deadprez012

Crit this Friday (and most Fridays after this until my next tri). I only have one bike, which is currently setup in TT fashion--very forward seat post, low drops, aero bars.

Does anything need to change to feel effective in crit riding? Yes, the aero bars will be removed, but does saddle position change for that style of ride? What about drops? Higher for more time on the hoods?

Bike is currently setup like so...



Thoughts.

urbanknight

Take the aero bars off. Everything else should be ok as long as you feel you can handle the bike.

umd

And take off the lock, the saddle bag, and the reflector for the crit.

cyclezen

well, the brakes/hoods are set very forward. Have you ridden this often without using the Aero bars? seem to work ok?
my perception would be that the brake levers might be worth moving back/up the bars a bit till you have a secure hand position on the hoods...
If the saddle is set forward to account for a forward position on the aero bars, then it'll prolly be/feel a bit too forward for riding with the hands on the hoods and in the drops. Problem is, if all you've done is ride this from the aerobar position, moving the saddle might cause some muscle issues (and knees...)
But leaving it forward will also mean you'll have a lot more weight on the arms/wrists/hands.
Real Crits are very stressful riding. Especially if the course has the usual sharp corners/turns. Means if you're anywhere from 20 riders or more back, you'll be slowing for each turn and then having to sprint out of the turn. Very Stressful.
3 days before an event and now thinking about 'position' is a very late.
But just for a point of safety, you might want to move those Brake Levers up/back a bit. where they are now, some wet hands or a solid jolt from goin over some road irregularities could have you slidin forward, right off those hoods.
If you do move the hoods, you might experiment with the saddle tilt a little. You might be able to lift the nose just a bit and get a better platform for your butt and therefore your pedal stroke.
That saddle tilt prolly works fine when you;re on the aerobars,, but it then might feel awful when you spend a lot of time on the hoods or in the drops.
If you haven;t done many crits - things worth doing - aside from being smooth and scanning all around.
Keep your attention as far forward as possible, at least 4 riders in front of you. Better to be a little more back off the wheel in front than have to concentrate on that wheel and lose attention to whats happening in front.
Sharp Corners - outside pedal down, weight that pedal, inside pedal up and don't pedal until you see others next to you - inside - are starting to pedal.
hanging a pedal on a tight turn is a sure way to lever the rear, slide out and get some serious road rash.
Inspect the course thoroughly, memorize any and all course issues for avoidance or compensation when avoidance isn;t possible. Nobody else is gonna watch for your ass.
have a good time

... a full inch back and up on the brake levers would prolly not be much at all...

like the bike...

mrvile

Dork disk.

Anyway I personally think you shouldn't really make too many changes to the bike. Because your crit is so soon, you won't really have time to adapt if you change too many things (especially things like saddle position and bar height). The way you have it set up currently may not be the "optimal" set up for a crit, but it is the best you'll be able to handle three days from now.

deadprez012

Well, the aero bars and forward seat are more recent changes (last 2 weeks or so). Typically, the seat is about 2 inches farther back. As far as the hoods, they were pretty low, but I always rolled the drops, so that would be worth doing?

Setup was like this for the first 9 weeks I was on this particular bike...



So return to this basically? Less all the non-bike equipment?

LowCel 

If you can ride it a day or two before the crit I would return it to the original position. However, for the love of all things holy adjust that saddle, it should be much closer to level.

ultraman6970

Is the OP asking these for real?

- dork wheel??
- Handlebars?
- saddle?
- head light?
- seattube reflector
- lock chain?
- brake levers?
- etc (i'm not saying u have a bad bike, actually the bike is pretty descent, i like it)

The bike has serious problems in the set up, the bike is not even set up right to go riding to pick up cokes in the 7/11 down the road. Then the boy wants to race a TT and criteriums in that thing as it is, Jezz^2

That bike needs to be fitted right.

Quel

Okay, here goes. Take this with a least a grain of salt, but here is the general info you want:

In general, a TT bike has a shorter top tube to compensate for a the added length of the aero-bars. Rule of thumb is 2cm...so if you ride a 58cm road bike, you'd start by looking at a 56cm TT bike.

You have full length clip on aero bars on the bike, which are made for TT geometry (2cm shorter, so the bars are 2cm longer). When using a normal road bike seat position, this makes the clip on bars too long. There are two solutions:

1) They make "shorty" aero bars, which have a shorter reach to compensate for that. Then you can keep the same seat position. The disadvantage is that your arms meet the aerobar pads farther up on your arm, closer to your wrists than your elbows, which is uncomfortable. Plus your hip angle is more closed, which might reduce power a bit more than a more open hip angle.

2) Keep your clip ons you have, and get a forward seat post (Profile Design makes the Fast Forward seatpost). This moves your seat forward, creating a steeper seat-tube angle, and rotates you forward. This basically solves that 2cm issue. This is a more ideal TT position for a road bike conversion, but it means you have to add/remove both a seatpost and the aerobars each time you go back and forth between your TT and road setup, instead of just the aerobars.

deadprez012

I'm not sure how you mean this post, friend, but it's my only bike for now so it is the racer, the tri bike, and the commuter, often in the same weekend.

So, just addressing what feels relevant, what about the handlebars & brake levers?

This bike fits me well for TT riding. I've ridden it without the aerobars for most of the time I've owned it though and reasonably quickly. The seat position looks like the only change I can make (for free) to the "length" of the bike for road race purposes?

cyclezen

As the earlier posters all noted, 2-3 days before a hard event, best not to fool with the 'position', hence don;t be screwin with the saddle fore/aft or height unless it really feels bad as it is. Bringing the saddle nose up a bit (tilt angle) more towards 'level' will help balance the weight a bit more.

Bar rotation should be fine the way you have it now - prior way would be very uncomfortable riding in the drops. What I meant was to consider moving the levers on the bars up and back, around the bend about 1" - measured at the bar contact point. It'll give you a more secure perch for riding on the hoods and will improve reach to the levers both from the drops and on the hoods. It also means, of course, unwinding the bar tape and rewinding or possibly replacing the bar tape after the move...
if you've never fooled with bar tape before, either get some local help, or there prolly are good visual instructions on the web.

after your crit event, seek some experienced/good advise on getting a good 'road' position.
before you make any changes, make notes on the measurements of the way the bike is setup now. Then do changes in small increments (no more than 5 mm at a time) ride for a few days/time and then make another change, and so on...

your bike is fine, it prolly can be setup to work really well for you without any big money spent (other than a possible stem to make the reach/fit work better for 'road', and a 2nd seatpost/saddle combo to use for easy swap between TT & road position). The aero bars should be able to be adjusted to optimize your TT position in combination with a forward or zero offset seatpost.
Having 2 seatpost/saddle combos, one for TT and one for road means a quick swap for consistent position, and then puttin the aero clipons on for TT.

do what you can afford and justify, but work with someone who has good TT setup experience and someone who can help get the road position optimized as well. They might be 2 different people...
resist getting your 'position' figured out on BF, it's not something done well on the internet.

topflightpro

Take off the aero bars and adjust the seat angle and you will be fine. This is just a training crit. There is a science to this, but for where you are, just make yourself comfortable and go with it. Just make adjustments as needed.

As for the question about the hoods, I find that I tend to spend most of my time in a crit in the drops - I get better handling and balance and reduce the chances of my bars getting tied up with someone elses.

If you are truly concerned, take it to one of the shops for some advice. Aaron at Velocity or the folks at DFC down on Indiana are probably better able to help you. Or you can look up Jurgen Heise - he's a professor there at tech. He is a bit crass but quite knowledgable about all things bicycles.

ultraman6970

I did not mean to be rude, sorry if my post sounded like that but the bike needs to be fitted right 1st, then u can think in the mods you want to perform. I understand that it is your only bike but as someone said, get the road position right 1st.

I would start leveling the saddle using a lever, then move the handlebar itself, not the stem, the handlebar angle so the it goes slightly angled, almost parallel to the ground, after to do that u need to move the brake levers to the right position, to do that take the handlebar ribbon out then lose the brake levers so you can move them up, put a ruler under the handlebar horns and then move the brake levers so it the tip of the lever touch the ruler, then do the same with the other one and u are done.

This will help you... https://www.bicycles.net.au/forums/vi...=18749&start=0

Remember this is for a modern handlebar and brake levers but it will show what im talking about (see the picture), the angle is about 5 degrees with the horizontal, look at the red line so put a ruler where the red line is and set the brake levers, after that the brake lever will be in the right place, u have it everywhere but where they should be, the same with the handlebars.

colombo357

It's impossible to win on that bike. Read Lance Armstrong's book, "It's All About the Bike".

ultraman6970

Read this also https://www.jimlangley.net/crank/bikefit.html

good luck!!!!

urbanknight

ftfy