I’m curious about what other unicyclists have found comfortable or preferable for road bike fit. I recently got a singlespeed/fixie road bike. After experimenting with different stem length, stem height, saddles, saddle position, and riding position I’ve ended up with a bike fit that has the saddle much more forward than I expected. I’m just more comfortable pedaling more on top of the pedals rather than with the saddle set back. That’s probably due to me pedaling unicycles for the past 10 years and doing zero road biking in those 10 years.
Have other unicyclists found that they too prefer to be more on top of the pedals with a road bike?
Part of the fitting issue on my bike is also due to my nonstandard body proportions. My upper body is a little shorter than typical given my leg length. So most standard geometry bikes are going to have a toptube that is slightly too long for me. I can compensate with shorter stems.
My current bike fit is generally comfortable. I wouldn’t use this fit for doing many century rides or long multi-day tour rides. But for my riding it is working well and makes the bike fun (it’s quick to sprint up). For long rides my hands, wrists, and shoulders would get sore.
Here’s a picture of my bike. Full resolution picture is in my Miscellaneous Stuff gallery. Handlebar height is 3" below the saddle height. The saddle looks more forward than it actually is. The saddle is a Selle San Marco Rolls which has a shape that allows you sit on the far back part of the saddle. If it was a different saddle I’d likely have the saddle just a tad bit more set back. It does look a little strange with the saddle so far forward. I’ve got enough room on the rails to move the saddle about 0.75 cm more forward and that’s it. To move it any more forward than that I’d have to get a set forward seatpost.
Enough rambling. Here’s the bike pic. A pic of me on the bike would also be helpful, but I don’t have such a pic yet.
Nice singlespeed by the way. Just from the picture it seems your seat may be a bit far forward, but if it is comfortable and you can ride it all day then its probably OK. I like to have the seat a bit further back which takes some of the pressure of my arms/hands. This also keeps a bit more weight over the rear wheel and perhaps more traction when riding the singlespeed MTB (when you are actually sitting on the seat). There seems to be a multitude of ways to fit a ride bike, but when you get down to it, unless you are racing then comfort is probably the most important issue. Time triallists tend to sit further forward than roadies which gives more power and a better aerodynamic position.
I tend to ride like that on a road bike, even before I started unicycling, so I don’t think it’s necessarily a unicyclists’ trait. On a mountain bike (when I used to ride them, before I got into muni) I had the saddle further back to get more weight over the back wheel, but on the road I like it more foreward.
I don’t think unicycling has influenced my bike fit preferences - I haven’t changed my bike setup for a couple of decades and I haven’t felt any urge to change it in the four years I’ve been unicycling.
Rob
Edit: Thinking about the previous post, perhaps it’s relevant that my competitive riding was mostly time trials, although I did a lot of fast touring and Audax-style riding as well. I’ve got a longish body for my height, so the opposite of John’s proportions.
JC is spending way too much time riding his fixie. We’re all concerned about him up here in the Seattle area. He’s also spending WAY too much time talking about it, photographing it, thinking about it. It’s just not healthy.
I hear Bruce D. is flying back from England to help us address this issue more directly.
My previous road bike had a standard saddle position so my knee was over the pedal spindle (KOPS). I rode it many thousands of miles and did a cross-country ride with it. Then I don’t touch a road bike for 10 years and start unicycling a lot. Get a new bike and find I prefer a completely different style of riding position. It makes me wonder if the unicycling made me prefer the more forward riding position.
Every time I look at my bike the saddle position still looks weird to me. It’s like the bike has the wrong proportions. I’m just so used to seeing road bikes with the seat set back for a more standard road bike fit.
I think yes. Perhaps Fall City to Duvall and back, with espresso in Carnation, lunch, soft serve, and espesso in Duvall, more espresso in Carnation on the way back, and a pint of Jack Daniels to finish off the ride in Fall City.
Well, maybe not on the Jack, but it’s a short drive into some Carb-centric establishments in Redmond, where Jack is available with dinner.
My road bike is just an old mountain bike. It’s got grease everywhere, except where it’s needed, it’s rusty, the front wheel is not quite true(BC wheeling can be tough), the brakes barely work, the speeds don’t change, the saddle keeps adjusting itself without me asking it to and I keep getting flats(from riding too aggressively, I expect).
But it’s still a great bike, I love it. And it’s quite nice for giving rides to girls.
