Bike "fit" in regards to design

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Namelessjoe

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so I've been looking at the different bikes and read about "traditional"(i suppose) bike fit with knee over or center of gravity being over the pedals then you have these choppers and things were the pedals are all over the place and my scale might be off but alot of them were you have the seat just over the back wheel looks like every one is proportioned like a gorilla with stubby legs and long arms or just riding little kid bikes (i have an 20inch old banana seat bike i stuck a 26inch mtb fork on and its heck on my knees)

not to offend any one because im sure its not the case(of gorillas riiding the bikes) but with the non traditionally designed bikes is it just a question of seat to BB distance you worrie about to insure its ride-able as a comuter let alone without blowing out your knees?

maybe im just not good at picturing how you fit on these bikes with out herting yourself by lake of extension or kneeing your elbows or gut(i have a poney-keg and then some) or handle bars
 
For me, the set-back seat still needs enough height/reach to get leg extension (to relieve the knee load). The same thing happens with recumbents, right? But with the recum. you have a seat back to help lock you in for leg thrust. Having my butt back so the leg reach is right, then bending hard forward to lowish bars just does not work. My Royal (long Bassman type stretch) has a lowish seat and feet forward pedals, and with the swept back cruiser bars gives me a good, comfy, upright position. But now I need a bigger, wider, butt-supporting saddle. Its not a power ride, just pure cruiser.
The power ride is with feet as you say, a good tuck to get the core muscles working for you and the low bars that you can pull up against; and butt not hard on that tiny saddle. I am a pleasure rider, so Im more upright and my 'power' comes and goes (goes more quickly these days).
My Dyno Deuce and Electra Jester are pretty comfy too, and the ball of foot over pedal pretty close to what you say. The Deuce is my 'street fighter' and has only a slightly set-back seat and can get up & go as needed, unlike the leisurely Royal. The Jester Id like to do a set-back, but is not yet; it has more of the traditional American cruiser (ie, Schwinn Phantom) position and is really quite a nice balance between the other two.
If you are into road riding and have real preferences those outweigh notions. And if you want to do some serious miles you will probably want to set up for a more conventional position. If I was going to do a 20mi. bike trail Id prefer my Jester over the Royal. The Royal is a fine coffee shop, A&W, car show ride-a-bout, profiler, etc.
Id say first get a frame that is big enough for you. Im 6'1" x 210ish and a lot of the typical American bikes are too small, and set up to ride are out of proportion for me. The seat to pedal should be close to what you say with a straight post (you can always get more set back), and the reach to the bars will be all bar shape and stem, so that is tunable. But if the frame is too small for you your reach to the neck will crowd you, even with a fairly upright position. The balance between your forward lean and the load on your seat-bones and wrists/shoulders is a fine one, and if like me, you need to be more upright, the seat will need to be wider (unless you can take a narrow seat being driven up yer butt).
These are all thoughts Ive had as Ive messed about with my bikes to make them ride for me, YMMV.......
 
I build my rat bikes to look good, not have proper ergonomics. If the ergonomics are really off, I put easy gearing to compensate for the low seat height. If we are having a get together where I know we'll be riding some distance, I take my least offensive ergonomics rat bike.
 
This is an interesting question and I have to agree with everything that is said so far, that being said, none of my scratch built bikes are ergonomic in the slightest, but they do look good!

I think the answer is in having more than one bike, have your stylish cruiser(s) but also have a more upright "commuter" bike for when you want to do a long ride.

I am planning a new build where ergonomics is the first consideration and style is secondary, it will be interesting to see if I can still pull off a bike that does not look like any other bike made, and is as attention grabbing as my others...

Luke.
 
thanks guys that was kind of what i figured i just wanted to ask for a 2nd opinion :) my commute is only about 6miles round trip across town mostly level i can ride it on my current bike which is a single speed cruiser in about 20min
 
What, does this not look ergonomically correct?
f59e4ef4-b742-4646-ac56-35a18940af06_zps723c0fc0.jpg

I can ride like this for literally minutes at a time!:happy:
 
I used to be able to ride like that....
I used to be comfy on a touring bike too...
Older knees created different needs.
I won't build a bike I can't ride, but if the ride
is planned to be long, I'm taking my Cannondale conversion...
cannondale.jpeg


That is until the current WB2013 is done.

Carl.
 
Done right, a laidback post is going to improve ergos/fit. Lotta folks on here just like to slam em and run some flipped bars for'm. Recipe for disaster, comfort-wise. Some ppl think it looks cool, though.
 
Well some of these guys are short low to the ground,:grin: :rofl:and some of these bikes are only intended for parade/fairground and/or garage art/around the block duty. My favored solution to the 6'1" dilemma tends to be "normalizing" ergos with a Wald 803 handlebar and 15" seatpost.:thumbsup:
DSCN0054goodyear4.jpg
 
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deorman said:
With a built in beer barrel you'd want to get a machine shop to turn you a post from aluminum solid stock.:showingbiceps::grin:
Click to expand...

A Schwinn Exerciser seat post is very sturdy, also it took a little muscle but I was able to put a graceful curve into it with a 1/2" pipe bender.

Carl.
 
Yeah, the Typhoon/Sting Ray era long posts are great if you can use a 13/16" on your application, as they can get partially bent without noticeably weakening. Some aftermarket tubular long posts will kink and fold from ground impact.:blush: Ouch.:cry:
 
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It seems to me that a bike that appears unrideable can't simultaneously look good. Not that every bike has to be comfortable or practical but it should at least be functional. I remember watching a video of a race at a car show between two lowriders once where instead of peddling the riders were running Fred Flintstone style. Their bikes obviously were next to impossible to ride. To me instead of looking cool it just looked pathetic.
 
Yes, looking cool should not hurt! That is called masochism....
I run lucky 7 posts, short stems, and chop the bars.
I commute 8 miles each way. Once I got in some shape besides "BLOB," I lost the big seat, and started stretching my bike riding position to take advantage of my new found folding ability.
 
I have a low seat and handlebar adjustment for a nice photo, then raise them for an actual ride. I also reversed the fork flanges to get the correct geometry. Also put the padded seat cover on.

For photos:
qnrcrs.jpg
[/IMG]
qnrcrs.jpg



For riding:
2h2m3yw.jpg
 

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