hello...i previously posted in another forum because i thought it would be more issue-specific, but i'm trying here to tap other minds (and in hopes of not having to buy yet another bike).

i am trying to fit myself on a bike and i've had horrible trouble. i started by moving the seat back so that i could stand in between saddle and stem without being too compressed.

from there, i've worked with seat height but i have to keep raising higher and higher to get a decent ability to pedal ...but then the bike is hard to get onto/off of at stop signs, lights, etc.

i have tried both clipless pedals and pedals with toe clips but i cannot get my feet back far enough to use them, so i end up pedaling with my "midfoot". and even then, my knees are too far forward.

i am using a saddle with a pretty long rail, compared to others in the store i purchased it from, but after my most recent move back, there's not much further back i can shift it. now it seems i will still have to keep raising the seat to get a good stroke, but then i'm stuck with one of the original problems--mount and dismount.

i have also raised the handlebars as far as they'll go to help--i believe i've surpassed it, as there's a "^MINIMUM^" line visible on the stem.

this is a women's bike and i'm only 5'3. it is also my 3rd bike ....2nd in the last month. i've received advice to find a different style (crank forward) but i really don't want to buy yet another bike. i don't have the room for all of these as is!

something i was hoping would work but have not tried is a setback post for the seat. i could also search online for longer-railed saddles but i'm not sure how successful that will be.

i really appreciate any and all advice.....i am enjoying getting back into cycling and it is helping my weight loss goals considerably, so i really want this to work!

Hi,

What is the make, model and size of the bike? You can use the link below to get an idea of the dimensions of the bike you may need.

Bike Fit Calculator | Find Your Bike Size | Competitive Cyclist

I ride Big Box bikes. The latest was $35 used and with a little work it fits and rides great. I have tried clips and clipless but I stick with platform pedals.

If you find, after using the fitCalculator, that the bike you have won't work start checking out yard sales. Mountain bikes have a lower sloping top bar and you can mount city tires for an easier ride.

Thanks for responding It is a 700c Women's Schwinn Admiral and it does not have a size specified.

I did the calculator, but there are 3 different 'fits' for mountain and 3 for road - I am not sure which to use . This bike I guess is a cruiser style with hybrid features too.....not really sure how to categorize it.

I put it on the trainer and have moved the seat back to the max, and I still don't think I could comfortably pedal with the balls of my feet or in the clips. I feel like my knee is still too far forward. This is also after raising the seat. I am too short to be too big for this bike! What could I be doing wrong ?

Photos!

i have a "bike store" hybrid too and this was a problem on that bike as well. i got this because i needed the frame style but in both cases, i find myself having to raise the seat really high for pedaling, which makes the bike hard to mount. And even with the seat high, my knees never get into place.

Ah no. Not that image. Photos of you on the bike, at least one with your pedals positioned up-and-down and another with them horizontal.

i am not sure if i can do that. are there any measurements i can take?

No. The usual thing is to have a friend photograph you sitting on the bike, perhaps leaning slightly against a wall, but in your normal riding positions. You must know someone with a digital camera or smart phone.

wow, sorry, i was not aware of this requirement. this is not feasible for me.

thanks anyway!

Yes, well without seeing your position on the bike, it's rather impossible to offer any suggestions, at least for me to do so. Sorry.

Thanks for trying !

There's not much else that can be done anyway, I suppose. The seat can't go any further back and I can't keep such a high saddle height because it makes the bike unmountable in traffic. I hate to have to start over again with a fourth bike but I think that's where I'm at.

I was reading that the model you have is for women 5foot2 to 5foot6. So, it should fit.

It is a cruiser/comfort category bike, which means you are meant to sit somewhat more upright than a road bike.

When you say your knees are too far forward, do you mean they hit the handlebars?

NOTE: You don't want the stem to be inserted less than the minimum insertion line (you may have to lower it slightly from what you describe above).

Photos would help, but I'm curious what you are trying to do with saddle height.

Can you set the saddle height to where the following happens: with one pedal placed at the farthest point from the saddle (down and a bit forward), and your shoe heel placed on that pedal, is your leg roughly straight (knee has little bend or none and you are not rocking your hips to reach the pedal)? This would be the approximate saddle height to use. Also, do this with both legs (one at a time) to confirm correct saddle height.

If you set the saddle height as above, can you put a flat foot on the ground while in the saddle? Do you need to get off the saddle to reach the ground?

Interested to hear what happens with saddle height. After that, other things can be adjusted.

Hello, and thanks for responding!


I am beginning to wish I had a good road bike!
Yes I did a few hours on the bike a few days ago and my knees did indeed hit the grips a few times. However, by knees being too far forward, I mean too far to pedal properly--I could not pedal with my toes in the clips nor with my cleats locked in before switching pedals. I pedaled mostly with the midfoot/arch area.

i have lowered it so that the arrow is almost totally covered.


Thanks for the idea. I have done this test on my spin bike but never on my new bike.

With the seat now moved as far back as it can go, I have set the seat so that I could place my heel on the pedal with a straight leg as you described (tested on both sides). I have the bike on a trainer (no resistance and only 1.5" or so from ground) so that I could test seat/pedal positions, but in this case my toes cannot even touch the ground.

When you stop in traffic, put your left pedal down. As you slowly roll to a stop, put all your weight on that left pedal with your leg straight, then come forward off the saddle and put your right foot on the ground. It's OK if you are still rolling a bit, just dab with your right foot until you fully start. Stay astride the bike.

There are two ways to get going again. One is to push yourself forward with your right foot, dabbing, but not sitting on the saddle, until you get going fast enough to balance. Then sit down and start pedaling. Another way is to use your left toe to bring the pedal up to the 10 o'clock position. When you want to start, put your foot on that pedal and push down. At the same time as you push down, use the force of the push to lever yourself back onto the saddle. You can use a little push with your right foot at the same time as you push down with the left to get yourself upright and pointed in the right direction.

Practice in your driveway or in a parking lot. And of course you are wearing cycling gloves and a helmet.

OK, so it is clear that you will need to be able to get onto and off of the saddle with ease so that you can stand up in front of the saddle when stopped. I would find an area away from traffic and try Carbonfiberboy's suggestions about starting and stopping in the above post.

Your knees should not normally hit the handlebars, and I'm surprised that they do. If they do hit when the handlebars are in a good position, the bike is likely wrong for you. Are your handlebars rotated downward, or are they more like in the picture above that you supplied? For this kind of bike they are meant to look roughly like in the picture above so that your position is fairly upright.

I noticed that the o.p. said that her knees hit the grips. There are a couple of reasons that this might be. Here in Portland as many women as men bike commute. I notice that a LOT of them can toe it at stoplights without coming off the saddle. This seems to be how a lot of women like to set up their bikes. Technically it is incorrect. You really shouldn't be able (especially with the size feet that most women come equipped with) be able to stay in the saddle while fully stopped.

The Internet is good at a lot of things but teaching dynamic activities like bike riding stretch its ability to convey information. Carbonfiberboy's sincere efforts notwithstanding I think the o.p. would be well served to head over to a local Community Cycling Center where enthusiast volunteers can see her on the bike and offer help, critique or advice. Failing that she should (IMO) help us better help her by giving details of physical measurements of her and her bike. We don't need pictures (I don't). And I can't think of a more anonymous setting in which to get information. FWIW.

Thank you all for this great input. I was out riding and practicing with my clips this evening.

Since moving the seat back to its max, it seems a little better for my knees. I could clip into the toe clips and not feel like I was too "crouched". I still could not reach the ground while in the saddle. I have practiced routines such as what [MENTION=78894]Carbonfiberboy[/MENTION] suggested (thanks btw) but I seem to have a tough time sometimes "making it" onto the saddle.

@Liesesturm you're right in that I'd feel more secure if I could even get a toe onto the ground, but I know that when the saddle is that low, I'm back to being too low for pedaling. If I lean the bike a little , I can, but I am always afraid of the bike just not making it upright again one day....and in the worst of traffic.
[MENTION=383126]Igualmente[/MENTION] , my bars are "flipped" upside down, so they're not like the photo anymore.

I don't know where to go with this given that the handlebars are flipped. Could that also make it harder for you to get back on the saddle after stopping (because you are leaning lower with your upper body but trying to raise the rest of your body onto the saddle)? I don't know.

A final suggestion: you could try doing all this adjusting without the clipless pedals. Platforms might be an easier way to get used to the bike and then you could return to clipless. Honestly though, I don't understand the use of clipless on this kind of bike. Nevertheless, if it is what you ultimately want, I would suggest you consider using platforms until you figure out or give up this bike. You can change back once you are comfortable on a bike. No sense trying to figure out clipless and mounting/dismounting simultaneously.

The bike was not purchased to be a cruiser-style ride, I bought it for the frame type because it was better for me than my top tube hybrid. I had the same mount/dismount problems on that bike but it was made worse by the tube being so high, so I found a bike that had the lower entry frame.

I cannot do long rides with the "normal style" bars as it is not comfortable, and this style gives me a much more normal position. It is still not perfect but a lot better.

I took off clipless and went to toe clips. This actually highlighted how bad my knee positioning was, when I was not able to pedal with the toes in the clips. I used the platform side for my long ride this past weekend, but yesterday I was able to use the clips.

I agree that it's a lot....I guess I am just eager to keep going with this. I have ridden a lot in the past few weeks and I just want to keep this up as long as weather allows (and it is already getting cold!)

There are quite a few videos on You Tube showing bike fitting. https://www.google.com/search?q=you+...a&channel=fflb I'd suggest watching a few of them to get a better idea of what to look for and or measure to get your bike comfortable. Some aspects of bike fit are counter-intuitive which make them difficult to evaluate if not aware of them.

I don't know if you may or may not have the right size bike. Either way, stay with it and you will arrive at a comfortable bike in time.

I don't know where you ride and why, but you, unfortunately, fit the stereotype fearful female bike rider. You should not go out in traffic fearing anything! Dismounting and remounting are trivial aspects of bike riding and a ride of any length requires several such dismounts and remounts. Why wouldn't you make it back upright? Why would you be not upright in the first place? When you dismount you move forward off the seat and drop down into the space between you and the handlebars. The bike is tilted minimally, if at all. I once had a seatpost break on a long ride on our tandem. We found a machine shop and they were able to pull the broken part out of the frame and we re-inserted what was left and completed the ride. I was several inches lower than usual but it really wasn't any big deal. If you have to lower your seat a LOT until you get more comfortable, just do it. Better that than that you are nervously riding around in traffic. This just does not sound like a good situation going on in your world. Also, there shouldn't be the need to resort to a cruiser style of bike just to get a more "step through" kind of frame. There are mixtes, step throughs, and even regular old 'sloping top tube' type bikes that fit many women riders. You appear to want a road bike and road bike type performance. You cannot force a cruiser into that role. I hope you sort all this out. The country needs more cyclists.

OP, you appear to fit my wife's profile. She's also 5'3" and feels a need to be able to flat foot. Answer, if you just can't adapt to a properly sized and fitted "conventional" frame bike, is a step through crank forward. In her case an Electra, women's frame, Townie is the solution.