Road brake lever angle?

[EasyRider]

@TwoWheelsDC 198997 wrote:

I’ve generally run 90 stems on all my bikes, but they definitely can be way shorter. About the shortest you’ll find without getting into more specialty stuff is 60mm. And 0 degree would point “up”, but you could compromise and get something like a -6 degree? Looks like yours is a -15ish?

Also, your saddle looks decently slanted…how’s that affecting things? Could be forcing you into a position where you’re putting additional pressure on your arms/hands, but if it works for you, then obviously go with that.

I think this is good advice, a shorter stem that will let you get the bars higher and closer you. I think thatÂ’s what saddle and lever tilt youÂ’ve tried already are getting at. IÂ’m no fitter, but given the amount of seat post showing in your picture, I wouldnÂ’t have guessed the frame is too big for you. IÂ’d have guessed the handlebars are too low for comfort.

Also, thatÂ’s cool frame!

[joetats]

One thing you can try pretty quickly is to flip the stem so that it points up; it wouldn’t have the parallel look anymore but would give you an idea of a slightly shorter reach and could point you in the right direction to if getting a shorter/less angled stem would feel more comfortable.

[jrenaut]

@ImaCynic 199000 wrote:

Do you know what size is this bike? How much bigger is it compared with your other bike that you are comfortable riding?

Just looked it up, and it’s a 58. My Bianchi is a 57, so maybe it is just setup and not actually too big.

[josh]

My vote goes to more yoga, losing the spacers, and a -17 degree, 140mm stem.

[ImaCynic]

It’s much harder to make a larger frame fit than one that is smaller, unfortunately.

But here we go:

Here’s a bar with very short reach and shallow drop:
https://www.jensonusa.com/3T-Ernova-Road-Alloy-Handlebar

combined with a short (60mm) stem like this:
https://www.jensonusa.com/Whisky-No7-6D-Stem

you might be able to pull back over an inch of reach. Changing seat position can cause all sorts of issues with you knees, so be really careful about that. Also, I noticed a rather large number of spacers between the headtube and the stem, this can have the effect of making the matter worse. You might want to play with that to see how it affects the fit. There is no shame in stacking these on top of the stem for now so you don’t have to cut anything.

[EasyRider]

@ImaCynic 199022 wrote:

It’s much harder to make a larger frame fit than one that is smaller, unfortunately.

But here we go:

Here’s a bar with very short reach and shallow drop:
https://www.jensonusa.com/3T-Ernova-Road-Alloy-Handlebar

combined with a short (60mm) stem like this:
https://www.jensonusa.com/Whisky-No7-6D-Stem

you might be able to pull back over an inch of reach. Changing seat position can cause all sorts of issues with you knees, so be really careful about that. Also, I noticed a rather large number of spacers between the headtube and the stem, this can have the effect of making the matter worse. You might want to play with that to see how it affects the fit. There is no shame in stacking these on top of the stem for now so you don’t have to cut anything.

I think swapping the spacers from under the stem to over it wonÂ’t give you joy. It will lower your bars, and I think too-low bars is actually the main problem here, given how much lower your bars are than your saddle in the picture.

Removing spacers under the bar and using a shorter stem will to some degree cancel each other out. ThatÂ’s because as a bikeÂ’s stem and handlebars are raised, they also get closer to the rider. As they are lowered, they also get farther away. Picture looking at the bike from the side, as the stem and handlebars move up and down an imaginary diagonal line through the head tube.

[ImaCynic]

@EasyRider 199031 wrote:

I think swapping the spacers from under the stem to over it wonÂ’t give you joy. It will lower your bars, and I think too-low bars is actually the main problem here, given how much lower your bars are than your saddle in the picture.

Removing spacers under the bar and using a shorter stem will to some degree cancel each other out. ThatÂ’s because as a bikeÂ’s stem and handlebars are raised, they also get closer to the rider. As they are lowered, they also get farther away. Picture looking at the bike from the side, as the stem and handlebars move up and down an imaginary diagonal line through the head tube.

Since the bike is actually not that much bigger, having the stem so elevated can throw off proper positioning. One way to “shrink” a frame is to increase one’s back angle, but this would result in a awkward hand position with how high the stem is. This is why stem height should be part of fitting process. Besides, if asthetics is in the equation, that stack of spacers is a definite no go.

Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk

[EasyRider]

@ImaCynic 199036 wrote:

Since the bike is actually not that much bigger, having the stem so elevated can throw off proper positioning. One way to “shrink” a frame is to increase one’s back angle, but this would result in a awkward hand position with how high the stem is. This is why stem height should be part of fitting process. Besides, if asthetics is in the equation, that stack of spacers is a definite no go.

Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk

I get your point, but I think “proper position” is a relative term in this case, which seems to be about jrenaut finding a comfortable fit, not a performance one. The stem and bars are several inches below the saddle already, and there’s a lot of seatpost showing, which is not usually a sign of a too-big bike. It looks to me like the bike is already set up for a performance-oriented fit, but it isn’t comfortable that way.

[SarahBee]

@ImaCynic 199036 wrote:

Since the bike is actually not that much bigger, having the stem so elevated can throw off proper positioning. One way to “shrink” a frame is to increase one’s back angle, but this would result in a awkward hand position with how high the stem is. This is why stem height should be part of fitting process. Besides, if asthetics is in the equation, that stack of spacers is a definite no go.

Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk

Spacer hater! My stack is bigger than your stack.

[ImaCynic]

@jrenaut 199018 wrote:

Just looked it up, and it’s a 58. My Bianchi is a 57, so maybe it is just setup and not actually too big.

1cm should not make a big difference. Assuming you are satisfied with the fit of the Bianchi, can you do the following measurements on both bikes?

1) Distance from the center of the crank to the top of the saddle at where the seatpost would intersect, measure parallel to the seat tube

2) Horizontal distance from the front tip of the saddle to the centerline of the stem/handlebar, I suggest project/extrapolate these to the toptube and measure from there.

[ImaCynic]

@josh 199020 wrote:

My vote goes to more yoga, losing the spacers, and a -17 degree, 140mm stem.

Slam it baby, slam!

[EasyRider]

OP, whatcha gonna do? Fit the bike to your body? Or fit your body to a bike set up for racing 18mph+ on an open course?

[jrenaut]

I’m going to try flipping the stem over and see how that is.

[chuxtr]

@josh 199020 wrote:

My vote goes to more yoga, losing the spacers, and a -17 degree, 140mm stem.

So this pretty much describes my set up.

@ImaCynic 199048 wrote:

Slam it baby, slam!

Phi Slamma Jamma!

[loki]

@josh 199020 wrote:

My vote goes to more yoga, losing the spacers, and a -17 degree, 140mm stem.

+1

And lose the brakes too

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

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