Headache from riding V

[snilard]

I switched Ventisit to comfort version and have to say that it helped with my head a lot. At first ride I haven't recognised any difference. But It changed position of my head a little bit and now my head is more comfortable.
I have ordered Thor seat but had not payed it yet (sorry, Greg) so I have dilema with alternative seat once more. New seat would mean new bottle holders, new velcros on seat for my underseat bags etc, etc. = a lot of work. My better half is jealous of my bike because I spend nearly all my free time riding or tweaking it. I would like to move from tweaking phase to just maintenance phase.

 

[JOSEPHWEISSERT]

My better half is jealous of my bike because I spend nearly all my free time riding or tweaking it.

They are called bike widows or cycling widows.

 

[ratz]

My better half is jealous of my bike because I spend nearly all my free time riding or tweaking it. I would like to move from tweaking phase to just maintenance phase.

Well you can get the better half into biking but that of course doubles the cost

 

[hoyden]

Well you can get the better half into biking but that of course doubles the cost

It may double the cost but I imagine in the long term it's an overall bargain at twice the price.

 

[snilard]

Well you can get the better half into biking but that of course doubles the cost

My better half has Azub recumbent and she is much slower than me. We are cycling together sometimes but...
I take care of her bike so more time spend with hex wretch what I cannot give her.

They are called bike widows or cycling widows.

If my girlfriend is cycling widow I sould be called climbing widow. But rock climbing stuff doesn't need so much care as bike

 

[ratz]

But rock climbing stuff doesn't need so much care as bike

Hmmm I would expect that more care was need or at least that it was more critical; gravity is more reliable than motorists.

 

[PeteClark]

That is the best description of where it is suppose to be. Never thought of comparing it to the position you hold your head without the head rest.
That's the position that allow you to look through sunglass at the handlebar clamp and not look under the glasses.

well done. and that sounds comfortable with the tube sandwich. Pictures?

As a follow-up, I think I've got the headrest dialed in. Rather than shorten the headrest tubes as some have done, I've installed a wedge of dense foam between the seat and the seat pad... it is 2 cm thick at the back edge of the seat, tapered down to 0.5 cm at the leading edge (about 25 cm from the back edge). That lifts my shoulders just enough that the headrest hits me in just the right spot.
I'd be interested in any commentary on my position on the bike. With the boom-slider set on "20", there's less than 1 cm clearance between the top of my thigh and the flats of the Midge On-One bars. btw-the cranks are 175mm.

 

[Jeremy S]

I'd be interested in any commentary on my position on the bike

That looks like a fair amount of knee bend. Is your left leg fully extended here? Have you tried a longer boom setting?

 

[PeteClark]

That looks like a fair amount of knee bend. Is your left leg fully extended here? Have you tried a longer boom setting?

Thanks, I think you're right. I'll try keeping the bars where they are but letting the boom out another 5mm.

 

[Alan W Dolbeer]

I used a combination of doubling the foam thickness in the headrest and also placing a wedge of open cell foam under the Ventisit seat pad. This combination is working well for me.

 

[RojoRacing]

As a follow-up, I think I've got the headrest dialed in. Rather than shorten the headrest tubes as some have done, I've installed a wedge of dense foam between the seat and the seat pad... it is 2 cm thick at the back edge of the seat, tapered down to 0.5 cm at the leading edge (about 25 cm from the back edge). That lifts my shoulders just enough that the headrest hits me in just the right spot.
I'd be interested in any commentary on my position on the bike. With the boom-slider set on "20", there's less than 1 cm clearance between the top of my thigh and the flats of the Midge On-One bars. btw-the cranks are 175mm.

that was the exact solution we used half way through the 24hr race last year. there's nothing wrong with that solution ether so if it continues to work then enjoy

 

[Dave Arnold]

I used a combination of doubling the foam thickness in the headrest and also placing a wedge of open cell foam under the Ventisit seat pad. This combination is working well for me.
View attachment 2795

Where did you find the foam to make the wedge and for doubling the foam in the headrest?

 

[PeteClark]

Where did you find the foam to make the wedge and for doubling the foam in the headrest?

I can't answer for Alan, but I used the dense foam layer from the standard seat pad, shortened and trimmed to a wedge.

 

[RojoRacing]

Where did you find the foam to make the wedge and for doubling the foam in the headrest?

in my cast i use the same foam as what is used in the lower half of the stock seat padding, the stiffer dense closed cell stuff.

 

[MrSteve]

The easiest to use, cheapest, and most available closed-cell foam?
Probably yoga mats.
Make the mats thicker by gluing two or more sheets of foam together with contact cement.

 

[pedlpadl]

I'd be interested in any commentary on my position on the bike.

My knees hurt from looking at that photo. I went from 175mm cranks on DF to 165mm on my V20. With my short legs, I should probably look into even shorter cranks. Dialing in the proper boom length took a while for me, but riding pain free now. Good luck Pete.

 

[PeteClark]

My knees hurt from looking at that photo. I went from 175mm cranks on DF to 165mm on my V20. With my short legs, I should probably look into even shorter cranks. Dialing in the proper boom length took a while for me, but riding pain free now. Good luck Pete.

I had 180mm cranks on my last 3 DFs, and loved 'em... the cranks that is.

 

[RojoRacing]

For the idea of adding padding under existing pads to raise your shoulders you can use any dense foam. You trying to raise the seats height, not add more padding so foam compliance isn't important. Go out and buy yourself a new TV then use the leftover styrofoam packaging for you seat adjustments. The more dense the foam the better it'll resist compression over time.

 

[super slim]

I had 180mm cranks on my last 3 DFs, and loved 'em... the cranks that is.

My knees hurt from looking at that photo. I went from 175mm cranks on DF to 165mm on my V20. With my short legs, I should probably look into even shorter cranks. Dialing in the proper boom length took a while for me, but riding pain free now. Good luck Pete.

Larry O has short legs, but I don't know how short, and after MANY experiments using a very clever attachment to modified cranks, so the crank length was adjustable from 105 to 135 mm.
He has settled on 140 mm cranks.
http://cruzbike.com/forum/threads/fun-with-crank-lengths.8536/

I went from 175 mm to 153 mm and my knees thanked me!!!

 

[super slim]

I used 2 layers of exercise mats on the Silvio V1.0 seat base and after 1 year they compressed from 10 mm down to 1.5 mm, and there was only a small weight on them.