notlobgp14 wrote:Whilst we're on about Seat Tube Angle. Being tall and a Brooks user, I really struggle to get far enough back on the saddle (or the saddle far enough back). On our Mercian Tandem I am almost sat on the back rail of the saddle, sorry forgot what it's called (pantle?) So regarding Angle I think I need something like 72 Degrees; this frame ,with 73.5 Degrees for big frames, is useless for me I think?
I have this trouble with 74 degree seat tubes. Brooks saddles are notorious for this - trawling through the threads on the Forum will tell you that. Getting a seat-pin with sufficient lay-back and infinite angle adjustment (i.e. not ratcheted) is a nightmare. The old Campag seat-pins from days of yore were the best, but they didn't give me enough lay-back for a 74 degree frame. 73 degrees works just about right for me, but even then, riding a Brooks, someone with slightly longer thighs would struggle.
I'll probably get a response from r2 on this, because we've discussed the point before and I know that he doesn't agree with me, but I get my frames built to measure for me and I believe that I get a better fit - my 74 degree frame was second-hand. Thats was the tradition among clubmen (back to days of yore again), but even when the budget didn't allow for that you could buy an off-the-peg frame for less money, and build your bike around that. You can buy frames for amazingly low prices (comparatively) nowadays - just look at the Spa site for a starter. The problem here is that you don't know what you
do want unless you've had the experience of previously having what you
don't want.
A decent framebuilder should be able to build the frame that's right for you, and they do last a long time - I'm still riding a 1979-built frame at the moment and it's as responsive and comfortable as my six-years-old Mercian. I occasionally see a chap - a bit older than me - who is still riding his hand-built-to-measure Ellis-Briggs from before Coronation year - it still has it's original paint, but I don't think many of the parts are original.
This thread has said several times that the way to set your bike up is to get saddle position right first - that's the crucial one, and then evolve your handlebars position from that. This could take time and a bit of trial and error and it can sometimes result in a discarded stem or two, until you get it just right. And then you'll find that, by the time you come to build up your next bike, the manufacturers have changed the diameter of the handlebars and your stock of spare stems is of little use - they do it to take more money from you.
Time after time on these threads we see pleas from folk who've bought a ready-built bike from an internet site, and they're having problems like this - even being sold a completely wrong size of bike is common enough. I'm not surprised. A lady I know bought a ready-built bike recently, from a local quality bike shop, and had the saddle positioned correctly. The proprietor fitted a second-hand stem and told her about potential reach problems, and to ride it for a couple of hundred miles and bring it back - he'd change the stem for her until they'd got it right, and then fit a new stem to the same specification as the original. He was as good as his word.
These problems are just so common. The original poster is not alone.
but other posters were stating that the seat pin length, not the seat angle, was important somehow.
. Very impressed with the amount of advice I've gotten here, and on other threads I've posted!
