SafetyThird

15 years ago I was into triathlon and had my titanflex setup with a vision aero flat bar, bar end shifters etc. Life got in the way for quite a few years where I wasn't cycling or running and now that I'm 54, creaky and unfit, I'm finally getting back into cycling again. I've rebuilt the front end with standard drops and brake/shifters and I'm now trying to get my fit sorted out. As I can't go to a shop and get fitted, which I'll probably do later this year when we're able to, I bought the bike fast fit app and set up on the trainer. Now I'm looking for a bit of feedback on if I'm in roughly the right place.

I should add that I want to change the saddle out relatively soon as I've taken the tri specific saddle off it and put on a spare coobi split fit that I had in the spares box which is more comfortable than the Selle san marco Azoto which was on it before. Not sure what current saddle to go for so that'll be an adventure, as I hate changing saddles and going through the pain of trying to find something comfortable.

So, photos from the app of current setup with pedals at 12, 3, 6, & 9 o'clock.

I'd be grateful for any feedback you might have.

Iride01 

Just ride and see what issues you have. Then try to determine if they are just from your body being out of riding shape or maybe repositioning something will help. To me, you are putting the cart before the horse, since likely your old positioning is in the ballpark of where it needs to be.

Carbonfiberboy 

Well, it's a tri bike. They're just different. You don't look like a small guy and yet you have toe overlap. In photo 2, my knee would be 7" behind the stem's center and I'm only 5'6". It seems you have KOPS, but you look too far forward on the bike. I'd say drop the stem and increase its length by maybe 20mm, but that looks like it would put even more weight on the front wheel. Move the saddle all the way back? I like a fit which, in the low hoods position with forearms horizontal, puts my elbows just forward of my knees as I pedal.

It looks like you have the open hip angle intended by the tri bike designer. A more usual middle range hip angle would be 50°. I think your saddle is a little high, too - you have to point your toe a bit at the bottom. Since you have the ability to get your own numbers, have a look here: https://www.bikefitadviser.com/blog/...t-joint-angles

You might want to check out a road bike.

SafetyThird

Thanks for that, very useful, particularly the bike fit advisor pages, I'll read through those today.

The bike's not specifically a tri bike, though that's how it was originally set up. The geometry is variable by adjusting the length of the top tube, it's a titanium tube in the frame that can be slid in and out to give the top tube length you prefer, so can be set for slack angles like a road bike or steep angles like a Triathlon bike, that's one of the reasons I bought it. When I bought it, I had it professionally set up for triathlons as I pretty much exclusively rode it down on the aerobars. I'm 15 years older, less flexible and so much less fit these days so I'm trying to get a rough road setup done.

Could you please tell me what you mean by 'toe overlap'?

I started my set up from KOPS, I know it's not how many fitters do it but it's a rough point to start from that I can do easily myself. That said, the ability to move both the top tube and the saddle means there's several combinations available for the same result.

SafetyThird

OK, so spent a bit of time with the bike today. First thing was to measure the seat angle and it was at 78°, tri geometry, so I pulled the top tube out 50mm which took me to 72°, now it's a road bike

I dropped the saddle as well and put it on the turbo and took some footage with bike fast fit. It felt a bit stretched out on the hoods so I took a second clip with my hands as though they were on hoods but at the position of the main bar to see how that affected the results. Both sets shown below.













This second set with hands closer to me gave the best angles according to the bike fast fit app, but they're still a bit out when using angle information from bike fit advisor as linked to by Carbonfiberboy above.

SafetyThird

So I dropped the seat height a few mm and the next set show the results of that.













This second set with the seat a little lower and the hands further back seems to be a better setup. Either way, they're both a lot better than the previous one based on the tri geometry. The hands closer to me version certainly felt more comfortable and so it looks like I need a shorter stem to make that work. I expect that the longer stem is a bit more aero and efficient but I'm still only just getting back into riding so comfort is likely the best option to go for currently.

Any further thoughts?

Carbonfiberboy 

I like the look of the 4th photo from the top the most. You look a little cramped in the 2nd set. If that feels like it puts too much weight on your hands, try moving the saddle and bars both back ~1cm, and assess hand comfort while pedaling at your normal tempo pace. And bend your elbows! A lot. Try riding the hoods with forearms horizontal, see how that feels. Fine tuning of saddle height mostly concerns being able to develop the most power with least effort. Most folks just have to fool with it, a couple mm at a time, both up and down. Find where you feel strongest. I'm sure you know how to do that, though the road position does use muscles a little differently.

SafetyThird

Thanks very much for your help, looks like just leave it where it currently is and ride it for a while. I'll experiment with arm position as I've not spent much time riding hoods, so I'll work on that.