I feel really good with my current bike fit but I’d like to progress towards a lower, more aero position. Over a few months I’ve removed a few headset spacers with the idea of slowly adapting my position. This worked until recently where the change feels much more abrupt and not comfortable.
I imagine hours and hours in the saddle adapting is how the pros have gotten so low but I was wondering if there are additional stretches / exercises that I can be doing off the bike to expedite my flexibility.
Also, I’m feeling much less powerful in the drops, even more so with forearms on the hoods. Again, hours in the saddle adapting would help, but it’s this conflict between what position is best for me currently and what could be optimal in the future.
If I had to to guess, I would say that you aren’t rotating your hips on the bike, meaning you are just leaning over more. In order to unlock comfort and power in a lower frontal position, you need to rotate your hips, which rotates your weight forward off your sitting bones.
also, are you adjusting your saddle position as you lower your HB? This is another crucial element of fit. You need to move your saddle forward slightly when you lower your HB (and even raise it a bit).
It is also possible you have done too much, too soon and have not given your body enough time to adapt to each step along the way. These changes can take a long time…sometimes months or even a whole year (or more)
I know everyone talks about the need for flexibility, but IME, that advice is based on not having good hip rotation.
I am as flexible as a 2x4….i can barely reach past mid-shin if I try to touch my toes. But I have very good hip rotation and achieve a very low (and comfortable) position on the bike.
Proper bike fit starts with your hips….and a good saddle. The right saddle can be a huge key to unlocking better positioning.
Yeah, you can use hip / pelvic rotation interchangeably. And it is absolutely something you can change from where you naturally (or currently) sit on the saddle.
And to @Drew’s point above, you can absolutely do both (hip rotation AND stretching / flexibility)….but I just wanted to note that improving flexibility is not necessarily a requirement.
Would you not be shifting pressure onto more delicate soft tissue by tilting the pelvis forward?
The idea is interesting to me not just to improve position but to address low back pain on the bike. I’ve a lumbar disc herniation, which the bike position aggravates and I’m thinking if I can reduce lumbar flexion, I may be able to alleviate the symptoms somewhat.
That is why proper saddle choice is such a critical element of bike fit…..with a good saddle, shifting the weight forward is not really an issue. the new snub-nosed saddles help a lot in this regard, as well. They help get….ahem, sensitive parts (if you are a guy) out of the way so you can rotate forward. In essence, your dangly-down parts actually dangle-down in front of the nose of the saddle vs. being compressed.
Simply having adequate core strength is different than using core strength to maintain an efficient position. Establish habits of consciously activating the core while you’re in the saddle. My experience is that this exercise is uncomfortable at first because you don’t have the fine muscle support around the core at the outset of realizing that your lower back alone can’t support you. You develop a supporting musculature around the core once you start practicing activating the muscles through the pedal stroke. It feels more natural after a while. Then you know you’re developing that support structure.
Experiment to find that sweet spot with front-aft position on the saddle. Too far forward and you’re loading too much weight on the arms. Too far back and you can’t transfer power to the pedals efficiently. The trend lately is to load the arms a little more and get further forward. I’ve found some benefit here. But you need to develop the strength to support the extra forward weight. You still have to be positioned so you can slide back on the saddle and relieve that pressure on the arms now and then (balanced over the BB and using the core to support your trunk, arms, head). If you’re having lower back pain, you could very well be too far back on the saddle and preventing your abdominals from playing their part, while still crushing it on the pedals (the lower back gets the whole thankless job on its own). You can practice climbing on a gentle grade with your arms crossed behind you and focusing on a smooth pedal stroke. You rely on your core alone to stabilize you while you’re apply power to the pedals. Consider that your neutral place where you can do it comfortably. Come forward slightly to achieve that forward lower aero position.
Don’t let yourself get too stretched out over the toptube. The less bend in your arms, the less range of motion you’ll have to raise and move your head. That angle in your arms is your friend. It allows motion in the neck; particularly the motion that lets you raise your head between your shoulders. If your arms are straight out ahead of you, you’ll be straining to keep your head in position. Off the bike, lean over in the diving position, arms straight out ahead, and try to raise your head. It doesn’t go anywhere. After a while in the saddle like that, your thoracic discs along with C5, 6, and 7 will hate you for it.
Just some opinions. Hopefully you find something useful.
In theory, your body angles relative to itself don’t change. You are just pivoting the entire system around the bottom bracket. So when doing it to improve your bike position, you need to lower your HB, move your saddle forward and raise it a bit.
Think about your ankle being at the center point if the BB….you keep your ankle there but just rotate your entire body, with existing angles, forward from that point.
You can’t assume that lower and lower will be faster and more aero. Yes you’ll need to train power production in those positions. And for high level riders it’s not exclusively that hours and hours have allowed them to be in those positions. Part of it is also the body they presented to the sport with in the first place, their genetic disposition. Comparing yourself to others can be good fuel for exploration, but setting goals from observing others’ positions without know their constraints/lack of and ignoring your own, will waste your time.
