rex fitting

[eddief]

What do you want to know? I decided to get a custom one day coming back from a 40 mile ride with a back ache. I had adjusted sh*t over and over again and still was uncomfortable. This is my favorite activity and it's one thing to get whooped by my fellow riders, but I don't have to be uncomfortable too.

So I decided to work with a local builder and new I needed a sloping top tube to get my bars up high and for the machine not to look all lanky and gangly and out of proportion. I want lugs but difficult to have 7 degrees of slope and lugs too.

I took myself and back ache bike up to Rex HQ in Sacramento. He measured that bike and my crotch altitude. That was the starting point. He could see I was an old fart and I told him I tended to do long club rides with lots of climbing.

He does Paris B Paris on a tandem so he knows about long rides that require comfort.

He put me on his funky homemade fit bike and set it up sorta like back ache bike. Then I warmed up and he watched. He had me off and on the bike 4 times and each time off he tweaked the geo and the dimensions and then he watched some more.

The last thing he did was dial in reach and bar height. He was pretty convinced that "he" wanted my bars 1 cm above saddle and I had to admit I was comfortable up there.

I have since tweaked my two other bikes to get them as close to Rex as I can. But the Rex has a relaxed seat tube angle, slightly higher bars, and slightly longer chain stays and may be just right.

He is a man of not too many words and I saw not an ounce of hype.

Then he built it, had it painted and what you see is what I got. This is not a lugged classic but a modern sweet thing that fits well. I still want a sloping top tube, lugged, threaded steel fork something or other. Hard to have 7 degrees of slope and lugs, but I'm working on it.

[Climb01742]

eddie,
is that what you're talking to david kirk about--sloping geo with lugs?

dave n. has a frame that accomplishes that combo, a carerra(sp?) i think? not custom but pretty sweet looking.

[eddief]

The only custom builder I have spoken to that has off the shelf lugs that allow for significant top tube slope is Waterford. They have been building their Adventure Cycle with sloping top tubes forever. Based on my experience so far with the Rex, I don't think I will buy another off the rack frame.

Too many compromises in looks and comfort in order to get the bars up. I need sloping top tube and tall, tall head tube. All other builders said they could use lugs and slope the top tube a few degrees, but that still means long HT extensions, lots of quill, or too many spacers for my current taste.

According to Richard Schwinn, he is pretty sure they can accomodate my slope needs with the Adventure lugs and use good light weight tubes with them instead of the more stout Adventure touring tubes. The only feature I won't get are the lug mounted cable stops, which I don't like anyway.

Just have to unload some more inventory and talk myself into custom number two.

[MadRocketSci]

I was just curious about steve's fitting methods. I'll be in the market for a custom frame a bit later this year and will choose the builder based on how well they can do the fit. I have back issues too, but in my current thinking (not that I know much) I have a theory that raising my handlebars is not the answer. My back issues only occur on long steep climbs of 12-15% grades. It seems to me that fitters emphasize comfort on the flats.

There seem to be a lot of different fitting techniques. Some people measure everything. Well, maybe not EVERYthing, but a lot of stuff. Some people just watch you ride. Some people put you on the size cycle. Some people hook you up to a computrainer. I'm curious to know how each builder does his fit thang....

[eddief]

Climbing is when my back aches the most too. Maybe I was on the new bike high yesterday, but I swear I climbed many steeps and I stiffened up a bit, but not nearly as much as on back ache bike. I'm working on stretching the hams, hardening the bread box and improving bike fit. Rex seemed to think my back being stretched out and my short saddle tip behind bb center contributed to overall discomfort.

I understand there are some consultants in Marin who spend all day and around $350 of your money doing a fit. Their name escapes me at the moment. A woman I found on the net who wrote about her Rex fitting/buying experience said she went to Rex to be fit and then double checked by spending the big bucks with the guys in Marin. She thought that Steve was right on all along and his fit was no different than the one from the "fit consultants."

It would be interesting to compare two or more fitters. Before I knew what I thought I wanted, a couple of years ago, I paid for a fit at my local Serotta dealer. Believe me they did not recommend saddle height at 1 cm below bar height and a 22 cm headtube. In those days it was a 56 tt and a 13 cm stem. Now it is a 57.5 tt and 9 cm stem. Even those numbers to do not describe the actual reach from saddle tip to to middle of bar, part of which is based on saddle behind bb measure. blah, blah, blah.

I think this is an inperfect trial and error process. Maybe I lucked out with my result with Rex.

[Jed Peters]

The fit I got from Rex, Dr. Max Testa (the cycling doc), and Myke Berna at wheelworks (davis) were all about the same.

As for manipulating lugs, Roland Della Santa said he will do it for my wife's bike, custom manipulating the lugs by heating and bending.

BTW: Della Santa is ONLY trying this on her....and he's using a carbon fork to save weight! He told me today he was worried she'd break the Ouzo Pro and sue him. LOL.

[Ahneida Ride]

I think the real secret is to find a fitter who actually rides.
A fitter who has worked with various body forms.
A fitter who has ton's of experience.
A fitter who asks probing questions.

I guess I'm lucky, I ride with no pain. The Brooks B67
solved my one and only complaint.

My fitter's mantra is get a big frame and get the bars
up there. This works for the majority of riders.

My only other advise is get a Triple and get mountain
gear ratio's if you will be doing hills !!!!!!! There is just no
point is ruining those knees !!!