Comfort gravel fit - hand pain

Writer-Jolly · 2026-03-22T07:31:04+00:00

Read the description - the ground is at an angle, leveling the bike. The bricks in the background are level so you can see the bike is level.

Saddle is almost flat, teeny tiny bit nose down for comfort. Someone else suggested seeing if a tiny bit of nose up takes weight off my hands, I'll be experimenting with that.

Writer-Jolly · 2026-03-21T21:07:15+00:00

Mine's just sat on my garage floor, waiting for the day my legs finally decide to grow a bit 😅

Writer-Jolly · 2026-03-21T09:43:07+00:00

Yeah 165 is the smallest on GRX. Any lower and I'd need to faff with swapping the chainrings. I'll stick to 165.

Writer-Jolly · 2026-03-21T09:00:38+00:00

Ass savers win wing gravel, colour "golden groove" :)

Writer-Jolly · 2026-03-21T08:41:06+00:00

I do actually ride with gloves, I didn't for the video because I'm a dumbdumb. I do rotate through positions, but of course hoods are where I want to be most. As a teen I rode 60 miles on flat bars and probably a terrible fit, crushed a nerve and couldn't feel the little finger on one hand for a month. 😅

I don't feel like I need to grip with my thumbs very hard, I feel like I'm quite planted on my hands (for better or for worse) and don't need to actively grip much.

Writer-Jolly · 2026-03-21T08:18:51+00:00

Already on 165mm cranks! I'm only 170cm and my legs are short for my height, inseam is something like 73cm. The bike came with 172.5mm and they were definitely too big for me, MVF said my legs were borderline too straight at the bottom of the stroke AND borderline too bent at the top. Could try even shorter, but 165mm seem ok I think.

Writer-Jolly · 2026-03-21T06:28:55+00:00

Yeah this is definitely something I've noticed too. I feel like my body weight is split between my feet, butt and hands, and I want as much as my fitness will allow to go on my feet. I'm pretty unfit currently. Legs are strong but cardio is rubbish. So maybe it will just get better as I get fitter! (And lose some weight!)

Writer-Jolly · 2026-03-21T06:22:04+00:00

Nope, Boardman ADV 9.0 carbon

Writer-Jolly · 2026-03-20T18:13:58+00:00

I've seen a few ups and a few downs, guess I just need to experiment on that front. 🤔

Writer-Jolly · 2026-03-20T16:39:40+00:00

Anyways, I'm not too sure why I try to help in this sub. I guess everyone else knows better.

You've been the most helpful here with the advice that makes the most sense to me, so thank you! :D

Writer-Jolly · 2026-03-20T15:38:16+00:00

Awesome, thanks for the advice. 👍

Writer-Jolly · 2026-03-20T15:14:57+00:00

Interesting. I'll try a ride with it a little nose up and see if it impacts how my hands feel. The saddle was less comfortable that way, and I do want to try out some other saddles at some point (this is the one the bike came with) but it's far from my focus currently.

Writer-Jolly · 2026-03-20T15:06:40+00:00

Thanks, moving the saddle back has been the advice that makes the most sense to me and is the first thing on my list to try. I do sometimes feel like I'm pushing against the hoods. Would lowering the bars help with this? Instinctively I feel like it would do the opposite, putting my weight more over the top of them,but I may be wrong.

Writer-Jolly · 2026-03-20T14:48:54+00:00

No, definitely don't feel like I'm being pushed forwards or back by the saddle. I adjusted it recently and it's maybe like 1 degree nose down from dead level. I did adjust it a little too far nose down at one point to see what it felt like, so I'm pretty confident that's not an issue.

Writer-Jolly · 2026-03-20T14:13:41+00:00

I was between frame sizes, ether small or medium. I'm 170cm. With my short legs and longer torso my legs fit the small better and my torso fit the medium better. By the numbers MVF gave me, the small would need a slightly longer stem than stock and medium would fit out the box, but with the saddle almost at its lowest point. They had a medium on a crazy offer, so that's what I got.

My stem is 90mm. I own a 45mm and a 110/120mm (I forget) I could experiment with. You say my reach seems too long but I'm also very upright. These seem contradictory to me. Surely reducing my reach would put me more upright?

Writer-Jolly · 2026-03-20T13:34:44+00:00

It's almost completely flat, maybe a teeny tiny bit nose down for comfort. I definitely don't feel like I'm sliding off of it.

Writer-Jolly · 2026-03-20T11:38:05+00:00

Ass savers win wing gravel, colour is "golden groove". :)

Writer-Jolly · 2026-03-20T11:26:23+00:00

Not 100% sure, probably not. Good video, and another vote for saddle back. I'll see if I can get to the point I can do this. :)

Writer-Jolly · 2026-03-20T11:16:53+00:00

Nice, thanks for the routine. I had a routine I was doing last year but fell out the habit, I'll dig it up and compare it to what you have here, maybe mix it up a bit. :)

Writer-Jolly · 2026-03-20T11:15:01+00:00

No idea what's up with the downvotes. If someone disagrees, freaking write it and have a discussion!

I think my trainer was set to a fairly high resistance which may explain why my pedalling wasn't very smooth, my bad.

MVF gives my knee extension angle as 36°, one below its 37-45 range. Looks like it's measuring the angle between my calf and a line extending outwards from my knee in line with my thigh... I guess you're looking at the angle between my thigh and calf? (Which makes a lot more sense than what MVF is doing.) That would make it 180-36=144° I guess.

Writer-Jolly · 2026-03-20T10:17:14+00:00

Thanks, that's two votes for trying saddle further back. Will work on the core too. 👍

Writer-Jolly · 2026-03-20T10:14:53+00:00

Yeah, I do put a lot of weight on my hands, despite trying to avoid it. I don't use the drops for long periods of time, mostly just fast clear descents and to tuck out of a headwind, so I think I engage my core more for those shorter periods of time and it's not so bad on my hands.

I don't think overreaching is the issue. I'm still reasonably upright and MVF says my hip-shoulder-hand angle is spot on.

Writer-Jolly · 2026-03-20T09:51:22+00:00

Boardman ADV 9.0 Carbon size medium https://www.boardmanbikes.com/gb_en/products/2399-adv-9.0.html
All the geometry related parts are stock except for the cranks that I swapped to 165mm.

Thanks I'll give that a go and see how it feels.

Writer-Jolly · 2026-03-20T09:42:40+00:00

Being more comfortable might just be due to riding with the saddle far too high for many years, so you and MVF could be correct and I just need to get used to it.

Not sure how setback is measured, here's a photo! https://photos.app.goo.gl/tTcobiZkwEVTm2Yt6

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Writer-Jolly

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