-
How used to riding a bike are you?
The geo doesn't seem radically off but hard to tell without seeing you etc.
You often see mamils who have just started out with saddle forward and short high stems as they haven't yet developed the core strength and typically ride in a very upright position.
As time goes by they start to rotate their pelvis and stretch out more. Also as you get stronger, the pressure going through the pedals will start to counteract the weight of the upper body, again making life a bit easier.
As a general rule you should be fairly well balanced over the bottom bracket and then adjust reach to suit. But as I say, a lot will depend on how accustomed you are...
aniki-
Thanks - super helpful - never ridden drops/hoods etc. Could well be me not the bike. bike's been a lockdown project 2 yrs in the making - i'm pot committed and want to enjoy riding it - I now realise I should have just paid for a bike fit and bought a bike at decathlon ! See how I go in mamil mode for a bit I guess.
Sheppz
Right - so I did a bike - it’s a 90s Nigel Dean - measures 560mm Tt and seat tube 550mm - I’m 180cm tall but legs are short with floor to sit bone around 84cm. So the Tt is pretty much up my gooch on stand over . Canyon would have me on a medium endurace for example - lower Tt and who’s stack is only 5mm lower than the Dean but reach is much less - can’t remember figures.
Having set my bike up I find a lot of pressure going into my hands and some tension in shoulders not fully Locked out but I feel shoulders rounding forward. There isn’t a huge bar to saddle drop - but I’m wondering if basically for my body build I would need a smaller frame. My body feels like the hoods are too far away to be comfortable- but as a newbie to all this Perhaps it’s about flexibility/ core etc. I’ve put a 80mm stem on and raised it up to almost level with saddle - hopeful I can get away with something like this - I guess I might go to a shop and sit on a few frames to get a feel for what normal feels like -right now I just dunno.