Originally Posted by
Hermes
I do not know the answer to your questions but here is how my Retul fit was done.
- First, ball of the foot over the pedal axle.
- Seat height with slight bend in knee at bottom of pedal stroke and do not have less than 90 degrees bend at the knee at the top of the power stroke.
- Move seat for and aft until the knee is over the pedal with the crank arm perpendicular to the floor.
- Arms 90 degrees to the body with slight bend in elbows reaching for the hoods. Adjust stem accordingly.
Since you are an advanced cyclist, consider this. You want to have a light touch on the handle bars especially when climbing. You should feel like you could let go of the handlebars, steer the bike from your core and power up the hill. Having a longer stem is better for climbing while standing.
Hermes,
Early last year I spent about a month dialing in the seat precisely - plumb bob & protractor getting all the knee angles right. These things actually helped and got my ride time up as well as help eek a little more power out of my pedal stroke. I had not run across the arm measure rule of thumb, I'll look at that. I also had not thought of how the shorter stem would effect climbing, another good point. I know that on steep climbs > 10% keeping the front wheel on the ground requires maintaining the torso in a low position, arms open and elbows bent. On longer moderate climbs in the saddle I tend to sit further back in the saddle and grab for the hoods and pull with the glutes.
Here are some of the symptoms I feel after a long ride (>50 miles) on this bike:
Low back pain in the area of the kidneys
Stiffness in the sides of the torso
Upper shoulder sourness
Excessive fatigue
After about an 85 mile ride it feels like I have been in a fight and didn't do well.
This does not happen on my other bike - I can easily ride a century, come home and cut the grass.
I am going to work with a trainer later in the year - when I talked to her about this her first reaction was that the responsiveness of the Tarmac may be getting me to go to hard too early in the ride. I am not so sure about that, I've ridden long enough to not fall into that trap.