Northwestrider

Good shorts, ride alot, Brooks or Selle Anatomica work well.

vikz

I'm using the test saddle by specialized 143.I'll take picture of my bike later..

bianchi10

specialized makes a couple models in 143.....you trying the toupe?

vikz

Ok here is my humble Defy3 all stock..for now..saddle is a test saddle, sorry if the pics are not great i was using my Iphone cam..what should i start saving money for upgrades??thanks..

bianchi10

I wouldn't save for upgrades. I would save for a new bike after you get some miles into this one. no point in dropping money into this one when an upgraded bike down the road would be more beneficial. Get some miles into this one and then put her on Craigslist to help out another begginner looking for an entry level bike to get started with. use that money to go towards an upgrade bike.

bianchi10

ok so saddle position is all personal as well, but I would look into raising the front of that. use a level and get it flat and start from there.

vikz

thanks i did noticed that after I took the picture..Any ideas on how much they go for used??less than 500 miles on it so far..

bianchi10

I dont know your height and how you fit that bike, but all considering I would guess you dont know much about setting up your bike or what to even look/feel for to make adjustments (correct me if I'm wrong). that being said, I would also rotate your handle bars down a little. Your hoods(rubber part above the shifters where you put your hands) are pointed up pretty high and because of the position of your bars, it puts your drops (lower curved part of the bar) in a position where it doesn't appear to be very usable. by looking at the last picture, I would imagine if you tried to use your drops, your forearms would hit the bar. the position also looks dang near impossible to use the brakes while in the drops as well. losen the bolts on your stem that clamps down on the bar just a smidge and rotate them down enough to where if you looked at your bike form a profile like your picture, the flat part behind the hoods is level, then tighten.

bianchi10

Here is a picture of my bike from a year back so it looks different now but it shows you an idea of the bars being flat. see on your bike how your brake levers are pointed up? they should be more flat (I drew a red line on yours where the levers should be). also see what I meant about where your bars should flatten out? again this is mainly a rule of thumb. This doesn't mean every bike should be set up exactly like this, but I can tell you that your bike needs some adjustments

mazdaspeed

OP your whole setup is wonky. Your saddle is designed to be used with some drop, no surprise it's uncomfortable, especially since it's nosed down. Start by leveling it and flipping your stem, also fix your bar angle.

vikz

yes i'm new and thanks for helping me out, 5'7 145lbs, and i will try to do the adjustments and go from there again thank you i appriciate all the help i can get..

bianchi10

oh...Oh.....OHHHHH and PLEASE PLEASE take off those reflectors!!!!!!! the ones on your wheels are actually dangerous to have on. If you look at them, you can slide them up and down the spoke. If they were to become lose and slide down toward the center of your wheel they actually rotate/turn which would cause all sorts of damage and most likley throw you off your bike as you crashed.

Fiery

If they become loose, they can only slide toward the rim due to the inertia. They cannot rotate because they are stuck between three spokes. Even if they do somehow, they will only shatter to pieces if they hit the fork, because they are made of flimsy plastic.

vikz

I tried to adjust and here it is..reflector is next..

bianchi10

I wasn't implying while the wheel was moving. I was thinking more along the lines of after coming to a stop and then trying to take off again. I understand they are flimsy, but also know someone who has had this happen along with my friends who work at my bikeshop recommending the same thing for this very reason. chances of it happening....probably pretty slim. But knowing that riding with something on my bike had the potential of causing an accident, I would personally rather eliminate that risk. There is enough dangers to worry about while riding the roads.

bianchi10

holy sweet jeebus...no. look at the picture I posted and look at the middle red line inbetween the levers and saddle I made. see how that line is level?

DropDeadFred

go to your LBS and use their loaner saddles until you find a good fit

bianchi10

the yellow dotted line is the bar line I'm speaking of that should be level. raise them to the red flat line.

vikz

okay I followed the mark 0 and tried to level my saddle, thank you for the help..

vikz

oh man so I do have to take the wrap out and adjust the break levers and what not..

bianchi10

??Did you adjust the hoods at any point?? If not, they should be fine where they are. Just level the bar and go from there. Dont worry man, it's all a part of learning.

unless you put on new bar wrap and moved the hoods you dont need to take the wrap off. the only thing you need to do is losen the bolts a bit from the stem clamping the bar. rotate it up so it is flat, tighten

JayC

Saddles are kind of a personal thing. Everyone has said that... however... Ive turned a lot of people on to the Terry Fly and they all really like them. Ive run the gambit on saddles. Ive probably tried 30-40 of them. I always come back to the Fly. The Fizik Aliante is a reasonable second.

Machka 

In your picture in Post #29, your handlebars looked right.


In this picture, your handlebars look all wrong for longer distance riding. In fact ... OUCH! I get shoulder and hand pain just looking at that!! Put them back the way they were!!

killarbb

all kinds of soreness here as well

the bottom of the drops should be about level as well

mazdaspeed

Put the bottom of the drops level with the ground. Get a ruler and put it on the bottom of the drop (the parallel section) and adjust your shifters so the bottom of the brake lever just touches the ruler. Also make sure the saddle is level.