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- I get so many questions from viewers who,
like me, are a little bit smaller in stature,
asking for advice on how to set up your bikes.
In fact, there's so many questions
that I don't have time to answer them all
in the comments and by email.
So I hope this video goes some way to helping you out.
Now, although I have kept hope alive
that I might finally have a growth spurt,
and end up taller than my younger sister,
I think I'm gonna be waiting forever at this rate.
So I've had to get used to being 157 centimeters tall.
That's five foot 1.8 inches for our American viewers.
And over the years racing and training,
I've ridden bikes that I loved,
and just felt fantastic on,
and I've also had to ride bikes
that were frankly too big,
and on which I felt uncomfortable,
and downright unsafe.
I think I've learnt some things along the way,
and I would like to share those details with you.
I'm using my Canyon Ultimate to demonstrate.
And the smallest sizes of this bike,
mine included, because it's a XXXS,
have smaller wheels.
More on that later.
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Now I think the most important parameter
for smaller cyclists is reach.
Saddle height is very rarely an issue.
And just because you can just about reach the handlebars
does not necessarily mean that the reach is okay,
because if you're stretched out
and your hips are rocked forward
just to reach the hoods, well,
that's gonna give you lower back pain,
possibly shoulder pain, neck pain,
and that rocking on the saddle
can give you saddle problems as well.
So you wanna look for a bike
where the top tube genuinely is quite short.
There's actually quite a lot of difference
between the actual sizes and reach
of the smallest frames by all the different
various manufacturers.
So go for a frame where the top tube
really is genuinely short.
Of course, reducing the top tube length
does bring the front and back wheels closer together,
and that can increase toe crossover,
which is a real bane for smaller cyclists.
Now I have only a tiny bit of toe crossover on this bike,
but in the past I've ridden 700C bikes
where I had toe crossover from one o'clock to five o'clock,
which is pretty bad.
And toe crossover obviously is a bit
of a problem for bike handling.
At any rate it's the excuse I still use
for not being able to do a track stand.
- I'm afraid that if you have 700C wheels,
you may just have to put up with
a certain amount of toe crossover.
There are a couple of ways that frame manufacturers
have tried to reduce toe crossover
whilst keeping the reach nice and short.
One of them is making seat tube angle steeper.
Another solution that they go for
is to increase the fork offset.
Do not fear though, there is another
revolutionary, if you'll pardon the pun,
solution to toe crossover.
So it's time to talk about smaller wheels,
specifically 650B and 650C.
I'm gonna put it out there straightaway.
I'm a big fan of smaller wheels.
I find that with smaller wheels on my road bike
I have better bike handling, I have less toe crossover,
and specifically I have much better
bike handling in crosswinds,
because the smaller area of the front wheel
as seen from the side catches less wind.
I have a special affection for 650C,
because well, I won the world championships
time trial in Geelong, I was on a P3 with 650C wheels.
And I'm absolutely certain that I could not
have got aero enough on a 700C bike to win that race.
So I really like these wheels.
That said though, I've done loads of races,
road races with 700C wheels.
And I've had 700C road bikes
that I feel really comfortable on.
So a lot of people ask me,
why don't you just ride 650 all the time?
Well, there's a couple of problems.
So firstly, there aren't that many
road bike manufacturers that make
the road bikes with 700C wheels.
And secondly, in a road race, if you get a puncture,
you're very unlikely to get a spare wheel
from the neutral service if you run 650s.
I know, because I've tried,
and it went horribly wrong.
So for that reason I always use 700C wheels in road races.
And I still do on my road bike.
It just makes life a bit more simple
if I ever do the odd race or sportive.
That said, for events where you fix your own punctures,
like triathlon, sportives usually,
or races where you have a dedicated
team car right behind you,
like a time trial at a professional level.
I think 650 is a really good option for smaller riders,
because you either have to fix the puncture yourself,
so you take your own inner tubes, et cetera,
or your time car has the right wheels for you behind you.
And yes, running 650 does reduce the choice you have
of wheels, tires, and tubes,
but there is choice out there,
and that choice I think hopefully
is gonna increase as more of us small people
demand bikes that fit.
Now it is true that smaller wheels
have slightly higher rolling resistance,
but the science shows that this is more than made up for
by low drag and lower weight,
'cause the wheels are smaller.
It's not like riding off road
where the size of obstacles is significant
relative to the wheel size.
Because on the road, any roughness in the road surface
is usually on quite a smaller scale.
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Now for most cyclists, comfort comes before aerodynamics,
and that is absolutely right.
But if you're one of the people that wants to go faster,
well if the front end of your bike is too high,
you won't be able to get low to get aero and safe drag.
And there's particularly a problem
for smaller cyclists, because, well,
your saddle's not very high,
so your handlebars have to be relatively low.
Now as I mentioned before, with 650 wheels,
you can get lower at the front,
because the wheel itself is closer to the ground,
the hub of the wheel.
With a 700C frame, you want to look
at what the head tube height is,
because if it's too big, there's not much you can do.
Yes, there are downward sloping stems,
but they bring you further forward as well.
And there are double jointed stems,
but they're a really heavy, and quite ugly solution.
So if you look for a frame with quite a small
head tube height, if it's too low,
you can always add spacers under the stem,
but if it's too high, there's not much you can do.
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Now crank length might sound like a minor detail,
but it is an absolutely crucial
consideration for smaller cyclists.
Think about it this way, if you have shorter legs,
then you have less of a range of motion
in absolute terms than someone with long legs.
But a longer crank means that your pedal
turns a bigger circle.
So at the bottom of the pedal stroke
your foot's quite low,
and you have to have your saddle low to reach.
But at the top of the pedal stroke with a long crank,
your foot would come higher
than it would with a short crank,
which brings your knee higher,
then you hit your knee in your stomach, in my case,
especially this is a problem
if you're getting low to try and be aero,
or in time trials.
That's why shorter cranks basically
are much easier to pedal with for smaller cyclists.
So for most smaller riders,
it is worth considering a shorter crank,
both for comfort, and to avoid injury risk
to your knees and hips, as well as potential
saddle problems from rocking side to side.
Personally, I noticed a huge improvement
in my riding and my results,
when I went from a 170 millimeter crank
to a 165 millimeter crank like this one.
165s are actually commonly available nowadays.
And I know some small riders
who even use a 155 millimeter crank, so there you go.
Now some people might tell you
that if you have a shorter crank,
you have less torque and therefore less power,
and I'm afraid that is just rubbish science,
because yes, you do have less torque,
but you have a higher cadence for the same foot speed.
And your power is a function of torque and cadence.
So where it might take a little while
to adapt your coordination to pedaling
at that higher cadence,
once you've got that coordination dialed,
shorter crank should not have a detrimental
effect on your power.
What you do need to be careful about though
is that you have a small enough gear
to maintain that higher cadence
even on the steepest climbs that you're gonna be tackling.
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Now one thing that really stands out for smaller riders
is handlebar width.
And that's partly because it can look quite silly
when someone with narrow shoulders
is riding on really wide bars.
Am I right, viewers?
Mm hmm.
Now personally, I find that any handlebar
wider than 38 centimeters feels really clumsy
and uncomfortable.
And actually I prefer it if my handlebars
are about 36 centimeters wide at the hood.
That feels much better.
But that said, having a too wide handlebar
isn't the end of the world,
it just changes the handling slightly.
It doesn't hugely increase the reach from your saddle,
although very slightly.
What is a problem though is if the curvature,
the radius of the drop curve is too big.
Now if you're not super tall,
the chances are that you also have small hands.
I certainly do.
And it is one of the things that is
really uncomfortable for me on bikes that are set up wrong
is having the wrong reach of the brake levers.
It's not just uncomfortable for your hands
to be working at full extension the whole time.
It's also dangerous,
because you can't reach the brake levers
in a hurry when you need them.
Or even worse actually, you could ride the whole time
with your hands on the brake levers,
just in case, and then you risk grabbing them
when you're startled, which can lead to crashing.
So getting a grip set where you can
adjust the reach of the levers is super important.
And you can always find that out
when you're buying a grip set.
Another detail of handlebar set up
that is crucial for smaller people
is the angle you set up the handlebar,
and the position of the hoods on the bar,
and there's a reason I've left these handlebars
un-taped for the moment.
It's because I wanted to show you
how much of a difference it can make
where you put the hoods on the bar,
and the angle you have the bar at.
So I've loosened off the stem bolts.
Check.
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(tool clacking)
And you'll see that changing the angle here,
hugely changes the distance from the saddle to the hoods,
which is where I hold onto the handlebars.
So if you move it back up there,
it makes it much closer and easier to reach.
Similarly, if you adjust the position
of the hood on the bar,
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you can actually move the hoods much closer to the saddle,
and thereby reduce the reach.
For example, that difference
in hood position on the handlebar
makes four centimeters difference to the reach.
The important thing though to remember
is that changing the position of the hood on the handlebar
won't just affect the reach from the saddle to the hood,
but also the distance from the brake lever to the handlebar,
which is another thing that we've
talked about for smaller hands.
So you need to find a balance.
I would say set up the reach first,
and get the handlebar at the right angle for you,
and then worry about the reach of the brake levers.
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Now I think it's important to mention
how hard it can be to change gear
with mechanical shifters,
if your levers are too far away
and you have small hands.
Because you're having to apply that lateral force,
that full hand extension.
That's actually much prefer electronic shifters,
even though I know they're not necessarily faster.
But for me I feel much more comfortable on them,
because you just need a quick tap of the finger,
and now my pathetic, weak little hands
don't get as tired, and I can change gear
in a hurry when I need to.
While we're talking about small hands,
the design of the brake hoods is also really important.
For example, there are some grip sets
where the brake hoods are so wide,
I can't actually get my hands fully around them.
And that's pretty unsafe, because it means
that your hands aren't as secure,
and you can bounce off and bumpy roads.
I've actually crashed that way twice in training,
and it wasn't very nice.
So I always go for a nice, neat, hood design,
which depends on the grip set.
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Now I'd like to finish off with some of the details
that are actually really important
for smaller cyclists.
Firstly, space for bottle cages.
If you have a small frame, this triangle is smaller,
and you literally have less space
to fit bottles and bottle cages in.
You might even struggle to get one bottle in and out.
I know for me it's pretty tight.
Two bottle cages can be really pushing it.
Secondly stem length, now if you need a short stem
to get the appropriate reach,
that can make the handling of the front very twitchy.
It's just something that you have to put up with
to get the right reach.
Lastly, space over the back wheel.
So if you ride 700C wheels,
there won't be that much space, if you're short,
between the saddle height and the back wheel.
And that means that if you're into bike packing
and bike touring, if you have one of those giant saddlebags
there's a risk that it actually rubs on the back wheel.
I've tried that.
It's sub-optimal both for your speed
and for the integrity of your saddlebag.
And then lastly, also due to having a low saddle
in relation to the back wheel,
if you put a rear light on the seat post
for the dark days, you might find
that that rear light is actually
below the height of the back wheel.
And that means obviously it's much
less visible to motorists.
So you want to think about putting
your lights higher up, so they're actually
on the saddle or on yourself.
Well, I really hope this video helps
those of you who ask me for advice on this huge topic.
It's a huge topic for those of us who are not huge.
If you liked it, give us a thumbs up,
feel free to share it with your small friends,
or indeed your tall friends
who do not appreciate how hard it is being small.
And if you do have any more questions,
leave them in the comments below.
I will do my best to find an expert
and answer them for you.
In the meantime, you might like to watch
this video on why power to weight
is maybe not as important as everyone thinks.
Sorry.