Trouble fitting a bike?

[Divscotty]

Did anybody else have a process of getting a bike to fit?

I believe I finally got mine right.

Bought a medium Gary Fisher Sugar 3+ Disk

Warrantied out the crank and BB

went through 3 chains because the chain got stuck between the crank and the frame

changed to a 1 inch shorter stem with the same rise

moved my seat completely to the back - so it won't go any farther toward the rear of the bike

I tried a woman's specific Gary Fisher that another lady ordered and I disliked it and so did she.

My husband's fit right off the show room floor.

About 800 miles later the bike's ride is real good but I am getting a lot of chain slap. very noisy.

:)

[scout]

It sounds to me like you did two things to fit your bike that are working against each other. Why slide your seat all the way back and get a shorter stem? A one inch decrease in a stem length is a substantial change. It works out to about 2.5cm. I would revisit the stem length and see if you could get something in a 1cm difference in relation to your original one. By sliding your seat all the way back you are interfering with pedaling efficiency. By balancing your wieght further forward you will be able to transmit more power in turning the cranks. As for the chain slap, check the length of the chain, it may be too long. Sometimes removing a link will solve this problem. It may be inherent to the design of the Sugar suspension, not sure about that. In either case consider protecting your chainstay(the part of the frame the chain is slapping against) with some sort of protector.

[Divscotty]

I have a short torso and a long femer. So I tried to move the seat back so my leg fits over the crank properly and the shorter stem so I can reach the handlebars.

I still have the long stem but it seems to be handleing better with the shorter one for me except on steep hills then I slide forward on my seat to keep the front end down. I need a new seat my current seat has a hard plastic end on it and moving forward is not great but I can keep seated on long steep uphills.

Thank you for your responce.

Divscotty

[scout]

It is very typical for women to have longer legs and shorter torsoes. The women specific designed frames address this by shortening the top tubes and shrinking the cockpit space. You should check your fore and aft saddle position with a plumb to determine if it is correct. By correct I mean in a neutral position, everybody has there own preference, but it is a good starting point. The following assumes you have your seat height correct. Mark the center of the large bones that touch at your knees(behind the kneecap) when you stand with your feet together. Then sit on the saddle with the crank arms horizontal(you will need help with this), drop a plumb line from the mark on your bone, it should line up over the pedal axle or spindle. The plumb line itself should cross the hole in the crankarm, where the pedal is attached, right down the center. Again this is neutral, the prevailing wisdom says it is okay for your bone to be behind the spindle but it is usaully not good when it is in front of it.

[Divscotty]

I'll get the opportunity to give that a try in about 1.5 weeks. Have a weird schedule coming up. Glad I got several good rides in this week.

[Divscotty]

My knee is nearly 2 inches too far forward

I have a new seat coming maybe the rails will be longer

But if not I may have to look into a new seat post in the next couple pay days

Just hope to have the seat for this weekend I made an error when I purchased my last one.

When I shortened my stem and now when i move to the end of my seat occasionally on long pulls there is a hard piece of plastic tip gizmo I never noticed before. Not good.

But if I move my seat back 2 inches the cockpit will be too long again.

Oh well I will think about it. Thanks for the info

Divscotty

[thanita]

Can you split the difference and move the seat back 1 in and get a stem that is in between lengths?

Generally, it is best to do major fit adjustments with stem length, as moving the seat way up or way back screws up your riding position and can fight the (typically) functional geometry of the bike. If you have your body in a good position (good knee to pedal position) and you simply cannot find a stem that is short enough to make this work, it is possible that the frame you are riding simply has too long of a top tube for you.

If you have an offset seatpost, maybe you can look into getting a straight one - that would effectively shorten the top tube for you.

Good luck, fitting can be a pain in the saddle!!

[Divscotty]

Thanks - It's a good project to fuss with I can think of a lot worse projects - Like nearly getting smacked with a truck in an intersection tonight coming home from work I'm still not over it yet - I suppose my heart rate will reduce by morning. LOL