New bike putting me in agony

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jack smith

Veteran
Location
Durham
Built a scott foil lastweek as some of you may have seen its a size 54 and im 5'11 ive had 54's before but just came from a boardman 56, the top tube is the same length so i though id buy the same length stem and it would be fine but my hands arms and lower back are in agony.
saddle height is correct and ive been messing with fore/aft adjustment to no avail, but its an inline seatpost and i dont think they do setback which all my bikes usually have.

When i lean right back in the saddle i feel more comftorable in the arms but not the legs, do you think i need a longer stem? Although im already running a 120mm which is long i suppose.
Ill get some photos on the trainer later on . It feels as if the bars are too low down which is putitng alot of pressure on my arms and lower back, but the stem is flipped and right up on the steerer.
 

Citius

Guest
Do your other bikes give you the same issue? If not, compare the measurements and establish where the discrepancies are.
 

Fab Foodie

hanging-on in quiet desperation ...
Location
Kirton, Devon.
Sounds like you need a layback seatpost for starters.
This is becoming a bugbear with me ....
Modern road bikes all seem to come with 73 degree seat-tubes. If you have an in-line seatpost this will give you a very aggressive forward riding position where your centre of gravity is pitched forward over the bars leading to the trouble you describe. Shortening the stem will have little to no effect because you need to move your centre of mass backwards relative to the bottom bracket.
Peter White describes this as being balanced on the bike:
http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/fitting.htm
Unfortunately a lot of so called professional bike-fits don't get this either (I've recently had a long debate with a frame-builder too), but I reckon Peter White has this spot-on. The nay-sayers will say that you get less power if you don't have your knee over the pedal spindle either and that's bollocks (see Sheldon Brown/Keith Bontrager article 'The Myth of KOPS'.
I have several clubmates who suffer this issue and have got around it by fitting seatposts with layback or extreme layback. They now sit further behind the BB, have less weight on their hands/arms/shoulders, get a flatter back and less lower back discomfort.
If you sit on the saddle, put your hands on the hoods and then just lift your handsoff the hoods what happens? If you fall/slide forward you need to sit further back. If you stay-put your saddle is close to where it needs to be.
 

Citius

Guest
Ive only got an mtb to compare it against so totally different its the only road bike ive currently got

But you made a note of the measurements of your previous road bike, so you could set up your new bike the same, right?
 
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jack smith

jack smith

Veteran
Location
Durham
But you made a note of the measurements of your previous road bike, so you could set up your new bike the same, right?

I have thats why i got the same stem length as the geometry had the same measurements.
the standover height is just right too, the issue is its a one bolt seatpost so when i put the saddle back to the extreme it just pivots when weight is put on it even with carbon paste, its a very poor design. If its comfier sitting back in the saddle to stretch my arms out do you think its worth getting a 140mm stem? The bartape is specialized s wrap anti vibration and its like holding onto concrete! So that dosent help either
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
Sit on the bike. Have the cranks at quarter to three. Run a plumb line down from your knee cap (bit of string with some blutak for a weight). If the plumb line is through the axel then you have a roughly correct position. If it's way in front then you'll need a setback post.
 

Jerry Atrik

Veteran
Location
South Devon
Ive just built a scott foil myself and im just guessing but I reckon at 5-11 a 54 cm is a bit small . Im 5-8 and got a 54 frame and after a bike fit it is perfect .
 

Cuchilo

Prize winning member X2
Location
London
Sit on the bike. Have the cranks at quarter to three. Run a plumb line down from your knee cap (bit of string with some blutak for a weight). If the plumb line is through the axel then you have a roughly correct position. If it's way in front then you'll need a setback post.
Wouldn't that just hurt the thighs though , just above the knee ?
 

Citius

Guest
I have thats why i got the same stem length as the geometry had the same measurements.
the standover height is just right too, the issue is its a one bolt seatpost so when i put the saddle back to the extreme it just pivots when weight is put on it even with carbon paste, its a very poor design. If its comfier sitting back in the saddle to stretch my arms out do you think its worth getting a 140mm stem? The bartape is specialized s wrap anti vibration and its like holding onto concrete! So that dosent help either

I've seen some pics of your bike now, and unless you have a particularly upright riding position (I haven't seen a pic of you riding it) then a 120mm upturned stem, the amount of spacers and the amount of seatpin you have showing, suggests to me that the frame is too small for you. It's also possible that you are simply not comfortable riding in a position that a frame like the foil tries to put you in. Difficult to say.
 
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jack smith

jack smith

Veteran
Location
Durham
The plumline is about right when i have it back to the extreme but as mentioned above the saddle will tilt if i go over a bump
 
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jack smith

jack smith

Veteran
Location
Durham
I've seen some pics of your bike now, and unless you have a particularly upright riding position (I haven't seen a pic of you riding it) then a 120mm upturned stem, the amount of spacers and the amount of seatpin you have showing, suggests to me that the frame is too small for you. It's also possible that you are simply not comfortable riding in a position that a frame like the foil tries to put you in. Difficult to say.
See my old venge was a very aggressive position and thats the most comftorable ive been on a bike and on my tarmac and allez the stem was also slammed, this is my 54cm venge and i actually upped the saddle heights and dropped the bars after that and could ride it allday without any issues
image.jpg
 
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