Originally Posted by
etak
i just tried to fit myself then using the youtube posted above - its raised more questions than i had previously!
the clip suggests that for my height i should have crankarm legth of 170 or 172.5 - i've only got 165mm cranks. but i took a photo of myself on the bike and i seem to have the right extension (even though when i ride i feel like i'm not getting enough extension in my legs). i'm concerned about going to longer cranks as i already have a fair bit of toe overlap. does anyone have this issue? good old sheldon brown seems to think 165mm is good for track bikes (although i don't ride on the track).
the other thing is that when i'm on my bike and i look down at the front hub i can see it over the handlebars (the clip suggests that the bars should obscure the hub). what is the solution here - longer stem or move the saddle back? I'm pretty sure my saddle is back as far as it goes.
so maybe i should go back to my original question - should i go somewhere to be professionally fitted?
ah! so many questions!
in general, make adjustments starting at your feet and move up.
1: cleat position
2: seat height
3: seat setback
3.5: seat angle
4: bar height
5: reach
sometimes, as you adjust one of the earlier steps, you have to go through the following steps again.
also, regarding the longer vs shorter cranks debate, generally, track bikes do have slightly shorter cranks, but emphasis on short
er, not
short cranks. so, if you'd have giant cranks for road applications, you'd need long cranks for track applications. Regular cranks for a road bike might mean short cranks on a track bike, etc etc. If you'd optimally need giant cranks on a road bike, but use teeny cranks on your track bike, you might spin way easier, but you'll could be robbing yourself of power, and actually slightly hurt your overall performance. Ultimately, there will be some optimal point where the ease of spinning begins to be overshadowed by the less optimal power output, but that's for highly detailed, comprehensive bike fitting/performance analysis.
With regard to the "seeing the hub over the handlebars" thing, that's a combination of preferences of reach, bar drop, and how angled your back is, but don't go adjusting your seat setback. Really, that's down to what you're comfortable with, and what kind of riding you do, stem choices, and even bar choices.
If you're really this curious, then look into getting a professional bike fitting session HOWEVER definitely get someone who has experience fitting track bikes, as well as road bikes. (given the combo of track/road geo on most fixed gears, I'd assume that proper fit will begin with a combo of proper road/track fit, and might tend toward one or the other depending on the type of riding you do/what you prefer)