Bike fit / correct riding position

I took me ages to realise my reach was longer when I moved from rim to hydraulic disc brakes. It should be talked about more.

On a separate note I've a question about bike set up as your functionality, core strength, flexibility increase. I've improved quite a bit in this area recently and on recent rides I feel that, not only could I tolerate a higher saddle position, I think I possibly should in order to be more comfortable and functional. Is this something that people generally find?

I'm not an expert but I wouldn't have thought so. Saddle height should be set according to your functional leg length, IMO. As what you've described above gets better, I might expect you can tolerate a lower front end, but not a higher saddle.

Very short reach bars can be the antidote to long hoods. They're not the easiest things to find. Here are some. N.B. I haven't checked whether the reach numbers are centre to centre or wot. And sometimes the number varies enormously according to how you fit the bars and/or levers. Caveat emptor.

Curve Walmer. 65mm reach. http://www.curvecycling.com/products/walmer-bars?variant=40334213185712

Deda Superzero Gravel. 60mm https://dedaelementi.com/superzero-gravel-handlebar

Whisky No. 9 6F. 67mm
https://dedaelementi.com/superzero-gravel-handlebar

Spesh Short Reach. 65mm https://www.sigmasports.com/item/Specialized/Short-Reach-Alloy-Handlebar/MLHJ

FSA Vero Compact 70mm https://shop.fullspeedahead.com/en/type/handlebars/handlebars/road/vero-compact-alloy-handlebar

Satori Primary Children's 68mm. Max width 36. https://www.satoribike.com/product_detail/PRIMARY_BAR/

HUP Compact for kids 65mm https://kidsracing.co.uk/collections/handlebars-compact-drop-narrow-width-childrens-bikes/products/hup-38cm-compact-drop-handlebars-kids-road-race-cyclocross-bikes

Canyon CP0039 cockpit. 69mm reach, stem 60,70 or 80 https://www.canyon.com/en-fi/gear/bike-parts/contact-points/handlebars-and-stems/canyon-gear-groove-cp0039-gravel-ergo-cockpit/9102162.html?dwvar_9102162_pv_cockpit=60-420

Ax-lightness 4200 Ergo. 66mm. https://www.benobikes.com/en/bike-parts/handlebars/roadbike/ax-lightness-4200-ergo

Plus a couple from Cadex. https://www.cadex-cycling.com/gb/cockpit

I took me ages to realise my reach was longer when I moved from rim to hydraulic disc brakes. It should be talked about more.

It's great for the industry when new brake levers make your frame feel like it's one size too small. Maybe this is why the magazines don't talk about it.

I went mountain biking today and had loads of fun but my wrists and forearms are quite sore now. I'm new to MTBing so not sure where to start addressing that really. My initial thoughts was that maybe some bars with a bit of sweep might be a better bet than the completely straight ones on there at the moment. Does that sound about right or is there anything else to play with before I spend money on new bars?

Go MTBing more often. Your arms are sore because they've had to do things they haven't had to do before. Buying new bars won't fix that.

Unless you've developed some chronic pain, I'd say give your body a little while to adapt before you start throwing money at the problem :-)

Edit - basically what Andy said

Good advice! The forearms can definitely be chalked up to not using those muscles much before, the wrist feels more like discomfort than fatigue though if that makes sense. It's not unbearable or anything though so will persevere before I spend money I don't have on stuff I don't need.

Hard agree. Get through the initial aches 'n pains period before changing anything. In the meantime read about bike setup and fitting, sit on the bike in front of a full length mirror, get a tape measure and do lots of chin stroking.

Have a look at your bar roll. Everyone I know has it set up differently and despite what this image says, there's no right or wrong ( within reason ). It will slightly alter things like reach and steering feel, but it can quickly turn the wrong bar into the right one

mtb bike fit lol

we are all idiots but surely no1 is that much of an idiot?!

Nobody's suggesting spending £500 to sit on a jig for several hours, but yeah, it still matters

Another top tip, will have a play with that. Thanks!

Another basic ( and free ) thing to experiment with is brake lever position. If you have to reach too far up or down to use your brakes, your wrists will be hurting in no time

Being new, you're also likely to be gripping the bars tighter than you need to

https://www.vitalmtb.com/features/Vital-MTB-How-To-Cockpit-Set-Up,1490

The levers feel like a pretty natural position but what do I know? And yes, I definitely caught myself death gripping the bars at a few point.

Saddle height adjustment when changing to shorter cranks.

Am moving from 165mm cranks to 155mm on the emtb to reduce pedal strike on technical climbs. Is there a rule of thumb re saddle height and fore/aft adjustment.

@scherrit ?

Angles, innit. Seat tube angle means when you raise saddle you move it backwards some. You can work out the difference with some trig, no? IIRC we didn't move it much when I went midfoot but then I have hit my head a lot of times since then...

https://bicycles.stackexchange.com/questions/90658/saddle-fore-aft-compensation-in-relation-to-crank-length-change

should you generally have the same crank length on road vs mtb? new mtb came with 175s but I ride 170 on road bike. MTB position is more upright so perhaps having longer crank isn't going to impact hip angle noticeably? Have adjusted saddle height accordingly.

I'm finding my new-ish Kinesis gravel bike quite tough on my hands and wrists. There seems to be loads of contradictory info online about what to change up to relieve it. LFGSS hive mind, where should I start? The stem is currently slammed but with a tall head tube puts the bars in roughly the same place as my old, very comfortable road bike. I have plenty of steerer left to raise the bars if needs be.
It feels a bit like my wrists are at a funny angle, rather than there being a straight transition. Worth dropping/angling the hoods slightly maybe?

In coordination, you could try lowering front tire pressure to help absorb impact of riding rougher surfaces in comparison to the road bike. Are you running different bars on the road bike? That will have an effect on where your hands sit on the hoods if they are wider... Hope this helps

I moved the cockpit from my road bike to this so the same bars and same hood position in relation to the bars. The bars/hoods probably aren't at the exact same angle as on the road bike though.
I'm happy with the tyre pressure, around 35psi on 44c tyres, going from 40ish psi on 32c tyres. I'm pretty confident it's positioning rather than lack of squish that's the culprit!

Is everything else the same; saddle fore/aft and height? Crank length?
It’s usually a case of your seating position causing you to fall forward slightly and place extra pressure on wrists/hands.

No, I would say that's probably all changed at least slightly, except for crank length The geometry of the gravel bike is a bit slacker than the road bike so I'm probably in quite a different position overall. I have to admit I've not done any sort of measuring though.
What's the first thing to try to counter the fall forwards? I've been messing about with saddle height which doesn't seem to have made much difference.

Has anyone ever had issues around thumb pain? Moved to disc brakes with sram axs and I just can not find a comfortable position now on the hoods.
Think the main difference is on rim brake the bars and hoods made a flat surface, but with the new bike there’s a dip between the hood which I can’t get rid of through rotating the bars and moving the hoods.
Thought it’s worth asking here before forking out the inevitable cash to see a fitter