.

Did you have a fitting when you bought the bike?

Well, the person who fit me (someone else) walked by and the person that was helping me gave him A Look and said in code, "She is asking for her nose to be tilted."

But he never saw me on the bike after making that comment.

1) It may just be the saddle and the back portion of the saddle may be angled too much downward for you, so you feel the need to compensate by tipping the nose up. If the nose goes up too much, you will start having issues around your pubic bone so it's not the best solution. What you might like to do is try a flatter profile saddle. Or, you could even take the saddle off of your hybrid and put it on your road bike just to see what kind of difference it makes. It is really unusual for people to be happy (especially women) with the stock saddle that comes with the bike.

Ah, good to know. I don't like my hybrid saddle either, but if it's normal not to like the stock saddle, then I may invest in a new one, because I really don't like how I'm sitting on the bike.

2) There may be a problem with your reach to the handle bars. You might be reaching too far. So you may want to try to move the saddle forward slightly. Having said that, if reach is the problem, you need a proper fit because the right answer for you may be to move the handlebars closer to you as opposed to moving the saddle.

When your saddle position and fit is right, you should be able to ride while "piano playing" on your handlebars, what I mean by this is that your finger tips are on the handle bars and your taping them like your playing a piano. If you can't do that, something is wrong.

I can't play the piano on those handlebars. I had heard about being able to do that in a spinning bike (where I ride) and I can do that on the bikes there. I can't do that on my own bike.

*sigh* I'm going to have to take the bike back and ask to be fitted better.

Short stem and a real bike fitting at a different shop. The fitting should take some time...

Did they get all your body measurements?

Someone on TE might know a good fitter in your area.

Yes, the story behind this is that I went to a bike shop that's close to my house because I liked their people better than some of the other shops that I know around here. I figured I would go to the STORE/People rather than the brand of bike they are selling. This store only sells Specialized and Cannondales.

I was measured, using this contraption that theoretically measured my inseam, and they took measurements of my arms and outside legs. When I got my size, I tried a couple of bikes and settled on this one because it was so much better than the hybrid I have (lighter and smaller and I felt "safer" like I could actually handle the bike -- I do think my hybrid is too big).

When the bike came in, they put it on a trainer, I sat on it in my riding shorts, and the original fitter watched me and lifted the seat, taught me how to change the gears, and then once that was done and I was comfortable on the bike, I went to the parking lot and rode it there.

Like I said, at first, I thought my death grip was just because I was new on a road bike.

But, YES, my shoulders are killing me today after the ride yesterday and they usually hurt after these rides. But I didn't know if that was "normal" or if it's the fit of the bike.

Now that you are all saying it might be the fit --- whether it's the bad saddle, too far handlebars or just general poor fit -- I'm going to have to go back.... I bought this brand new rather than on Craiglists or similar because I wanted the fit part to be right!

I really hope that it's not intentional that I didn't get a good fit, but rather that it's normal that I have to go back, right? I would hate to think the person that helped me wasn't doing his job... grrrrrr....