General Cycling Discussion - My body's all out of whack

Because for the first few days, when I was on vacation, I was riding a bike with a larger frame, since I was having those bike problems. Since then, on my own bike, it seems like there's nothing I can do to get that comfortable feel on my bike. It feels too small, whereas before, it almost felt like it was too big.

Soooooo I'm wondering what I can do- get longer crankarms? Bar extenders? Or should I just ride out this feeling until my bike feels like I belong on it again?

:confused:

If you were previously comfortable on your bike then I would suggest just riding it out.

If that fails then maybe it would be worth modifying the bike.

A bit off-topic but I hope you had a good vacation, Portent.

KB

Maybe it's telling you something. You can mess around with adjustments or maybe go and pay a porfessional to check the fit. If i knew some one was really sharp in this the pay for would be the answer if you don't know anyone mess around and see what happens.

Joe

In what sense does your own bike now feel too small? Is the top tube too short? Are you unable to raise the seat far enough to get a proper leg extension? Are you unable to raise the handlebars far enough to obtain a comfortable riding stance? What specifically did you prefer about the larger bike? Crank length is a possible, but very unlikely, culprit.

Thats why you never, ever, ride a different bike.

The whole bike just feels incredibly small, and also, I feel like I can't get a full enough extension in my downstroke. That's pretty much it.

Rode yesterday, and it felt a little better to ride. I guess it will just take time. Every time I ride, I start feeling more comfortable.

Has someone worked on it and possibly changed adjustments?

Perhaps the bike has been too small all along and you need to try one in between this one and the loaner you used.

But I would give it a while before taking any drastic action. Maybe just the swap back has your body a bit confused.

Originally posted by Koffee Brown
The whole bike just feels incredibly small, and also, I feel like I can't get a full enough extension in my downstroke. That's pretty much it.


Did you get the seat back in the same position as it was before you took the bike apart? Have you tried adjusting the height?

Steve

C'mon, it's obvious people. . . she's grown!

Originally posted by ChezJfrey
C'mon, it's obvious people. . . she's grown!
Well that makes sense since she had a birthday while
on vacation :D

Koffee,
Leg extension can be handled with either crank lenght
or raising seat. If you feel cramped in your extension
on the frame (reach to bars) maybe its time for a new
ride.
I know my Serotta has a longer top tube than my trek
(same seattube lenght) and the Serotta is much more
comfortable, the trek just feels cramped.

marty

Koffee,
I hope you get to feeling back into whack soon. I felt out of whack also today. It was my first ride in a week to the day. I stupidly did 20 miles, and had two heart attacks and one stroke on the way back. I also suffered a terrible thirst like you would not believe. I bogged down at about 15 miles, and rested a bit, and was dripping wet when I got back. Yeah, out of whack is a wierd feeling. Next time I'm out sick, I'll start back slowly.

BIkes can feel "different" for a number of reasons. Hypertension, arthritus, weight gain etc.... all effect how you "feel" when using all four limbs.

I thought your were a "serious" cyclist, why not have a "serious bike fitting"?

One thing I've done from long ago, was to tape measure all the settings of one of my old bikes. I use these "fit settings" as a standard on all my newer bikes. Even if the new bikes have differing geometry, the setup always ends-up near my old favorite bike's settings.....

Yeah, I'm not sure it's about the fitting of my bike as much as it is just getting used to riding someone else's bike, then going back to my own bike, which used to fit fine, but suddenly seems a bit small as compared to the bike I'd been riding on with the bigger frame.

I feel much better on my bike, but I'm still leaning towards longer crankarms. I already lifted the seat pretty high- higher than I normally ride, but I think it would be nice to have a little more power in my pedalstroke with bigger cranks.

The longer crank may yeild more power in the stroke but may be too long to maintain a smooth spin. Be careful what you change.

Hmmmmm... food for thought. I'll have to make sure I get my spd's so I can work on keeping that smoother spin if I decide to move to a longer crank. I'll try to practice on trainers first.

Good luck with what you do Koffee. I am leaning towards an adjustable stem myself, I think I'd like to raise the bars just a bit.

How long are your current cranks?

Man, I don't know. You saw them.

Pretty short. I'll measure them out tomorrow and let everyone know.

Originally posted by Koffee Brown
I'll measure them out tomorrow and let everyone know.

It might actually say on the crank itself. Look on the inside of the crankarms.

Ok, the crankset is 170.

I'd leave it alone. I think it's from riding another bike. I ride my roadie, then take my hybrid out, then go back to my roadie and feel, like you said, "all out of whack". That's a good way to put it! I know I've got my roadie set up precisely to the millimeter. It's just switching that's the problem, in my experience. Apples and oranges sort of thing!

Are your bike frames different sizes, or is it just a different feel because they're two different bikes?

I think switching from a road bike to a hybrid would be a bit of a weird feeling, but in my case, it was from a hybrid to a mountain bike back to a hybrid, and the mountain bike was definitely a bigger frame and had longer crankarms. The smaller bike I can get used to, but I really do think I may need longer crankarms.

I will hang in there a few more weeks, then make a decision.

I'm no expert re crank length, but my understanding of the overall geometry of the frame set up is that crank length would be more set up based on your leg length, as it is positioned on a particular frame geometry.

If it worked for you before, I'd say let it go and see how you feel on it in a few weeks. Sometimes I think too much "tweaking" is not particularly advantageous. I know I can get obcessive about this sort of thing and really it might be just what you get used to, ya know?

Here's something you might find helpful:

http://www.airborne.net/eready/janette/store/sizing_step3.asp

keep in mind that changing your crank arm length will not affect your ride position. It will help with your downward pedal stroke, yes. But bare in mind it will also change how high up your stroke is, so test ride a couple of bikes with different crank arm lengths to figure out what is a good length for you.

One more question: are you a 'spinner' or a 'torquer' when you ride? If you have a tendency to spin your way through things, the shorter length is probably appropriate, if you have a tendency to power your way through things, the longer crank arm may better fit your riding style.

I'm not sure if I'm a spinner or a torquer. I was a torquer all last year, then this year, I decided to try spinning my way through rides, so since them, I've been spinning, although from time to time, I go back to the torquer phases every now and then. It'll be another year before I make a decision on which one I am.

My LBS has a bunch of odd parts lying around, and are very good about throwing on something to try. Why not try a stem that is 10-20mm longer?

Well, now here's a question that I have re crankarm length. If you have 2 road bikes, one has a slightly larger frame, same geometry (compact), should your crankarm be one size larger so that you don't experience a huge difference in how your pedal stroke goes? Example: 52cm/170 crank and 54cm?172 crank.
Or would it matter or would I notice any difference?