llmercll

Hello!, I've decided that my bike a little too big for me, even at the lowest seat-post setting. It has built in suspension and I think that prevents it from going down as far as a regular seat-post would. All I need is for it to be maybe an inch lower. Heres a pic

https://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/836/dscn2893b.jpg/

I was thinking of trying out a seat-post without suspension, one I could make a little lower. Anyone have some advice for me on what to get? I'd like to keep it cheap.

I'm considering this from nashbar

https://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product...2#ReviewHeader

thanks!

skilsaw

You have to match the diameter of the old and new seat posts.

I don't see the diameter of the Nasbar seatpost in their advertisement.
300 mm is the length, (about 1 foot) Either contact Nasbar to confirm diameter, or take old seatpost to a bike shop, and purchase one the same diameter.

Mr. Beanz

The Nashbar seatpost diameters are listed, 26.8, 27.2, and 30.8.

llmercll

Yup, mines a 27.2 =)

flippin_bikes

My greatest concern is that your bike may not fit you properly if you are having to lower the seat so much.

How is your leg extension where you seat is set now? Do you still have a lot of bend in your knees when the pedal passes the lowest part of its rotation?

Unless you have really long arms and short legs, I would have to guess that either you are riding with your seat too low or your bike's frame is too large for you. If the latter, you are possibly putting too much strain on your back, shoulders, and neck because I would think that you might be really leaning forward to reach the bars.

If you are not getting the proper leg extension while riding the bike, you can cause additional stress on your knees and it won't allow you to ride as efficiently as possible. It always amazes me how many people I see riding bikes with their seat slammed all the way down and their knees are almost hitting their chest. Most people I have sold bikes to (either when I worked in a bike shop or ones I have sold on craigslist) that asked me to lower the seat on the bike did not need the seat to be lowered as much as they requested. Usually is was a security thing. They felt safer if they could touch both feet on the ground while seated on the saddle. I always tried to explain that this does not provide the optimum performance on the bike.

I do apologize if I am being awfully presumptive, but when I see someone with their seat that low, usually something isn't right with the fit of the bike or the way the bike is adjusted to the rider.

Mr. Beanz

That is a good point, FIT!

If you look at his saddle, it is clamped at the very front of th rails whcih means the seat is too far back. If he slides the saddle forward on the rails so that it's clamped at the back, tht would make a HUGE difference in comfort. He may not need to replace the post if he sets up the bike properly.

Thinking the bike is too big, there is no reason why the rails should be clamped at the front. He needs the shop where he bought the bike, or a buddy to help him set it up properly. The way it stands now, proper fit is waaaay out.

Plus, there should be a fistful of seatpost from the toptube to the saddle clamp on a straight top tube frame. Which seems to be what you have in the picture. So I agree, the frame COULD be too big but I would guess that your setup is way out (from the looks of the clamp vs rail position!!!)

-Reminds me of a little story. Aobut a year ago we met another couple ona tandem. Very proud of therinew tandem but the guy was sort of brokenhearted cause it didn't fit properly. He thought he needed a new tandem after having this one only 3 weeks.

I looked and noticed the seat was similar to the pic above. I asked why he had it so far forward and the saddle was tilted far back. I also noticed the stoker sem was all the way in and his wife was uncomfy on the back reaching to far. Thy didn't know enough about bikes so I explained a few things to them about ballpark fit dimensions and made a few adjustments. Including rolling his bars back abit so the levers were easier to reach.

Wow, you should have seen how happy they were when they rode off. Smiles ear to ear. I mentioned finding a new LBS since the one they had failed them miserably. They didn't bother to disagree. They just rode off with big smiles....Kind of like this....

llmercll

Thanks for the replies you two. I appreciate the thought you put into them =)

I actually do believe the frame is a bit too big for me. I'm 6"5 on a 25in frame. The issue is that my inseam is a little below average for my height. I got the bike for a great deal, and wasn't experienced enough to notice to inseam issue at the time of purchase. "Height" is a bit misleading, it's more about inseam. Now I know =p

I have a video of me riding you might want to check out, you can see for yourself there, but I believe my leg extends a little too much (but not much at all) on the downstroke.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzfs-fK7csc

I'm having pretty bad comfort issues in my hands and butt, which is why I'm trying to properly fit myself. I'm trying to do it myself before spending the money for someone to do it for me. I will have to of course, If I can't figure it out =p

One big thing, I have moved the seat up a bit. It's more centered now. I've also only been riding for a week and am 400lbs, which I know doesn't help =)

thanks!

flippin_bikes

I would say that it looks like your seat and your handlebars are both a bit low. Your leg extension isn't terrible, but I think you aren't getting quite enough (could be wrong, but that is what I see in the video). It also looks like your stem could be raise a bit to bring the bars up higher. This looks like a quill stem which slides up and down inside of the fork steerer tube.

I would still say that replacing the stock suspension seatpost is not a bad idea. For heavier riders, I feel like they are pretty worthless. I've had them on bikes even when I was in the lower 200's and didn't like them because of how they bounce and pogo when you pedal. They also make it hard to get consistent leg extension if the distance from the saddle to the pedals is always changing.

The discomfort you are experiencing could be due to you only having ridden for a week. It can also have to do with improper bike fit. The best thing to do is keep riding and see if the comfort improves. If it doesn't, then you have to look at how the bike is adjusted to fit you (which is also something you can do right away if something really feels out of whack such as the saddle height, how the nose of the saddle is tilted, or the height of the handlebars). If you are still experiencing discomfort after a couple of weeks, then you can look at changing the saddle or maybe handlebar grips.

The Bontrager saddle that came on your bike is pretty softly padded which may not provide enough support. I had that same seat on a Gary Fisher Tiburon hybrid I bought a few years back and hated it. A lot of people on here, myself included, like the Brooks B17. It may look torturous with its lack of soft padding and hard leather cover, but nothing will mold itself to your back end like a Brooks. They are pricey (expect to spend $80-100) on one, but that saddle will last a lifetime with proper care and you will end up moving it from bike to bike when you get a new one (mine has been on too many bikes to count). I also like Ergon grips for reducing numbness and strain on hands and wrists. There are other similar brands out there as well, but the Ergon shape has worked best for me. Again, pricey at about $30, but you can keep them for ages compared to typical soft rubber or foam grips and since they bolt on to the handlebars, they can be transferred from bike to bike.

Arvadaman

llmercll,

Before you go into buying new parts, I think you should do a little more work
on fitting your bike. I think your seat may be tilted a little up at the nose and
may be too far back. Generally, begin with the seat in the center of the seat
rails and level with the ground from nose to tail. Then begin to modify the
tilt and the fore-aft position.

Take a look at the bike fitting article below. I found it very helpful in getting
my bikes to fit me better.

https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/fitting.htm

If you cannot get it to fit better after working through this, then maybe
other parts are in order.

For seatposts, I like the 27.2 version of the Bontrager Big Earl. It is rugged
and reasonably priced. I also like the two bolt microadjust types of seatposts.

Bike fitting is often a game of millimeters.

FrenchFit 

Get a two bolt seatpost, besides being stronger and more reliable they microadjust on the tilt. Other than Thudbusters, suspension seatposts are a joke. If you want a soft ride, do it with tire size and air pressure.

You look uncomfortable and poorly fitted on that bike, but I can't venture tips based on a video. You are riding upright, that makes a 'good fit' somewhat of a frustrating exercise. I think you should be cautious about paying for bike fit, you may not get your money's worth or end up with alot of gear recommendations that will be counterproductive in the long run.

Bike fit articles are worthless for many new riders; they are based on assumptions about your fitness and mainstream body proportions... and they too foten written by very seasoned riders and builders, many of which are shorter than 5'10 and weight +/- 170 lbs.

Just keep riding and experimenting, figure it will be a learning experience for you and you'll be making plenty of adjustments along the way. But, you have to keep riding, toying with different components is not a substitute for time in the saddle. To some extent, the major component that needs adjusting here is your body, and it's going to take time for that to happen on any bike.

llmercll

thanks a lot guys! I will take in all your advice and use it will. It has been a bit of trial and error for me, but we'll see.

That is EXACTLY what I'm experiencing! I feel like I bounce when I pedal and it makes it hard for me to go at a steady cadence. I also feel like I go from leg extension being ok, to needing to rock my hips to pedal, and when I do that, I need to stretch my legs cutting "into" the seat, which hurts even more =/

I got the replacement seatpost for $13, I think it will be a great investment =)

thanks a lot!

exile

At first glance it actually looks like the bike is to small for your. However looking at Evans Cycles Bike Sizing, your bike might be about right.

Judging by the video it does look like you are extending your leg just a tad to much. A non suspension seatpost that you can lower, and no longer get the "pogo effect" is a good idea.

I'm guessing your bike is more of a hybrid/comfort bike designed for a riding posture that is more upright. In cases like that your rump and legs are designed to support most of your weight. I usually prefer wider saddles for that riding posture.

Also looking at the video it looks like your wrist is bent at an awkward angle and your handlebars are to close and to low. However with your saddle height not adjusted properly it may be skewing my judgement. By correcting your saddle height first you might find the other problems you are having disappear.

You may also look into having your handlebars further away and slightly raised to see if that helps.

For measuring saddle height I think this BikeRadar.com article: "How to get your Seat Height right" gives some good overviews of popular methods. For me the Lemond method was about right with some slight tweaking.

As you can see, there is no tried and true way everyone can use to get comfortable. By listing the area where you live maybe a clyde/athena close by might be able to help in person.

Good luck .

flippin_bikes

I think that rigid seatpost will be a good thing for finding a better fit. Viewing that video again, I am having a hard time judging your leg extension either because your riding the bike around at different angles of your saddle to pedal height is changing because of the movement of the seatpost. It is also hard to tell how much one's knee is bending when you are wearing long pants.

Please keep us posted.

llmercll

Thanks guys I will definitely keep you posted.

One thing I noticed is when I ride "harder", the butt and hand pain isn't so bad. I guess because my mind is focused elsewhere and It feels like more of a workout. When I'm just lightly pedaling at a leisurely rate it seems much worse.

thanks for the help!

perspiration

This almost certainly points to a fit issue. You feel less pain when you ride hard because most of your pressure is off your butt and hands and onto your legs. When you ride at a leisurely pace, you're not pushing nearly as hard with your legs so all your weight ends up back on your butt/hands. I learned this the hard way on my recent longer, slower rides!

Eventually you'll get to the point where your core muscles can help you take some of the pressure off of your hands, but I also think this bike may be too small for you...if you have the seat all the way back and your hands still hurt, your reach is probably too small...

llmercll

I'm working on getting my wheels trued atm. I got all my stuff from nashbar but until my bike is ridable I can't worry about fit =/

It's a shame, because I absolutely love biking so far. I can't get over the strength I've obtained, simply from riding a few weeks. Now walks that would otherwise kill me,don't even get my heart rate up! and I feel my core and upper body are strengthening as well. It's a great feeling =)

I'll be sure to update this thread asap once I get my bike back and try out my new seatpost. thanks for all the advice and help so far everyone!