Carbonfiberboy 

Make your bars look like these: Drop Bar Hand Positions: an Introduction
Use all the hand positions shown, in rotation.

Best primer I know on bike fit and setup is here: https://wheel-easy.org.uk/uploads/doc...Up%202017a.pdf

chris93263

Thanks everyone. Lots to digest here. I've never had a bike with these style handlebars. I'll focus on some of the tips above on my ride tomorrow and see what makes sense.

chris93263

well... I got antsy and read the links from carbonfiberboy. I set the bars flat to the ground, and I actually needed to LOWER the seat to get my legs to the right length. Then I noticed I had too much weight on my hands, so I moved the seat back a little and tilted it up a bit. It's amazing how much a difference moving the handlebars made. I wear pants with a 30" inseam and stand 6' tall, so i'm a little disproportionate. This just means the reach is fine, but the stride is possibly a touch too long still.

I have $120 into this bike including a tune-up. it's my way of dipping my toes in the road bike waters. so far, I love it. Pictures below of seat, bars, and this morning's ride (Newport Beach to Huntington Beach, CA).

Kontact 

That method for saddle height is generally too low and is considered dated and harder on your knees.

chris93263

Kontact 

You're going to destroy your groin with the nose up like that.

chris93263

YOINK! haha we'll see.

goenrdoug

The bars look much better now.

Ideally, the seat would be level (or only very slightly up/down from level.) What you've got going on there now looks almost BMX-ish. Note that it CAN be moved forward and back on the rails (instead of leaned) to deal with your long reach situation, but don't go so far back as to put your knees out of position...

Kontact 

Your knees out of position for what? It is pretty standard on touring or rando bikes to put the saddle further back.

Too far forward is much more of an issue.

JohnJ80

Generally, the issue is that you are putting pressure on one main nerves in your hands. Even if you wear padding or other protection, it's going to be fairly easy to get numbness if you hold the bars in a way that pressures these nerves. Google the nerves in the hands and find a picture of them - it will all become clear.

goenrdoug

Efficient pedaling and/or comfort.

KOPS (Knee Over the Pedal Spindle) is an often-referred to starting point for saddle fore-aft adjustment. It is not, of course, perfect, but it's definitely a decent starting point from which OP might begin to get their saddle dialed-in.

Kontact 

KOPS is the forward limit, and used by racers because it gives the most back bend while still giving decent weight distribution over the saddle.

But KOPS has nothing to do with pedaling efficiency. Recumbents are no less efficient than upright bikes.

goenrdoug

Not sure why you're singling me out and I'm not going to argue with you about semantics.

OP's seat position is obviously quite problematic and needs correction. He needs a starting point. If you'd like to take over from here and let him know which direction it needs to go from the image he posted, be my guest.

My suggestion is to follow the previously-supplied fitting guide link(s) and remember KOPS and whatnot and micro-adjust from there. If you think he'd be better served by maintaining the huge amount of up-tilt and slammed seatpost arrangement he has, great, but I'll just agree to disagree.

Kontact 

I guess you haven't read any of my prior posts on this thread about saddle height and level. The OP's position is a disaster.

I'm not "singling you out", I'm addressing a fallacy you posted by supplying more accurate information. Please don't let that upset you.

goenrdoug

you win, man. please leave me alone.

exime

Too much pressure on your hands which means you need to fix/adjust your stance. Whatever it takes to redistribute some weight to your feet and butt. There are 3 main distribution points. Feet, butt, and hands. Redistribute some weight. Also get gloves with pads. They will help. The more you bike the more you will dial into your bike and the more weight distribution will come naturally.

Cuyuna

Or...it could be carpal tunnel syndrome

chris93263

Lots of conflict here. wow, I feel important. it's like I have a team of experts arguing over the best way to make me faster. all joking aside, I appreciate your help.

I agree. The more I ride, the better I adjust and find what works. I've been riding every day for a few weeks now. I set my seat post so far back and tilted to begin the experiment of seeing if it relieved my hand numbness. I'm now slowly moving it to a better position while maintaining hand comfort.

Thanks for this. I'll look into it.

chris93263

when I said "Thanks for this. I'll look into it.", I was trying to quote JohnJ80

JohnJ80

This post from years ago, explains it very well. Unfortunately, the images no longer come through and are gone. They showed clearly the various gripping positions that cause trouble and how they put direct pressure on the nerves.

Wrist/Forearms hurt - Fit or ride more?

This is a good simplified picture of where the nerves go:



Avoid having the handlebar sit parallel and over the nerves. Instead, bridge across the nerves with the handlebar (more or less perpendicular to the nerve) since the nerve is usually recessed in your hand. If you need to have a hand along the handlebar in a fore and aft placement, then carry the weight on the places where I've added red arrows, or the fleshier parts of your hand. Notice that if you were to do a pushup, these fleshier parts of your hand would carry a large amount of the load and there are no large nerves running near the surface there. If you place your hand so that the bar runs up that main bundle of nerves as it enters your palm and is parallel to their direction their long axis, the handlebar is a perfectly shaped device to put pressure directly on those bundles.

It takes a little practice, but once it becomes second nature, you really shouldn't have problems with numbness ever again. At first it will feel like you're hands are touching the bar in the wrong places because it isn't where you would grab the bar if you were doing a chin-up or something. But the point is to steer the bike, not to grip it hard in one place.



J.