Aerodynamic lean on a city bike

[larry-new]

Waiting for my Rad city to get here, and thinking of the riding setup. Looking to lower my riding stance a bit for efficiency, but not radically.

I don't mind being told that I have absolutely zero experience with a more upright riding stance, which I don't, save a few miles on a cheap cruiser, ...total ignorance never stopped me before, so here goes:

With maybe 250k miles of road dropbar riding, old habits die hard. All of my riding will be paved road, as far from traffic as I can manage. Tires to max...look at the bulge below, not the pressure.

Rides to 100 miles, with two batteries, on a loop with a cross...dropping off battery #1 at the cross for recharge, and picking it up on the return.

I'm looking at that adjustable stem and can imagine wanting to flatten it out, and remove those two stem risers I see mentioned here, giving a modified, lowered, upright position. Reversing the seatpost or moving back the seat...not so much, as pedal efficiency wants knees to be over the crank vertical line.

Pedal clips, definitely. Road seat, raised for leg extension. No shock absorbers, since they absorb pedalling energy also. Some of this may be wishful thinking, as I may be more decrepit than I realize...ok, at least I went with the ebike!

Btw, those with back problems ( which I thankfully don't have) might not want to dismiss out of hand completely the advantages of putting a little more weight forward...the benefits being less weight on the sit bones, an open spine and diaphram, the downside more hand numbness.

Advice from those who actually know what they're talking about would be helpful.

 

[mrgold35]

I had to add an Sunlite 0-60 degree adjustable stem and thicker padded riding gloves to my Radrover for a more upright riding position. I was getting numb hands after a short-medium rides because I was leaning forward too much. I'm 6'3" and also added a 420mm suspension seatpost.



Could you attached those aero rest handlebars they used to triathlons on the your Radcity to have the best of both worlds of upright commuting and less drag speed runs?

 

[Nova Haibike]

The commuting bike I bought back in 80's had upright bars; the first thing I did was install drops. Some people will say with an e-bike you don't need the extra efficiency of a more aerodynamic position. But as you say, old habits die hard. When I got my e-bike earlier this year, I was pretty sure I would not like the wide riser bars...and I did not. In my mind I still want to convert over to road bars; in the meanwhile I flopped the stem for zero rise and went with a flat bar with a loop in front for a more aero position. I'm finding it good enough that I might never go full-on road bar. I put on a narrower saddle as well. I have always been a clipless pedal user (and before that, toe clips), but after doing a lot of reading, I decided to give flats a whirl. I can't say I miss clipless.

 

[AHicks]

I think the City makes an awesome bike for a lot of people, and a darn good base for doing things your way! My concern for a lay down style might be the distance between the seat post and the steering post. The 16" City I got seems kinda close....

 

[larry-new]

Good feedback all! Not looking to fully laydown, the forward bars were just coming in when I quit, but a set of Randonneur drops gave me many happy miles...they come out of the stem with a rise, before dropping to a splayed vertical, giving no end of positions.

The city starts with an adjustable stem at the knuckle..unheard of on a road bike, but able to provide a lot of adjustability...the straight bars may have to go, but the stem definitely stays. Hope all the controls will transfer to a drop bar if it comes to that. First to lower things when the bike arrives, and raise that seat.

 

[JRA]

I have two road eBikes with drop bars. If you are used to drop bars why not just use them? You'd have to get a different stem though.

 

[Nova Haibike]

Hope all the controls will transfer to a drop bar if it comes to that

This is what prevents me from going to drop bars. In my case I would have to not only have to get hydraulic dual control levers, but go from mechanical to electronic shifting.

With the Rad City, the hydraulic brake levers will not transfer to drop bars; wrong shape, and different clamp diameter. Same with the shifters. Instead of drops, a good alternative is trekking/butterfly handlebars.

 

[larry-new]

R. City has mechanical brakes, so any levers would work, and incorporate a shifter on a drop bar. But then there's the microswitch throttle safety cutoffs and regen. activation. Ah, lots to consider when I have the bike in front of me. A little at a time.

Supposedly the zoom stem on the City has 60 degrees of angle adjustment...hope that means I can flatten it or even drop it below the knuckle...now that might be neat!

 

[mrgold35]

On my wife's Radcity Step-Thru the adjustable stem can be lowered to be horizontal to the ground or up to 60 degrees. That moves the handlebars up and back for a more upright ride as you go up. You do have the ability to loosen the 4 stem bolts that secure the handlebar in the stem and loosen the screws for the ebike controls, brake, LCD, and gear controls. Then you can rotate the handlebar angle within the stem for a custom fit once you settle on a stem height.

 

[larry-new]

That's what I'm hoping for.

 

[MadManMark]

...With maybe 250k miles of road dropbar riding ...

Wow, that is "hard core!" I'm not sure if I've even driven a car 250k miles in my lifetime, and I'm not young. If I did the math right, this is 20 miles a day, every day (365 days per year) for 35 years!

 

[larry-new]

I was never fast, but endurance was another matter. It does sound like a lot...perhaps I got the math wrong... weekends I'd have 100 mi. in before noon.