Bike fit / correct riding position

I also thought about the bag as it hangs exactly where you said it hurts you

could possibly be the cause of the back pain, its usually higher on my back but I loosened it off today because I was sweaty.

The neck pain is worse, the back pain isnt too bad.

Go for a ride for a few hours without the bag and see how that feels.

yeahh I'll dump it at home before I ride out tomorrow.

FWIW your back looks quite curved in that pic. If your back isn't flat then your whole spine (including your neck) ends up out of alignment which will cause pain.

You'd generally fix that by increasing your reach, so the stuff on Cycling Tips about you needing a longer stem + saddle setback and lower bars relative to your saddle height looks like pretty reasonable advice. You should give it a try, at least.

aye, it does feel like I need a longer stem when im riding, plus maybe a setback seatpost.

I guess I'll have to add them to the list of bits I need to buy

New bike time.

track frame traditionally have very steep seat tube, especially the Cinelli - I would start with an seatpost with a setback.

New bike time.

anyone want to buy a Vig?

• I would start with an seatpost with a setback.
  
  
  

Yeah thats top of the list. Thanks for your help Scoble.

Thanks for your help Scoble.

Don't forget the 15" spacer stack

Better not be an euph Boffy.

Are you fishing for boast post encouragement?

so my new bike and new expensive shoes seem to be considerably less comfortable than my old bikes and cheap shoes. I am leaning towards shelling out for a proper bike fit, in the mean time is it worth trying to measure old and new and comparing (the two road bikes, not the MTB)?

first longish ride on the new bike yesterday and felt like I was putting too much weight on my hands, not enough through legs, and major shoulder ache. lack of fitness? anxiety (hunching)? seat too high? bars too low?

measure the contact points of old bike vs new, and then try to establish the previous fit.

take it from there

Buying one of those is the best £5 I've spend as it allowed me to able to adjust the bicycle position with precise accurately;

Sure you can put your bike next to your old one and try and match the position, but it's never accurate enough that you could easily be 20-30mm too far forward etc.

Quickest and easiest solution (once you have a spirit level);

• Measure the distance from your BB to the nose of the saddle as well as the height.
  
• Measure the distance from saddle nose to the front of the stem clamp*.
  
  

See how it feel, ride around until you feel you want the bar closer or further away.

*some handlebar have a longer reach than other, compact drop have the shortest reach from clamp to brake hood, whether classic drop is much longer.

first longish ride on the new bike yesterday and felt like I was putting too much weight on my hands, not enough through legs, and major shoulder ache. lack of fitness? anxiety (hunching)? seat too high? bars too low?

Saddle set too far forward, i.e. your saddle/bb distance sound like they're very short thus pushing you forward onto the handlebar meaning you have less pressure on the saddle but too much on the handlebar, it also cause you to hunch badly and give the illusion that the handlebar is too low.

IMHO etc. etc.

Measure the triangle - BB>Saddle, Saddle>Bars, Bars>BB. I've done this to all my bikes now rotating forward/backward depending on what the bike is used for. The Bars on the TT bike are about 2-3" lower than my track bike so the saddle has been pushed forward to fit. It's still comfortable for the distance I ride it. The road and mountain bike are more relaxed so the triangle has been rotated backwards.

If you have different saddles on each bike there's no point measuring from the tip as saddles are of different shapes and sizes. Measure from the point were you sit.

dopest ghost, do you mostly ride on the tops rather than the extensions?

Have you tried just looking ahead with your eyes, rather than your whole head?

Also, have you tried stretching?

Have you tried just looking ahead with your eyes, rather than your whole head?

srsly, I have seen this in the past!

But did you see with your eyes or your head?

I saw through scobled eyes

Cheers all. Did a quick cursory measure and surprisingly both bikes seem very similar. Seat tubes same angle, bars, saddle and bb same height to ground. Saddle slightly further back on new bike. Main difference is the new bars have much less reach to the drops, which I thought would be a positive since I always felt a bit too far stretched on old drops. I also moved the cleats a bit further back, think they were further forward than the other shoes. Just did a short slow climby ride to crystal palace, trying to take weight of hands. not sure yet.

Also, all glasses wearers will recognise the "looking with your head" thing, it's hard to find glasses that allow you to look up. Need some like snooker players.

What you need is a dodgy nose like mine. For the glasses to sit comfortably close to my face they end up quite high allowing for snooker eyes.

hoefia, what about the saddle angle?

On longer rides, I find myself pushing further back on the saddle to get comfy. Should I move the saddle forward or back to compensate? confused.