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The Bike Fit Academy
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1 contribution to The Bike Fit Academy
Jul 10 •
Long legs / short torso fit problem
Hi everyone, I’m looking for some input from people who understand road bike geometry and long-distance bike fit. My basic problem: I’m very long-legged with a comparatively short torso. I’m about 193 cm tall with roughly a 98 cm inseam. I currently ride a 2023 Scott Addict RC in XXL. Current bike / setup: - Scott Addict RC XXL, 606 mm stack (+10mm spacer) / 410 mm reach - 0 mm offset seatpost - saddle pushed all the way forward - 110 mm stem - fairly aggressive position The weird thing is: the bike can feel okay only when set up quite aggressively. Simply raising the front end does not automatically help — if the bars get too high, I get neck issues. I’m quite flexible in the hip, so I can handle a pretty low front. So I don’t think I’m just looking for a relaxed endurance/upright position. I may need something that is still low/racey, but shorter in effective reach. My goal is not a short test-ride fit. I want a position that works for rides longer than 3 hours, ideally something closer to an ultra/endurance road fit: sustainable power, stable pelvis, no constant pressure migration, and no “I fixed one pain point but created the next one” situation. Right now it feels like every adjustment just moves the problem: - saddle pressure / soft tissue / sitbone issues depending on saddle and tilt - forefoot/toe numbness or foot pressure depending on cleat/shoe/insole setup - neck/upper body tension if the cockpit solution goes too far in the wrong direction - if I make the bike more “comfortable” in one area, another area starts to complain So I’m starting to wonder whether the frame geometry itself is part of the problem. Maybe I’m compensating for a too-long effective cockpit by running the saddle very far forward and using a 0 mm setback post, instead of having a frame that lets me sit in a more natural pedalling position while still keeping the reach manageable. One bike that looks interesting on paper is the Pinarello Dogma F, especially size 59.5. If I have the numbers right, it seems to be around 613 mm stack and 393 mm reach, which would be much shorter than my Addict RC while keeping a similar front-end height. That sounds potentially ideal for my proportions.
0 likes • Jul 14
@Andrew Brewin got a „professional“ bike fit, which fixed neck issues but opened up toe and hand numbness issues again. I clearly voiced what I needed but in the end it was a standard KOPS / pedal spindle over middle of metatarsals + visual subjective fitting when it came to the front end. Which, taking into consideration my proportions and mobility, will always lead to an aggressive fit I guess. I basically couldn’t ride more than half an hour without pain or numbness after that, so had to start fitting myself again.
0 likes • Jul 27
Thank you all for answering, especially @Jason Hurst ! Have been on vacation and just came back. I had a shorter stem (90mm) mounted a long while ago, but it was pretty much unrideable, very twitchy. Also did not notice a massive improvement geometry-wise, but I think on that ride I was more focused on surviving. :) Indoor trainer yeah, I could give that a try again. Especially with the 90mm it could be a good experiment! Saddle is the Pro Stealth Team, and I´ve got 0mm offset post and the saddle all the way forwards. I´m pretty sure it needs to go back a little bit. Balance Test works well with higher watts, especially above 400W it´s excellent. :) But yes, I think currently there´s way too much weight on the bars. All in all I pretty much can recognize that the saddle needs to go back, reach needs to be shortened and the weight needs to be distributed backwards. I´m just a bit confused because the professional bikefitter I went to just did everything he could to get me into this very aggressive position.
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