The Hansenator

Hello.

When I'm riding near the hoods on the top of the bars, it feels like my hands want to slide forward unless they're blocked by something like the bend in the bars or stopped at the ends of the brake hoods. It feels like, if there wasn't a physical obstruction, I would slide right off the front of the bars. First, is this normal? If it is I'll quit complaining and just get used to it. How much weight should be on the hands?

Could this be affected by saddle tilt? I feel like the saddle is tilted too far down. I tried tipping it up one notch and that helped but there was too much pressure in the soft tissue so I put it back. It feels like I want to put it somewhere between the two positions so I'm thinking of getting a micro adjustable seatpost like a Thomson. Could an adjustment that small make that big of a difference?

Could the reach affect it? I feel kind of stretched out but I haven't really ridden in a long time so I wasn't sure if I just needed more time to get used to it?

I would welcome your wisdom.

Thanks.

fietsbob

I like level or slightly nose up saddles , and setting the brake levers a bit higher up on the curve of the handlebars .


a stiff lumbar may tilt your pelvis too far forward, a looser lower back will let you keep your hips a bit more upright.


and the way down Pro race posture may not be for you, and a higher handlebar setup may be beneficial ..

The Hansenator

The handlebars are about level with the seat so it's not the lowest position. I'm also pretty flexible so it's not uncomfortable for the most part.

In my inexperience, I'm still trying to understand what can be adjusted, what needs time to adapt to, and what's considered normal and that's just the way it is.

berner

As for seat tilt, I've found that for me the tiniest change in tilt is felt. These days I actually put a small carpenter's level on the saddle and get it perfectly level. My hands used to feel they were sliding forward also. My answer has been a combination of several adjustments. First, the handle bar is tilted slightly back, maybe one or two degrees and barely visible to the eye. Secondly, I've lowered the bar below the level of the saddle about one centimeter. These adjustments may not be what you require for best comfort but note that those adjustments were tiny.

Maybe ride with some wrenches and make tiny adjustments during the ride. I have marked the seat tilt and post as well as the handle bar with dots from a whiteout pen so I can easily get back to a previous position if a change does not work out. I have also learned that the most comfortable position on the bike changes as I have become fitter. Consequently, I have been continually making minute changes over 13,000 miles now and by golly, the bike is pretty darn comfy now on my longest rides of 50 - 60 miles.

chaadster

Don't mess with your saddle yet, especially if the saddle isn't bothering you. First loosen the handlebar clamp and rotate the bars back, towards the saddle.

Presuming the brake hoods angle road-ward a bit now, bring the hoods to level or perhaps a little above, and try out the feel. Be sure to ride some in the drops as well, because in rotating the bars back, you want to be careful that the ends of the bars aren't too far off level, and pointing downwards. When they are like that, it can be difficult and dangerous to ride like that, as keeping your hands on the drops takes more grip and they can be easily knocked off by bumps in the road.

If simply rotating the bars back makes the drop position lousy for the above reasons, then loosen both the lever hoods and the bar clamp so that you can rotate the bar forward (to level the bottoms of the hooks) and move the levers further up the bars (to keep the hoods at road-level or just above as comfy). You'll need to unwrap and rewrap the bars to do this.

The Hansenator

Handlebar tilt, of course! It seems obvious now that someone has mentioned it.

I also went ahead and ordered the Thomson setback seatpost because I would like to level the saddle. Currently, my choices are to tip it slightly up or slightly down. A level saddle would be the halfway point between the two settings.