Bike definitely too big!
64
Member
1913 days
mike101 posted 3 years ago.
You have several options to shorten the length of the bike. The first is the seat position. You maybe able to move the seat forward a little. Another option with regard to the seat is a forward seat post like this. The downside to forward seat posts is they can require you to make other adjustments to the cranks/pedals.
Another option is to shorten your stem. You probably have whats known as a quill to connect the fork, handlebars to the frame. It looks like this You can purchase a threadless adapter which takes the palce of your quill. Then you add a stem, like this You can find them as small as 70mm. I would guess you're current stem or quill is 100-110mm. That can give you another 30 mm+ 10-20mm from the seat movement+50mm with a forward seat psot and you have 100mm or almost 4 inches closer.
The downside to moving your body very far forward is it messes with the center of gravity the bike was designed for. The farther forward you go the more difficult handling can be. I hope this info helps.
"If you have knowledge, let others light their candles at it."
Margaret Fuller
Greetings all. I am new here and have found this iste, (or more accurately,the people), to be enormously helpful. I have yet to do a Tri, but it is one of my big goals in life. So... here's my question. It is actually similar to the previous Bike Too Big question.
I have a Trek road bike, the 1000 model, kind of an entry level road bike. If anyone is familiar with that bike, I would be happy to hear what you recommend for changes to make it more fitted for a triathlon if that's possible.
The other question is about the frame size. I got talked into a 58cm frame, (I'm 5'8), and I think it is a bit too big. I can do the old stand over the bike and see if your toes touch the ground with clearance over the tube, but I find that I am stretched out a bit on longer rides and tend to get a nasty back ache. Thoughts? Is getting a smaller frame a dumb way to fix this, or can I get away with a less drastic changes? Do I need to scrap this and get a different bike altogther? (If so, what are some changes I can make to my current bike to get by until I have the money for a new bike?)
I am not too knowledgeable on all of the details on this stuff, I tend to just get on and ride and get a great workout! Thanks. Sorry for the incredibly long post.
"If there must trouble let it be in my day that my child may have peace."- Thomas Paine