easy quesiton about classic fit

[martinrjensen]

I was curious about the old classic statement about hands on bars and bars should hide the front hub. Note I am not setting my bike up according to that, this is just for curiosity's sake but I have heard both "when hands are on the hoods the bars should hide the hub", and "hands on the top of the bars and they should hide the hub. Anyone know which the old saying really was?
Again, I am NOT setting my bike up to that. I changed stem length (after a fit) and I just noticed the difference. It's too soon to tell but so far the fit helped, but I did change my riding style a bit too.

[Kontact]

I had always understood drops, not hoods. But the modern position that many people go with now where they treat the hoods as the only place for the hands, this would make more sense.

It isn't a very good metric, but the hub thing does produce a similar reach as several other methods. I like the 1-2 inches between elbows and knees in the drops. But again, too long for those who deathgrip the hoods.

[Fixed]

drops old school
cheers

[Bob Loblaw]

I heard hoods, but there are so many variables it's basically valueless as anything but a ballpark measurement.

That said, all my bikes meet this criteria, so what do I know?

BL

[Wilkinson4]

Drops. There was also elbow at front tip of saddle with arm extended the fingers should brush the handlebars.

http://davesbikeblog.blogspot.com/2006/07/what-does-length-of-your-forearm-and.html

That only works for Sean Kelly:)

mIKE

[wc1934]

How about this one where you have both hands on the top of the bars (middle -between the bend and the stem). Take one hand off the bar and fully rotate your arm - arcing circle - hand should come back to rest on the bar.

[martinrjensen]

I tried that once, way off.Drops. There was also elbow at front tip of saddle with arm extended the fingers should brush the handlebars.

http://davesbikeblog.blogspot.com/2006/07/what-does-length-of-your-forearm-and.html

That only works for Sean Kelly:)

mIKE

[martinrjensen]

OK. I think all the different answers explain why I was never able to find ea definitive answer either.
thanks everyone. My curiosity is satisfied.

[oldpotatoe]

I was curious about the old classic statement about hands on bars and bars should hide the front hub. Note I am not setting my bike up according to that, this is just for curiosity's sake but I have heard both "when hands are on the hoods the bars should hide the hub", and "hands on the top of the bars and they should hide the hub. Anyone know which the old saying really was?
Again, I am NOT setting my bike up to that. I changed stem length (after a fit) and I just noticed the difference. It's too soon to tell but so far the fit helped, but I did change my riding style a bit too.

Hands on drops, handlebar should hide front hub. This along with elbow on tip of saddle, arm forward, fingers out, tip of longest finger 1/2 way up the stem.

Foot out, uncliped, arch of foot gently resting on pedal, with crank arm down and other older fit 'rules'.

[duke]

But only if you have a fist full of post showing....
duke

[bart998]

Version I always heard was that the elbow should be against the nose of the saddle, and the tip of the longest finger should reach the handlebar at the stem. Seems a bit short to me now. Of course frame design has changed a bit since then, top tubes are longer. I still think the old "center to top" measurement for frame sizes was more accurate than "center to center" what with variable tubing diameters. My 1984 Masi has 56 stamped on it, which is a center to top size.

[christian]

How about this one where you have both hands on the top of the bars (middle -between the bend and the stem). Take one hand off the bar and fully rotate your arm - arcing circle - hand should come back to rest on the bar.Maybe I'm dense, but unless my arm changes length during the rotation, how would this not work? "Yup, I've got the right bars. I can reach them."