Booger1

Start with your seat level or slightly tilted back.Doesn't look too bad,maybe tilt it back a tiny bit?

To me,your seat looks ok as far as front to back.Your knee should be directly above your pedal with the crank forward...wouldn't hurt to have your seat back a tiny bit more,which will happen when the seat is raised.

The seat looks low.With your heels on the pedals,with your shoes!,set your seat height where you can rotate the crank around without rocking your hips.You should have a some bend in your knee,with your foot in the correct position and the crank in the down position.

Your hand position on the bars looks good,you should have your wrist in a "shaking hands" position.You don't want your wrists tilted up or down.

For me,unless your racing,that's the end of the fitting.The rest of the fitting is just getting the bars up or down...in or out, where they are comfortable for your style of riding.Wherever the bars end up,you need to have some bend in your elbows and your wrists in a neutral position.

I think your elbow pain is from your arms being stretched out straight.

This is how I set up my bikes.I'm no racer type,I'm old and feeble.But I can ride all day long with no joint pain.

Homebrew01

Can't tell much without shoes and foot at 6:00 position.

Mr. Beanz

Heel on pedal at bottom straight or shoe on with slight bend at bottom. That's how I can tell seat height. 3 and 9 position doesn't show much imo.

erig007

-No shoe
-you like hard foot massage
-one of your pedal is mounted upside down as both your feet are in front at the same time
-you're riding in the apartment/house (not very easy to do especially when your wife is around watching you messing up the carpet)
-you seem happy (see above)
-not for long since someone took a pic of you riding inside
-you're not wearing a helmet
-you're pooping directly inside the bottle (to go faster maybe?)
-pretty sure you will lose a toe or 2 if you plan to go outside like this at this time of year
-don't know how you managed with the wall behind you
-despite all your effort we know what is under the sheet (a sofa)
-stairs incoming?

uRabbit

Here we go. I am at an impasse. Not sure where to go from here...



This is the original settings.



Raised seat. It felt like my leg was too straight.



Here's what I ended up with. My back is still not straight. My arms are too straight. I moved the seat back as far as it can safely go, and moved the seat post up 4 mm.

What now?

Ferrous Bueller

Looks better. Are you trying to tilt your pelvis forward? Your lower back is still close to vertical. This works when riding bikes of certain geometries, but not yours. You'd need a shorter and higher stem to accomplish the position adjustment.

The seat height doesn't look terrible. Riders are usually advised to raise or lower in small increments, rather than all at once. If you can pedal comfortably without rocking your hips, it you may have found your (eventually) appropriate height.

It's hard to tell from the photo. But is it possible your right fork blade is bent back a degree or two?

ThermionicScott 

I like the sporting attitude shown in the first pic. You still need to roll your pelvis forward, and if that puts too much pressure on your junk, perhaps lowering the nose of the saddle a notch will help.

uRabbit

Not sure?

Roger that. I will try consciously getting my pelvis forward. Didn't realize it was a conscious thing.

digger531

pic 3 isn't bad. Raise the seat back up. When you actually ride your toes will be pointed and your leg will not be over extended

digger531

Is that fork bent? Every pic looks like it is bent back. Check the head tube for bulges or cracked paint.

Ferrous Bueller

^ If it's the fork that's bent, any cracked paint might be visible at the fork crown or top of the blade.

Ferrous Bueller

It's an unconscious thing when your body rolls the pelvis back away from the junk. It's trying to maintain reproductive fitness.

RaleighSport

Does this fork also look bent to you? I think it's just a camera trick. (The following pic is another Sekai same era)

Ferrous Bueller

^ This one doesn't look bent to me.

jowilson

Bah! This is all just a trick! You're inside! Where you gonna go if you're inside?

I think that the top tube is too long for your body and the seat tube is angled very oddly. It could just be the geometry of the bike doesn't match you. Adjusting your seat height, handlebar height, and your sitting position can only do so much...

Josh

hamster

In terms of knee angles, #1 was definitely too bent, #2 was a bit too straight, #3 is OK. However, in pics #2 and #3 the foot is at the right angle to the ankle. This makes the leg straighter than it would be when you're actually riding. I think you can go back to seat height #2 and it will work for you.

Pelvis angle thing may have something to do with the saddle. If it's this saddle https://i.imgur.com/3hzSS.jpg, it may not have the most conducive shape to let you tilt the pelvis forward as everyone is advising you. (Compare: https://www.wigglestatic.com/images/f...br-11-zoom.jpg) Not saying that it's a bad saddle, just that it's a possibility.

spectastic

what happened to your smile?

treadtread

I think part of the problem is that you are stationary. I think you will bend more at your waist when you are pedaling, so your arms won't lock. Did you try a ride after raising the saddle a bit? Not too much - your leg shouldn't be straight either at the down stroke.

likebike23

If you can't get it right by adjusting saddle height and fore/aft position, you may want to consider a taller stem like the Nitto Technomic. In addition to raising the bars, you may want to go with more extension too. This will make you elongate out at the hips instead of crouching down. I have a similar build to you and I find this works for me. Look up "French fit", there are a few good threads on BF.

uRabbit

My smile went away because I had plenty of time to prepare for the shot, as this time around I had my daughter (two years old) hitting the shutter release cable button for me when I asked.

I have not tried it since the adjustments, but the previous setup was pretty bad. Shoulders got real sore, probably from being locked and not bent, so I'm pretty confident that it isn't any different when riding. I basically just hop on and go without thinking (still a newb).

I still need to raise the stem as hamster and some others suggested. 3-4" like hamster suggested, however, is just too much. My leg was at its length at around 2.5".

hamster

Stem height is a tradeoff between fatigue and aerodynamics. In pic #2 torso angle vs. horizontal is about 42 degrees. I think it will be 38 ish once you figure out how to roll forward the pelvis. 38 is an acceptable angle, but on the aggressive side and it is less than ideal for long rides. If your rides are short, you don't need to raise the stem. Though you said you had shoulder pain, bigger angle would move some weight off the shoulders and to the saddle.

One possible reason why you have arched back is that your saddle may be tilted too far up. ThermionicScott mentioned it a few messages back. Do you have a mirror so that you can try different positions? If you can't get your back straight with your sit bones touching the saddle, tilt the saddle forward a bit.

Sixty Fiver

This is the best saddle position and I would resist the urge to raise it as when your foot comes through the bottom of the pedals troke you want your foot to be nearly flat, you have a good bend in your knee, and this will allow you to push down a little with your heel without hyper - extending.

The bars need to come up so you can get a little more bend in your elbows which will increase your comfort, with more riding your flexibility and strength should improve and you need to rock those hips forward some to flatten out your back.

For endurance and comfort the saddle and bars should be closer to level... you could probably benefit from riding a frame that was a little larger as the saddle position is quite high for a vintage frame and the stem on this bike cannot be raised to an adequate height.

It would be good to know; the top tube and stem measurement, if you have shorter arms and less reach, any back issues, and the name of the pretty calico cat.

Arabesque

Back in the day, there were guides you can use to fit yourself on a bicycle.

To see if bike is your size:

- straddle the bike, and with one hand on the handlebar and another on the saddle, lift the bike under you and you should see at least 1 inch of space between tires and ground. This size frame should fit you. This was when top-tubes were horizontal like old steel bikes. Nowadays, with sloping top-tubes, this is not practiced anymore but the effective length of top-tubes is determined, based on rider's torso, arms, flexibility etc..

Now that you have the right size:

- raise your saddle and sit on it, lower it until your heel can touch the pedal at its lowest. This will be your BB to top of saddle height. Lemond has a formula for this which is your (cycling) inseam measured in inches, then multiply by 0.883 = saddle to bb.

- with the saddle adjusted to height, sit on it and rotate the right pedal until the crank arm is horizontally level. The bony protrusion of your knee should be vertical to the pedal spindle. This sets the fore and aft saddle position.

- while riding the bike, place your hands on the hoods and look down. The handlebar should block your view of the front hub. Replace stem length as needed. This will set your stem length.

Like I said, "back in the day". Some people may even laugh at these as modern tech have taken over. Nowadays, every part of your body is measured then inputted in a computer. There where no computers or cycling apps then.

These are not hard and fast rules but a starting point. We just *crudely* find ways to fit the bike but it somehow worked at least for me. You might like start with these.