Bicycle comfort is it a dream?

briansnail
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Re: Bicycle comfort is it a dream?

Post by briansnail »

Yoga is very good for getting back flexibility.As one gets older and loses flexibility folders are good as easy to get on.Unless you want a step through.Alternative is to keep bike on road while you get on kerb this also makes it easy to get on/off.
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mattsccm
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Re: Bicycle comfort is it a dream?

Post by mattsccm »

No. In fact I would say it is a given. It takes little effort to get comfort right assuming you have no serious injury, illness, deformity etc.
I might suggest that your Brooks may be the problem. (Yes it's over simplfying things but you have to start somewhere). They often won't go back as far as is needed on a modernish bike. Hence Colins comments above.
jois
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Re: Bicycle comfort is it a dream?

Post by jois »

Skids wrote: 22 Jul 2022, 7:47am Hi,
As I get older I am struggling to remain comfortable on my various upright bicycles. I am not a "serious cyclist" but I enjoy leisure riding on lanes and tracks. Recently I have downloaded and read Colin Thompson/John Russell's paper about setting up riding position and have discovered I have made most of the mistakes listed in the paper.

At the moment I am able to set my bike up to either cause pain across my shoulders, upper back and wrists or to cause me to sit on the rear edge of my previously comfortable brooks saddle, the rear of which is basically thin leather over a steel frame, with the result of a very painful rear end after ten or so miles. The issues with the saddle are no doubt exacerbated by my recent loss of weight some of which has been from my derrière.

I understand that I will have to follow the instructions in the paper and experiment making small incremental changes followed by test rides and I wonder if others have gone through this process and if it had a happy ending ?

best wishes

Simon
As a mater of choice I put far more than recommended weight on my arms as this is far less of an issue than a sore bum. The pain in my arm \ back decreases over time as I get stronger till I don't notice it at all now, plus my shoulders and triceps have pumped up.

I've recently acquired a bike with a very up right riding position, the pain in my backside is considerable.
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Paulatic
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Re: Bicycle comfort is it a dream?

Post by Paulatic »

jois wrote: 25 Sep 2022, 9:00pm [
As a mater of choice I put far more than recommended weight on my arms as this is far less of an issue than a sore bum. The pain in my arm \ back decreases over time as I get stronger till I don't notice it at all now, plus my shoulders and triceps have pumped up.
What is this recommended weight you speak of and how do you measure it?
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jois
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Re: Bicycle comfort is it a dream?

Post by jois »

Paulatic wrote: 25 Sep 2022, 9:07pm
jois wrote: 25 Sep 2022, 9:00pm [
As a mater of choice I put far more than recommended weight on my arms as this is far less of an issue than a sore bum. The pain in my arm \ back decreases over time as I get stronger till I don't notice it at all now, plus my shoulders and triceps have pumped up.
What is this recommended weight you speak of and how do you measure it?
To be far I've seen it jump about a fair bit dependent on who you ask and what type of cycling anywhere from 50/50 to 70/30 .

Mines ,60 % front 40% rear, you measure it with a scale under each wheel or one scale and move it about.

NB you do need to move the other wheel up with book to keep it vaguely level
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Paulatic
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Re: Bicycle comfort is it a dream?

Post by Paulatic »

jois wrote: 26 Sep 2022, 8:03pm
Paulatic wrote: 25 Sep 2022, 9:07pm
jois wrote: 25 Sep 2022, 9:00pm [
As a mater of choice I put far more than recommended weight on my arms as this is far less of an issue than a sore bum. The pain in my arm \ back decreases over time as I get stronger till I don't notice it at all now, plus my shoulders and triceps have pumped up.
What is this recommended weight you speak of and how do you measure it?
To be far I've seen it jump about a fair bit dependent on who you ask and what type of cycling anywhere from 50/50 to 70/30 .

Mines ,60 % front 40% rear, you measure it with a scale under each wheel or one scale and move it about.

NB you do need to move the other wheel up with book to keep it vaguely level
Surely that’s the weight on each tyre you’re measuring there?
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jois
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Re: Bicycle comfort is it a dream?

Post by jois »

Paulatic wrote: 27 Sep 2022, 8:26am
jois wrote: 26 Sep 2022, 8:03pm
Paulatic wrote: 25 Sep 2022, 9:07pm

What is this recommended weight you speak of and how do you measure it?
To be far I've seen it jump about a fair bit dependent on who you ask and what type of cycling anywhere from 50/50 to 70/30 .

Mines ,60 % front 40% rear, you measure it with a scale under each wheel or one scale and move it about.

NB you do need to move the other wheel up with book to keep it vaguely level
Surely that’s the weight on each tyre you’re measuring there?
More or less.though that is determined by how much weight is on my bum and how much is on my arms
rfryer
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Re: Bicycle comfort is it a dream?

Post by rfryer »

jois wrote: 27 Sep 2022, 8:53am
Paulatic wrote: 27 Sep 2022, 8:26am
jois wrote: 26 Sep 2022, 8:03pm

To be far I've seen it jump about a fair bit dependent on who you ask and what type of cycling anywhere from 50/50 to 70/30 .

Mines ,60 % front 40% rear, you measure it with a scale under each wheel or one scale and move it about.

NB you do need to move the other wheel up with book to keep it vaguely level
Surely that’s the weight on each tyre you’re measuring there?
More or less.though that is determined by how much weight is on my bum and how much is on my arms
Influenced rather than determined. If you sit back on your saddle and wave your arms in the air, your front wheel will still not be weightless.
jois
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Re: Bicycle comfort is it a dream?

Post by jois »

rfryer wrote: 27 Sep 2022, 10:49pm
jois wrote: 27 Sep 2022, 8:53am
Paulatic wrote: 27 Sep 2022, 8:26am
Surely that’s the weight on each tyre you’re measuring there?
More or less.though that is determined by how much weight is on my bum and how much is on my arms
Influenced rather than determined. If you sit back on your saddle and wave your arms in the air, your front wheel will still not be weightless.
If I pop a wheelie it won't be weightless either, unless its in deep space. But then wheelies will be difficult.

It's not that complex, sit bolt up right on the bike on the scales and let's say it gives 70/30 of my 200 lbs then if I lean forward on the bars any change in that ratio towards the front is weight going through my arms so if it went from 60lb on the front to 90lbs on the front that's 30lbs load on my arms and more importantly 30lbs less on my bum
Last edited by jois on 27 Sep 2022, 11:35pm, edited 1 time in total.
Jdsk
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Re: Bicycle comfort is it a dream?

Post by Jdsk »

jois wrote: 27 Sep 2022, 11:20pm ...
It's not that complex, sit bolt up right on the bike on the scales and let's say it gives 70/30 of my 200 lbs then if I lean forward on the bars any change in that ratio towards the front is weight going through my arms so if it went from 60lb on the front to 90lbs on the front that's 30lbs load on my arms
The weight on each wheel is affected or influenced by the body position, just as rfryer has described.

That's a very different assertion from it being possible to measure the vertical load on the bars and the vertical load on the saddle simply by measuring the downward force on the front and rear wheels, as in:
jois wrote: 26 Sep 2022, 8:03pm Mines ,60 % front 40% rear, you measure it with a scale under each wheel or one scale and move it about.
Jonathan
Jdsk
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Re: Bicycle comfort is it a dream?

Post by Jdsk »

jois wrote: 27 Sep 2022, 8:53am
Paulatic wrote: 27 Sep 2022, 8:26am
jois wrote: 26 Sep 2022, 8:03pm

To be far I've seen it jump about a fair bit dependent on who you ask and what type of cycling anywhere from 50/50 to 70/30 .

Mines ,60 % front 40% rear, you measure it with a scale under each wheel or one scale and move it about.

NB you do need to move the other wheel up with book to keep it vaguely level
Surely that’s the weight on each tyre you’re measuring there?
More or less.though that is determined by how much weight is on my bum and how much is on my arms
No, not "More or less". That method gives you precisely the weight on each tyre, as Paulatic describes.

Jonathan
jois
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Re: Bicycle comfort is it a dream?

Post by jois »

Jdsk wrote: 27 Sep 2022, 11:34pm
jois wrote: 27 Sep 2022, 11:20pm ...
It's not that complex, sit bolt up right on the bike on the scales and let's say it gives 70/30 of my 200 lbs then if I lean forward on the bars any change in that ratio towards the front is weight going through my arms so if it went from 60lb on the front to 90lbs on the front that's 30lbs load on my arms
The weight on each wheel is affected or influenced by the body position, just as rfryer has described.

That's a very different assertion from it being possible to measure the vertical load on the bars and the vertical load on the saddle simply by measuring the downward force on the front and rear wheels, as in:
jois wrote: 26 Sep 2022, 8:03pm Mines ,60 % front 40% rear, you measure it with a scale under each wheel or one scale and move it about.
Jonathan
I didn't say I was measuring the load on the bars I said I was measuring the load on my arms and or bum

How has 30lbs of body weight transferred it's self to the front wheel with out loading my arms up by 30lbs of body weight ?
Last edited by jois on 27 Sep 2022, 11:48pm, edited 1 time in total.
Jdsk
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Re: Bicycle comfort is it a dream?

Post by Jdsk »

jois wrote: 27 Sep 2022, 11:36pm
Jdsk wrote: 27 Sep 2022, 11:34pm
jois wrote: 27 Sep 2022, 11:20pm ...
It's not that complex, sit bolt up right on the bike on the scales and let's say it gives 70/30 of my 200 lbs then if I lean forward on the bars any change in that ratio towards the front is weight going through my arms so if it went from 60lb on the front to 90lbs on the front that's 30lbs load on my arms
The weight on each wheel is affected or influenced by the body position, just as rfryer has described.

That's a very different assertion from it being possible to measure the vertical load on the bars and the vertical load on the saddle simply by measuring the downward force on the front and rear wheels, as in:
jois wrote: 26 Sep 2022, 8:03pm Mines ,60 % front 40% rear, you measure it with a scale under each wheel or one scale and move it about.
I didn't say I was measuring the load on the bars I said I was measuring the load on my arms and or bum
That doesn't affect the argument.

It's simple to prove why but it needs a robust and agreed definition of "load on my arms". Do you mean by that the upwards vertical force exerted by the bars on the hands? Or something else?

And by "load on my bum" do you mean the upwards vertical force exerted by the saddle? Or something else?

Thanks

Jonathan
jois
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Re: Bicycle comfort is it a dream?

Post by jois »

Jdsk wrote: 27 Sep 2022, 11:46pm
jois wrote: 27 Sep 2022, 11:36pm
Jdsk wrote: 27 Sep 2022, 11:34pm
The weight on each wheel is affected or influenced by the body position, just as rfryer has described.

That's a very different assertion from it being possible to measure the vertical load on the bars and the vertical load on the saddle simply by measuring the downward force on the front and rear wheels, as in:

I didn't say I was measuring the load on the bars I said I was measuring the load on my arms and or bum
That doesn't affect the argument.

It's simple to prove why but it needs a robust and agreed definition of "load on my arms". Do you mean by that the upwards vertical force exerted by the bars on the hands? Or something else?

And by "load on my bum" do you mean the upwards vertical force exerted by the saddle? Or something else?

Thanks

Jonathan
If you are going to contradict me it helps if you contradict what I actually said

A body in this case me weights 200lbs and has two(3) points of contact how do I transfer 30lbs of body weight to the front wheel with out putting an additional 30lbs of body weight through my arms ?
Jdsk
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Re: Bicycle comfort is it a dream?

Post by Jdsk »

You said:
Mines ,60 % front 40% rear, you measure it with a scale under each wheel or one scale and move it about.
This gives the weight (or load) on the front and rear wheels. It doesn't give the vertical forces on the bars and saddle.

Jonathan
Last edited by Jdsk on 28 Sep 2022, 12:00am, edited 1 time in total.
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