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Bike Friday Sales Expert and Recumbent specialist Dave Seybert offers pertinent pointers on getting a good 'sit' on the 2006 SatRDay The first aspect to focus on is the fore/aft position of the seat on the track that it slides on. This is done by loosening the quick release under the seat with the black rubber handle, and sliding the seat base forward or backward. Just like an upright bike, you want to have the seat positioned so that your leg is almost fully extended, but your knees are not locked, when your foot is at furthest point away from you in the pedalling cycle. Don't extend your toes out to reach the pedals either, just let your foot and ankle move in a comfortable range of motion. The next step is to set the angle of the seat back. This is done by loosening the two small screws where the rectangular supprt behind the seat changes from black to silver. You can slide the silver upper portion in and out of the black portion to change the angle. Don't pull the silver section out past the knurling marks at the minimum insertion point. The flat center section of the seat should be around 45 degree to the horizontal. The exact position is a matter of preference, but should allow you to see over the handlebars, and not strain your neck. |
Finally, you want to set the fore/aft position and height of the handlebars. To do this, you will need to loosen the two large hex bolts at the top of the stem, and the smaller bolts on the colored rings just in front of the stem clamp. The objective is to position the bars so that your arms are relaxed and slightly bent, with your upper arms just grazing your ribcage. You can move the bars forward and back, and "butterfly" them up and down.until you find the right position. It shouldn't take any effort to hold your arms up or extended with the steering centered, otherwise the handling will feel wobbly when your arms get tired. Until you find the right position, just tighten the big hex bolts; they hold the bars in place. The smaller bolts on the colored rings are there to "remember" the position when you are folding and unfolding the bars. Once you get the bars where you want them, slide the rings back against the stem clamp. Next, twist one ring until the bottom of the hex bolt is touching the other bar. Tighten it, and them twist the other ring until the bottom of its hex bolt is touching the first hex clamp. When you have both tightened, they will stop the bars in the right position when you unfold the bars ... |
On the Tour model, the height of the bottom bracket is adjustable. When you took delivery of your SatRday, the bottom bracket was set to the highest position. You can adjust the height of the bottom bracket and pedals to your preference by turning the eccentric inside the cradle that the folding boom rests on. You will need a 5mm allen wrench (your multi tool has one) and pair of needlenose pliers or a Park Tool pin spanner (the right one has a green vinyl handle). Loosen the outer ring on the eccentric with the Allen wrench and hold it in place, with the boom cradle at 12 o’clock. Put the tips of the needle nose pliers (or the pins on the spanner) in the indentations on the eccentric and rotate it forward. Tighten the bolt on the outer ring to secure the cradle in the new position. The cradle should be flush with the bottom and one side of the boom to reduce boom flex. Before you ride, spin the cranks and turn the front wheel from side to side to make sure that the pedals or your foot won’t interfere with the tire (or fender) on the down stroke of the pedal. That would limit your ability to steer in certain situations. It may be necessary to revisit the earlier steps of the fitting process to fine tune your riding position to his new adjustment. |
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