simao

Hi,

I few months ago I bought a Fuji Jari 1.5 size 54. I tried the 52 and 54 sizes at my LBS and the 52 just felt too small, so I went with the 54. I still have a bit of toe overlap and I think the 52 would be too small. However, it seems I can never get enough reach when I am using the hoods hand position.

After a few weeks I swap the stem for one 2 cm shorter, now 70mm. It did help, but it's not perfect. When I cycling standing on the bike my legs almost touch the handlebars already, so I don't want to use a smaller stem.

It's my first drop bar bike, I always used mtb and hybrids before, so it might be that I am not used to this position and my back is paying for it.

When I ride the tops I feel comfortable. I was thinking if I could switch my handle bars for some kind of compact handlebars, with the hoods closer to the tops, so I get a bit more reach. I want to go to my LBS and ask for some help but I would like to know more about what I can do to fix my problem.

I attached a picture of my standing on the bike.

What can I do to improve my position on the bike, in particular get a bit more of reach when using the hoods?

Thanks a lot for your help.

RocThrower

My guess is you just haven't had enough time to get used to the new riding position of a drop bar bike, especially since this is your first one. It does take some time to get comfortable, but you will get there. I don't think you look stretched out at all, and I would even guess at some point you will want to go back to the longer stem that came with the bike. Most of these gravel/adventure bikes come with bars that already have a short reach, so I don't think different bars will make much of a difference.

One thing you could try in the meantime is rolling your handlebars back a little which will bring the hoods a little bit closer. Otherwise, stopping by our LBS is a great idea, and they should help you get more comfortable for sure.

berner

People use stems up to 130mm. There is no reason you could not try a 90mm or 100mm stem if you thought it would help. My guess is as you ride more you may wish to be stretched out a bit. This longer position also makes the drops more useful.

simao

thanks for checking it out! I wanted to know more about this before visiting the LBS, not really trust their opinion to be honest.

You mean a longer stem? The bike came with a 90mm, I am now using a 70mm, which gave me more reach, but the drops do kill my lower back to.

I was thinking my problem is I am too stretched out and have to stretch to safely reach the breaks when using the hoods.

Brian25

As I see it, you are revolving your reach strictly by how you reach the hoods. Big mistake. A lot of people ride mostly on the hoods, but it's improper. You should get to the point to where you spend 9o% of your time on the tops/ 10% in the hoods, for off the saddle climbing or/ and shifting. On these grounds, I think that you will find that your position is too short, and you will likely need to go back to the 90 stem or even longer. Also; Breaks are for when you take time off of the bike or something is broken and brakes are what you use to stop the bike.

simao

Yeah that is true, I feel more confortable on he hoods because I am used to mtb I guess, where I always have my hands on the brakes.

What do you use to stop the bike other that the brakes?

Brian25

Here's the thing; road cycling is different than mountain biking. You do not have to be right at your brake lever all the time. Look into it, you will find that there are actually about seven hand positions on your drop bars. It really only takes a fraction of a second to move your hands from the tops to the hoods, it's not some tricky gymnist move.

Clem von Jones

I was interested in the 54cm Jari and am disappointed you have toe overlap. Are you clipped in or using platform pedals? If you don't mind could you share your shoe size? Mine is 13/47 :-(

Since it's your first drop bar bike and you seem fairly tall and lean I would suggest you try flipping (-7 degrees) and lowering the stem maybe all the way down. It has the same effect as increasing reach but it also lowers your center of gravity and makes much better weight distribution between front and rear wheels. On mountain bikes the current fad is move weight toward the back but drop bar bikes are supposed to shift a lot more weight to the front wheel. It's counterintuitive but I think low bars are much more comfortable especially if you're tall and thin. Anyway it doesn't hurt to try since you've got everything you need. It'll take some time to adjust to such a radically different position but you might like it. I can barely tolerate upright mountain bike positions now after riding an aggressive road-race posture. It's far more comfortable and efficient to be low. Experiment to see how low you can go.

If your wrists hit the top of the bars when you're down in the drops then you have inadequate reach and need a longer stem. The cheap alloy stems on ebay from China are great, especially when you're uncertain of the size because you can buy several in 20mm increments.

simao

I some toe overlap when I do slow, tight corners, but it's perfectly manageable, I just know it's there. I am clipped, SPD and wear shoe size 43. If you wear 47 your are probably taller than me, so I think maybe you should at least try out the 56? Though 54 feels quite long.

I had the original stem, a 90mm, flipped the other way, maybe I'll try with the 70mm and see if it improves. I will try to get used to this position before changing the handlebars, but it has been some time already.

Thanks a lot for your comment.

koolerb

I'll just comment that I think the stock bars are awful on this bike. I can't get comfortable anywhere in those drops. I'm on the hoods pretty much all the time. I like the bike, but I'll probably be swapping out my bars soon for something a little more road bikey. I'm riding a 56 and haven't noticed any toe overlap.

Kontact 

I think you are sitting too far forward - not enough saddle set back behind the cranks. Because of that you are more likely to feel like you're falling forward if you lean over very much and feel like you have to put weight on your hands.

If your saddle was in a better position the tension running through hamstrings and lower back would help support your upper body weight and allow you to lean over properly.

The way you are sitting on that bike now, you might as well be riding a Dutch city bike.