Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Classic & Vintage
Reload this Page >

Question about hand position…

Search
Notices
Classic & Vintage This forum is to discuss the many aspects of classic and vintage bicycles, including musclebikes, lightweights, middleweights, hi-wheelers, bone-shakers, safety bikes and much more.

Question about hand position…

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 08-30-17, 01:26 PM
  #26  
St33lWh33ls
Full Member
 
St33lWh33ls's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Sunny Florida
Posts: 385
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 96 Post(s)
Liked 19 Times in 13 Posts
If you have never tried it Competitive Cyclist has a fit calculator. You fill in your measurements and it spits out frame sizes for you, three to be precise.

The Eddy fit
The French fit
The Competitive fit

Taken with a grain of salt it's fun to play around with, here is the link if you want to try it...

https://www.competitivecyclist.com/S...ulatorBike.jsp
St33lWh33ls is offline  
Old 08-30-17, 02:00 PM
  #27  
Salamandrine 
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 6,280

Bikes: 78 Masi Criterium, 68 PX10, 2016 Mercian King of Mercia, Rivendell Clem Smith Jr

Mentioned: 120 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2317 Post(s)
Liked 597 Times in 430 Posts
Originally Posted by St33lWh33ls
If you have never tried it Competitive Cyclist has a fit calculator. You fill in your measurements and it spits out frame sizes for you, three to be precise.

The Eddy fit
The French fit
The Competitive fit

Taken with a grain of salt it's fun to play around with, here is the link if you want to try it...

https://www.competitivecyclist.com/S...ulatorBike.jsp
That calculator works surprisingly well. At least it did for me. I tried it and it spat out nearly exactly what I've found works best for me over several decades of riding.

The big caveat is that choosing the preferred type of fit makes a huge difference, and it can't do that for you.
Salamandrine is offline  
Old 08-30-17, 02:10 PM
  #28  
St33lWh33ls
Full Member
 
St33lWh33ls's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Sunny Florida
Posts: 385
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 96 Post(s)
Liked 19 Times in 13 Posts
Originally Posted by Salamandrine
That calculator works surprisingly well. At least it did for me. I tried it and it spat out nearly exactly what I've found works best for me over several decades of riding.

The big caveat is that choosing the preferred type of fit makes a huge difference, and it can't do that for you.
I agree, it gets you close.
St33lWh33ls is offline  
Old 08-30-17, 06:06 PM
  #29  
jimmuller 
What??? Only 2 wheels?
 
jimmuller's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Boston-ish, MA
Posts: 13,434

Bikes: 72 Peugeot UO-8, 82 Peugeot TH8, 87 Bianchi Brava, 76? Masi Grand Criterium, 74 Motobecane Champion Team, 86 & 77 Gazelle champion mondial, 81? Grandis, 82? Tommasini, 83 Peugeot PF10

Mentioned: 189 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1223 Post(s)
Liked 645 Times in 232 Posts
Originally Posted by SJX426
Should we call that hand trail - the distance between the vertical line through the axle and the location of the hands (based on the center of the palm)?

Does it matter? Jim says it does based on the difference between upright riding and drops.
I don't know about "hand trail" as you describe it. My experience concerns how much of one's arm mass, especially mass toward the hand end of the arm, is effectively in front of the steering axis. This a function of how far forward the hands and shoulders are.

Balance is maintained nominally by steering the bike to stay under you. If you start drifting to one side you intuitively steer to that side to pull the bike back underneath you. (It took Mark Twain some time to realize that if you started to fall one way you shouldn't steer to the other!) If you start leaning to the left you steer to the left. With a drop bar you move your hands left. This dynamic movement of mass to the left pushes your body to the right in the direction you need to move your center of mass to get it back over the bike. The more your hands are in front of the steering axis the more they must move to accomplish the same steering change.

When your hands or at least most of your arm's mass are behind the steering axis you effectively shove that mass away from the direction you are leaning. The dynamic effect pushes you further over to the side you don't want to go. Steering the bike still works to maintain balance but the dynamic effect of swinging your arms hurts rather than helps. And steering the bike doesn't correct the lean as fast. This is the effect I experience whenever I ride upright bars.

FWIW, my Masi is the smallest frame I own and has the longest stem and I believe the greatest saddle-to-bar drop too. It is incredibly easy to steer and wonderfully intuitive while cornering. I just think about a turn and the bike knows exactly how much I want and how to do it. Of course you could argue that some of this is due to the bike's geometry. Nevertheless, its dynamic response is as awesome as its more static behavior in a turn.


Originally Posted by Dfrost
This a wonderful summation of all the elements that go into the larger question of upper body fit, and how subjective it usually is.
Thank you!
__________________
Real cyclists use toe clips.
With great bikes comes great responsibility.
jimmuller

Last edited by jimmuller; 08-30-17 at 06:09 PM.
jimmuller is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
pbass
Fitting Your Bike
5
09-11-18 11:59 AM
B1KE
Fitting Your Bike
6
10-31-16 07:57 PM
L0NE_W0LF
Touring
20
07-20-15 06:14 PM
hkboy313
Road Cycling
10
10-16-11 08:55 PM
spoke50
Fifty Plus (50+)
18
04-05-10 01:54 PM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.