New bike fit concern

[TigerMom]

I'm 5ft 1in and on a 48cm Amira Elite, but I have a long torso and short legs for a woman (I'm built like a gymnast). So my girl parts are touching (but not jammed into) the top of the bar and when I stop, I usually tilt the bike sideways when I put one leg down just in case. I have always tilted the bike when I stop since I am very short, but this doesn't bother me much.

I tried the 44cm Ruby, but I my back curled up when I rode the bike and was very uncomfortable. I rather be comfortably riding and be minimally uncomfortable getting off of the bike. I did not buy a man's bike because Specialized company said that the man's bike is heavier than a woman's bike for the same sized bike.

So, if you are squashing your girl parts when you stop, you may need a new bike. But if you are comfortable riding, it may be the right size bike for you. However, if you have a short torso, your 50cm bike might be a quite big for you. Can you go get a bike fit for free at the bike shop that you bought the bike from or exchange for a smaller size?

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2012 Specialized Amira Elite, upgraded carbon handle bars, Jett saddle 143mm

2011 Specialized Ariel Sport,suspension post,Serfas Rx Women's Microfiber saddle
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Unread Today, 09:45 AM

[ny biker]

FWIW, my current road bike (a Trek) had been bought by someone else and then returned because the first owner did not like the compact double chain rings. Which means she did at least one ride on that bike before returning it.

(The LBS manager wanted to make sure the next person who bought it would be happy with it, so he let me do a 30-mile test ride.)

[TigerMom]

I took the bike out last night and didn't notice being too stretched out. But again, I'm not sure what I'm "supposed" to look like or feel? I am noticing my palms are feeling the pressure of the bars though. When I stopped at a light I noticed I can straddle without touching the top bar if my back is touching the nose of the seat.

Speaking of seats...my seat is definitely lower than my handlebars. Shouldn't the seat be higher? I do want to add this bike has the H3 fit which is supposed to have a back and neck saving feature of sitting a bit more upright than a more aero position.

I may go back to the shop and ride the 47cm again. Not sure if the LBS would let me switch bikes at this point. I've put about 30 miles on the bike already.

Also, I went from a hybrid to a road bike so my palms were also feeling squished. Go find a biking glove with padding at where your palms hurt. It helped me greatly.

As for your seat being lower than your handlebars... as you get more comfortable riding, you can adjust your seat up and get the spacers from your handlebars removed to lower it down. Currently my seat and my handlebars are level with each other.

_______________
2012 Specialized Amira Elite, upgraded carbon handle bars, Jett saddle 143mm

2011 Specialized Ariel Sport,suspension post,Serfas Rx Women's Microfiber saddle
TigerMom is offline Reply With Quote
Unread Today, 09:45 AM

[Megustalaplaya]

Hopefully you can see these two pics. I had my 12 year old take them for me. What are your thoughts?


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[emily_in_nc]

Until I saw those photos, I was going to say that a 50 cm has to be way too big for you. I am 5'2" and have ridden 44-46 cm road bikes and can't imagine going larger than a 47. But the bike actually looks like it fits you well in the photos. Are you sure it's really a 50?

Per your question, I like my saddles the same height as my saddle, not higher, not lower. Unless you're racing, having your bars lower than your saddle is very likely to lead to pain. For recreational riding, having them the same height should be about right.

That's a really pretty bike! I hope you can make it work. You look way taller than 4'11" on it, so that says to me that it is quite small.

[Owlie]

Until I saw those photos, I was going to say that a 50 cm has to be way too big for you. I am 5'2" and have ridden 44-46 cm road bikes and can't imagine going larger than a 47. But the bike actually looks like it fits you well in the photos. Are you sure it's really a 50?

Per your question, I like my saddles the same height as my saddle, not higher, not lower. Unless you're racing, having your bars lower than your saddle is very likely to lead to pain. For recreational riding, having them the same height should be about right.

That's a really pretty bike! I hope you can make it work. You look way taller than 4'11" on it, so that says to me that it is quite small.

Same here. It doesn't look like a bad fit to my eyes, though I defer to people with more experience. It might well be a 50, because if you look in the photos, it looks like there's a spot on the seat tube for a water bottle cage, which AFAIK is usually missing on the small frames, or appears to be missing in my image searches for 47cm Lexas. OP, I think you might need a proper bike fit, but it doesn't look too bad.

FWIW, my saddle and bars are about the same height. Same height or a little bit of a drop work well for me. I have no idea why they set up bikes so aggressively in pictures.

Also, pretty bike!

[laura*]

Hopefully you can see these two pics. I had my 12 year old take them for me. What are your thoughts?

I think your saddle is too high - you're having to "ankle" to reach the pedal at the bottom of the stroke.

In the "on hoods" position, it looks like you're really having to reach - your elbows seem totally locked.

One way to make a bike feel a bit smaller is to raise the handlebars. On this bike, they're already in the "raised" position. This means that you're in a quite upright riding position. If you ever want to drop down further, you'll find the handlebars too far forward.

[Maye]

Megustalaplaya,
+1 to the the previous comments about the pictures. Looks from here that it fits you well but I'm no expert :-). You should get it properly fit to avoid issues related to pain in your back or knees and also to be sure that your bike is a 50cm. The color of this Lexa model is beautiful. Love the contrast of the handlebar tapes with the rest of the bike. I have the Lexa (green one) and the handlebar tapes are white but I'm going to change them to bright green soon. Let us know how it goes.

[OakLeaf]

I'm no expert either, but here are the two things I see:

I agree that it doesn't look like the frame is too big for you. You really don't look stretched out to me. But you're the one who has to ride it.

I don't think your saddle is too high, I think your crankarms are too long. Yes, at the bottom of the pedal stroke your knee is very straight and you're pointing your toes, which isn't good. But the other knee, at the top of the pedal stroke, is bent very deeply, which isn't good either. That's a classic picture of a too-long crank, which is something I really zero in on because it's a big issue for me. Considering your height vs. the nominal frame size, it's very likely that a complete bike would ship with a crank that's too long for you. My 50 cm Synapse shipped with 170mm cranks, and I had to swap them out for 165s, which are the longest ones I can ride.

Also, it looks like your handlebars could be too wide for you. That might be responsible for at least some of your hand pain. Your wrists are breaking to the inside on both hand positions in your picture. You want to be able to keep your wrists as straight as possible.

Pretty bike. Hope you can get the fit issues sorted.



(Also, +1 on helmet and gloves, yes even in the parking lot when you're only riding the bike 100 feet so someone can take pictures. I got a lecture about that from my mechanic last year, and I deserved it. It only takes a moment of inattention or distraction for you to fall, and that can happen any time, and when it does, bicycles usually throw you onto your head and/or your hands.)

[goldfinch]

Keep in mind that Megustalaplaya barely has clearance with the toptube, which can be pesky when starting and stoping. One size smaller might just be better and given the bike has barely been riden she could see if she could swap it out.

[Eden]

I think for the reasons that a few people mentioned that it does look a bit big - all of the problems would probably be fixable on that frame *but* might not be an issue at all on the smaller one....

I'll admit that it doesn't look *nearly* as big as I thought it would. Glancing at the geometry on Trek's web site, I can see why.... I'm not sure why they called it a 50. Their 47 is more like a 44 and their 50 is more like a 47 from other manufacturers. I can sit and look OK on a 47 - heck I can ride a 47 and be perfectly OK until I hit steep terrain or long distances.

I'll agree with Oak, it really looks like the crank is too long - you shouldn't be pointing your toes at the bottom of the stroke. That will become uncomfortable and tiring pretty quickly, not to mention isn't good for your knees. I do think your arms look too straight. The question is *can* you bend your elbows vs are you just not accustomed to doing it. You should be able to reach your handle bars (in both positions) without pulling your shoulders forward or locking your elbows, both of which it looks like you might be doing, but that could just be newbie jitters too - a lot of new riders put the handlebars in a death grip at first and that causes the same things. Test it out - see if you can reach and ride with loose arms - about a 15 degree bend in your elbows I think and shoulders relaxed. If it's hard to do while moving have someone hold the bike while you experiment.

As far as saddle height and saddle position goes - some rough guidelines - with the pedal all the way at the bottom of the pedal stroke, put your heel on the pedal your leg should be straight, put your foot in the toe clips, you should have a very slight bend in your knee. Move your saddle forwards or backwards to put the front of your knee over the pedal spindle when the pedals are at 3 and 9 o'clock.

Now both of these problems can be solved with parts swaps (change the crank, change the stem) *but* they may be correct in the first place on the smaller frame (the littlest frames sometimes do come with 165's - my Specialized did). Another thing.... if you get shorter cranks that might necessitate moving your saddle back to get a correct knee over pedal position, which means the reach will be a bit longer and it really doesn't look like you could go longer than you are right now - and going shorter and shorter on the stem to make a too big frame fit isn't ideal - better to have the bike that fits in the first place.

[PirateKitty]

I like the beach too!!
If you do not feel comfortable on your bike, definitely see if you can return/exchange it. There's nothing worse than having that thought in the back of your mind that you can/might hurt yourself. Safety first.

[Jo-n-NY]

Most people you can fit 2 sizes. I am 5'2 and believe my inseam is a 29. I had a Dolce & then a Ruby both 51cm. I enjoyed the ride of both, never had any neck pain, back pain etc and was comfortable on both. I was not comfortable in the drops however. I rode my Dolce for 4,000mi and the Ruby 10,000+. Then I was at a Specialized event and had the opportunity to demo the Amira last year. It was suggested that I ride the 48.

Mind you, before getting the Dolce my first road bike then Ruby I went by the way my girlfriend likes to ride. She likes a more stretched position. So when I tried the 48 I thought the postion was not correct needless to say my choosing the 51. What I found when on the Amira I was sitting on my sit bones. On the others I think more pressure was on the front area kept moving myself back on the seat to sit on the sit bones, but then was not reaching the hoods so would be on my front matters. I would ride a century constandly adjusting myself on the seat. I felt I had more power with the Amira and I am very comfortable in the drops.

I still had a bend in elbow on the 51's. I just feel my position is more fine tuned on the smaller frame.

You look like you a well positioned on the bike but take notice how you are placing your self on the seat.

[Eden]

Most people you can fit 2 sizes.

I'd change that a bit - most people can *ride* more than one size... fit is a different matter. I rode a bike too big for much of my adult life. I did weeks long tours and century rides on it. I could most certainly ride it - but it did not fit properly, but until I had something that fit properly I never even knew that it wasn't perfect.

Do we get a bit hung up about it here - probably. A lot of people, I'm sure, can have an imperfectly fitting bike and be fine with that forever. For a lot of types of riding you don't really and truly need a fit like a glove to be happy and to not hurt, but then again there may be people out there who never fall in love with it the way they might if they did have a bike that fit like a glove.

[Jo-n-NY]

Much better said Eden. Thank you for clarifying my post