Stem and Hoods questions

[GraysonKelly]

Hi all,
Thanks again for all your wonderful words and support when I was in a funk last week...I appreciate it. I'm fairly over the funk...at the moment. And I wish to pick your brains again...

I am almost perfectly comfortable on my road bike (incidentally I call her that but she's technically a touring bike, does that make a difference?), but I am still having issues with reach. I have moved my saddle forward, back, sideways (just kidding) I have raised it, lowered it but I am still uncomfortable with the reach to my handle bars, ie my elbows are almost always completely extended and I am not comfortable reaching the drops or even the brifters. The only way I can reach just the flat part of the bar with my elbows slightly bent is if my seat is all the way back but then i'm practically laying flat (this is not comfortable for me). My LBS has raised the handle bars as much as they can and have rotated the bars as far as they can. So my questions:
Do I need a new stem?
If I do, how does one go about finding one without spending oodles of money?
And does a longer stem mean that the handle bars will raise up? Or does that mean they they will be closer to me? like horizontally? I have no idea.

Hoods problem/question: Is it possible that my hoods are too thick? They feel huge to me. it could be because I have trouble reaching them but they do feel pretty big/thick. I don't have a problem shifting or anything, but it feels a little awkward for me. I don't know if this is right, but I feel that I should be able to switch from having my hands on the flat part of bar to the hoods to shifting and back again pretty flawlessly...I can't do that and feel comfortable as it stands.
Okay, that's enough for now. Thanks again for all of your help and advice. Have a great day,
Gray
PS I am most used to riding a mountain bike. If these issues I'm bringing up are a result of me just needing more time to adjust to a road type geometry, please let me know. I am comfortable on the bike, just think that I should be a little more comfortable...if that makes sense.

[alpinerabbit]

Your bars will move closer to you if you install a stem with a steeper angle. Shouldn't cost you a fortune (from 40$) and I hope this does the trick (unless the bike is hopelessly too big for you). A longer stem will do the opposite.

I don't quite understand why you had the saddle moved back. This does not help IMHO. In addition you mess with the knee position over the pedal axle.


As always, pictures would help.

[GraysonKelly]

Your bars will move closer to you if you install a stem with a steeper angle. Shouldn't cost you a fortune (from 40$) and I hope this does the trick (unless the bike is hopelessly too big for you). A longer stem will do the opposite.

I don't quite understand why you had the saddle moved back. This does not help IMHO. In addition you mess with the knee position over the pedal axle.


As always, pictures would help.

LOL, I was trying different stuff to try and get the arm and hand position right. I moved it back because moving it forward was really, really bad. I marked my saddle so I'd know what position it was in before I started moving it hither and thither. Thanks for the clarification on the stem questions. I had a rather generic fit when I bought the bike so the bike technically "fits" but I haven't found anyone really thorough that will do a fit for me. The LBS doesn't really do much, at least from what I've seen. If anyone knows of any in the Pittsburgh area, let me know.
I have a bad knee and have a good understanding of knee kinesiolgy, biomechanics, etc so I'm extremely meticulous about this. It's the rest of it that I can't do myself. Well, I could if I could be on the bike and measure myself at the same time, but that doesn't really seem to work. Here's some pics of the bike, not sure what you're looking for, but here ya go.

[Triskeliongirl]

I bought a new bike recently, and felt exactly like you do on the stock bar while waiting for my LBS to order me the recommended bar. The bar I ended up with, called the 3T ergonova, has a long flat top, short reach, and short drop. I LOVE IT. Before getting this bar I was like you, I was using the hoods when I should be in the drops (descending), the tops for climbing, and that position behind the hoods for cruising (when I should have been in the hoods). The carbon version is expensive, but it also comes in aluminum if money is an issue. I also like this bar cuz the drops are longer than on other short reach bars. But when I was out riding I noticed what other gals had, and the bontrager VR Fit seemed quite popular, also not expensive in aluminum. But I worried the drops weren't as extended for me. But its even shorter reach (70mm) vs mine which is (77mm) if that is an important consideration for you. Salsa poco is also short reach (70mm) and popular with many, but I don't like the deeper ergo drops. FOr me, the very shallow smooth drop is better.

I also ordered some shims from specialized to bring the levers closer to the bar (these are not expensive but gruppo specific so take a look). I am waiting for those now, but if you look at my recent I got a new bike thread compare the first pic to the last to see how diff it looks with the bar change.

Looking at your set-up, you may also want to try raising the positioning of the shifters on the bar. My fitter did this as well, and had me vary that and go ride before we taped the bars.

[bike4ever]

GraysonKelly - I used to work in a shop in Mt Lebanon called TRM cycles. They have since moved to Castle Shannon, but I believe they are still under the same ownership. I remember they did a wonderful job of bike fitting.

http://trekofpgh.com/page.cfm?PageID=266

I am a huge fan of the Bontrager Fit handlebar. This bar has very little reach with a small drop. This works very well with small hands.

http://bontrager.com/model/06244/en

[GraysonKelly]

GraysonKelly - I used to work in a shop in Mt Lebanon called TRM cycles. They have since moved to Castle Shannon, but I believe they are still under the same ownership. I remember they did a wonderful job of bike fitting.

http://trekofpgh.com/page.cfm?PageID=266

I am a huge fan of the Bontrager Fit handlebar. This bar has very little reach with a small drop. This works very well with small hands.

http://bontrager.com/model/06244/en

Wow! Thanks! There's actually several locations listed for this place so I'll give them a call. As I just mentioned to Trisk, i was actually thinking that smaller handlebar might help a little. I don't think I have extremely small hands, but they aren't big (The gloves I wear are men's smalls because the women's small was too small and the medium was a little too big for my tastes). I just want to make sure I get this right because I've already got wrist issues in both wrists and don't want to make it worse.
Thanks again!
Gray

[fidlfreek]

I am a huge fan of the Bontrager Fit handlebar. This bar has very little reach with a small drop. This works very well with small hands.

http://bontrager.com/model/06244/en

I agree. I have this exact bar and love it. The drops aren't "ergo" but I don't think they feel exactly like a classic bend either. They are perfect for me with my small small hands (and I use an XS glove whenever I can find it). As a bonus I found mine on ebay for $1, plus $12 shipping..

[GraysonKelly]

I bought a new bike recently, and felt exactly like you do on the stock bar while waiting for my LBS to order me the recommended bar. The bar I ended up with, called the 3T ergonova, has a long flat top, short reach, and short drop. I LOVE IT. Before getting this bar I was like you, I was using the hoods when I should be in the drops (descending), the tops for climbing, and that position behind the hoods for cruising (when I should have been in the hoods). The carbon version is expensive, but it also comes in aluminum if money is an issue. I also like this bar cuz the drops are longer than on other short reach bars. But when I was out riding I noticed what other gals had, and the bontrager VR Fit seemed quite popular, also not expensive in aluminum. But I worried the drops weren't as extended for me. But its even shorter reach (70mm) vs mine which is (77mm) if that is an important consideration for you. Salsa poco is also short reach (70mm) and popular with many, but I don't like the deeper ergo drops. FOr me, the very shallow smooth drop is better.

I also ordered some shims from specialized to bring the levers closer to the bar (these are not expensive but gruppo specific so take a look). I am waiting for those now, but if you look at my recent I got a new bike thread compare the first pic to the last to see how diff it looks with the bar change.

Looking at your set-up, you may also want to try raising the positioning of the shifters on the bar. My fitter did this as well, and had me vary that and go ride before we taped the bars.

ROTFL!! Trisk, thank you so much and I will go check out your post about the new bike and pics. Thank you. I'm laughing because I just spent 10 minutes reading this and looking up about every 5 words your said!!! I'm laughing at me. I'm sure when i look into this that I'll understand better what your saying, but all I got out of that right now is that a smaller set of handle bars might be a good idea. I agree with that and appreciate your advice.
Have a great day! I'm learning and ya'll just help me learn more and more, I love that. Thanks!
Gray

[Ana]

Just an observation: It appears that your saddle is tilted a little bit backward from parallel to the ground (the brick background makes it easy)... How does leveling the saddle change your fit?

[GraysonKelly]

Just an observation: It appears that your saddle is tilted a little bit backward from parallel to the ground (the brick background makes it easy)... How does leveling the saddle change your fit?

That is a very good question, I don't know but I'll find out tomorrow. DP would kill me if I pulled the trainer out tonight and started messing with it. Thanks for the observation!
Gray