My first road bike - I prefer a more upright position - how to achieve this?

[JC2947]

Hello all,

Brand new here, and relatively new to road bikes. I've always ridden Dutch and hybrid bikes, but never a road bike and I want to buy a road bike so I have found the RC100 from Decathlon (I'd love a Trek AL 2, but finances!).

This is a link to the bike: https://www.decathlon.co.uk/rc100-road-bike-grey-id_8554266.html#
I rode it two years back and they've not changed it besides the paint job, and I've heard overall for a long period of road and gravel riding it's very solid - I ride on gravel track and road about 50/50. As you can see it's more upright with the saddle in line with the bars, unlike the AL 2 for example.

So my questions are - if I were to get this Triban bike, would it be best if I were to go larger or smaller? I'm 6ft 3 and it says that I'm between L and XL. I hate the idea of not being able to touch the floor when stopped and as I say I prefer an upright position. Is it that if I go smaller (the L), I'd have to heighten the saddle, thus giving it more of a traditional road stance?

Secondly, if I were ever to afford (when it's back in stock!), a 'proper' road bike like the AL 2, then would it be best to go smaller and lower the saddle so it's more like the Triban, upright?

Thanks a lot in advance for putting up with a novice!

 

[boydj]

If you can touch the floor when seated on a road bike, your saddle is too low. You have to learn to slide off the saddle as you come to a stop so that you can put a foot down. You set the height of the saddle by the heel on the pedal method. Once you have the saddle set, you can adjust the height of the bars by moving the spacers above or below the stem. It will feel strange after what you're used to, but it shouldn't take too long to get used to the new position.

Check out youtube for videos showing how to adjust height of the stem.

If you go for the XL you should be able to set the saddle and bars at roughly the same height, and once you get used to that you can lower the bars a little at the time to get a better posture on the road bike - assuming that's what you want to achieve. A more experienced cyclist would probably go for the L and have 4" to 6" drop from saddle to bar.

 

[vickster]

You can flip the stem to raise the bars, easy and free fix to see if it’s better

 

[slowmotion]

If you can touch the floor when seated on a road bike, your saddle is too low. You have to learn to slide off the saddle as you come to a stop so that you can put a foot down. You set the height of the saddle by the heel on the pedal method.

I'm not sure you have to slide off if your saddle is the right height. My saddle is the correct height but I can stop and balance on the saddle using the points of my shoes. It helps having big feet.

 

[MichaelW2]

Smaller bikes are shorter. You can adjust the height of bar and saddle with alt seatpost and stem.

 

[DCBassman]

You can flip the stem to raise the bars, easy and free fix to see if it’s better

Or fit a riser stem. There's no 'right' posture, muck about until you're comfortable. As always, one change at a time.

 

[Smudge]

I'm the same, i cant ride any bike that has the bars lower than saddle height. As has been said above, use all the spacers under the stem and flip the stem. You can also rotate the bars up to get the hoods higher. You can possibly end up too stretched out on the largest framed road bikes, so you may have to also get a shorter stem to swap over.
For sizing, take all the dimensions of frame parts, plus any other measurements listed for the Triban and compare them to your current bikes to give you some idea of fit.

 

[RegG]

Before buying, make sure the dealer knows their stuff and is selling you a bike that is the right size. Any decent dealer will offer a reasonably comprehensive bike fit. I bought my first road bike from a large bike shop and they simply looked at my height and said "That one will be fine" - it wasn't ? - I didn't know better at the time and trusted them. I encountered back and arm aches and when I went to a local, more specialised bike shop for a 'fit' they told me it was the wrong size. They weren't trying to sell me a new bike but did attempt adjustments on my bike which made a slight improvement but not sufficiently for me to keep the bike!

 

[vickster]

Before buying, make sure the dealer knows their stuff and is selling you a bike that is the right size. Any decent dealer will offer a reasonably comprehensive bike fit. I bought my first road bike from a large bike shop and they simply looked at my height and said "That one will be fine" - it wasn't ? - I didn't know better at the time and trusted them. I encountered back and arm aches and when I went to a local, more specialised bike shop for a 'fit' they told me it was the wrong size. They weren't trying to sell me a new bike but did attempt adjustments on my bike which made a slight improvement but not sufficiently for me to keep the bike!

Issue is that Decathlon stores aren’t open...and don’t think their staff are qualified to do bike fitting even if they were.
Oh and their website is down right now too as they can’t cope with the traffic.

 

[davidphilips]

After the lock down there may be a lot more used bikes for sale and perhaps a cheap used bike may be best?
Reason being if you are new to road bikes then after you have cycled with them for a bit you will find that whatever suits you now may not be great in a few months time.
Great thing about used bikes if you sell them again after a short time you may not loss much money and that can not be said when buying new.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Just an aside ... I'm the same height as you and the one change I made that had an immediate noticeable comfort benefit was getting wider handlebars to match my shoulders.

Not that this is directly relevant to your upright position. Just thought I'd throw it in.

 

[Gunk]

I'm not sure you have to slide off if your saddle is the right height. My saddle is the correct height but I can stop and balance on the saddle using the points of my shoes. It helps having big feet.

same as me, I’m tip toes on all my bikes.

 

[cyberknight]

Nothing wrong with decathlon bikes , they get very good reviews .
The only thing i would ad is maybe stretch your budget to get a bike with brake and shifters combined so you dont have to take your hands off the bar to change gear .
Also the rc100 only has a single chainring at the front so you may find hills a struggle without a smaller inner chainring
Another option would be to go second hand if you know what size bike you need and get more bike for your money ?

 

[vickster]

As above, wjy not look for the Trek you'd like second hand? No guarantees you'll find one, but you'll never know until you look

 

[JC2947]

Hello all,

Thank you for the wisdom written.

I'd love to go for a second hand, but right now that doesn't seem possible either as people don't seem to be selling much besides a couple of £900+ Cannondales in my area (probably the lockdown). I think I will still go with the Triban as it seems to be really well reviewed, plus has gravel tires, which I'd not thought before to consider but a couple of good rides near me are hardpacked.

By the sounds of things, it seems best to go for the XL and make adjustments, such as potential new wider handle bars and adjusting seat. Would that be correct? My thinking there is that more space allows for more adjustments, and I would have space to shrink down.

Side note - do all bikes' bars raise or lower? I can't seem to find any info on whether the RC100 does. (If needed, best pictures of the bar are here: https://road.cc/content/review/250460-btwin-triban-100-road-bike).

Thanks a lot!