some quick thoughts
muddog999 said:
My LBS isn't so L at 40 miles away, so I'd like to find some resources online for bike fitting. I feel the need to tweak my stem & bar setup, but don't have the funds to collect a pile of bad ideas. Seat position is perfect as far as height & fore/aft, but I think I would benefit from a more aero postion for all the climbing I do. I like to spin and rarely get out off the seat if at all possible. Currently, I'm using a riser with 10 or 15 degree rise which puts the bar at about an inch below seat level. Would you drop bar height first? or maybe bring the reach in a little closer?
thnx,
~mud
An "aero" position is only of benefit at speeds high enough that cutting through the wind becomes the issue. I seriously doubt air resistance is what's holding you back on climbs.
Good, don't mess with the seat then. Don't be tempted to go sliding it forward or back to change the reach to the bar. Leave perfection alone.
I too climb seated, always, because I can. When the going gets steep you'll automatically tend to slide forward and sit on the nose of the saddle, which decreases your reach to the bar. So a longish stem is not a bad thing in this situation. Nor are bar-ends, even, or especially, on a riser. Lets you stretch out for seated climbing, so you can bend at the waist enough to use your back and butt muscles to their fullest. Also, the steeper the climb, the more the bike is tilted upward, and the higher the handlebar becomes. A high handlebar makes it hard to keep enough weight on the front wheel during climbs to control where you're going.
If your grips are an inch below the saddle top, you're in a pretty good position already. Lots of clueless folks riding around with their hands higher than their asses wondering why they can't climb. Would you possibly climb more strongly in the saddle with the bars an inch or two lower still? Probably. Whether you can live with that position when you're not climbing should give you your answer.
