Levo Gen 2 Improve Riding Position

[T8COH]

I have a 2021 Levo Turbo in Medium and I’m 5ft 10” and feel if I could raise the handlebars and push them away a bit it would improve comfort .
Is this possible and how would I do it , any advice or links to what I need would be very much appreciated. It’s something I have never had to do before .

 

[Mikerb]

What do you want to achieve in terms of "comfort"? I would have thought a medium frame was quite small for your height but not a lot I guess you can about that now!
In terms of achieving the best balance on the bike there is a lot you can do, some of which requires no new parts. For example you can move the saddle forward or back on its rails, and increase the stack height of the stem by moving any spacers that are on top of the stem to below it. That will increase bar height and slightly reduce reach.
You can also rotate the bars. Assuming your bars a re set with the rise perpendicular to the ground, if you rotate them forward you lose some rise and increase reach.
Change you cannot reverse but also have an impact on your riding position include shortening the bars. If they are currently at 800mm you can try anything down to a bout 760. You can get some idea of how that might change things by merely moving your controls further towards the stem and holding the bars inboard of the grip position. It is not the same as actually reducing the bar width but can be a guide. A narrower bar raises your torso slightly.
Stems come in different lengths and rise. A longer stem with the same ( probably zero) rise will increase reach which in turn will increase weight balance on your hands. A longer stem with 5 degrees rise will raise the bars and reduce reach.
To raise the bar height without affecting reach you would have to buy a new set of bars with a higher rise than the ones you currently have fitted. So if you are on 25/27 mm rise now you could go to 40mm.

 

[T8COH]

What do you want to achieve in terms of "comfort"? I would have thought a medium frame was quite small for your height but not a lot I guess you can about that now!
In terms of achieving the best balance on the bike there is a lot you can do, some of which requires no new parts. For example you can move the saddle forward or back on its rails, and increase the stack height of the stem by moving any spacers that are on top of the stem to below it. That will increase bar height and slightly reduce reach.
You can also rotate the bars. Assuming your bars a re set with the rise perpendicular to the ground, if you rotate them forward you lose some rise and increase reach.
Change you cannot reverse but also have an impact on your riding position include shortening the bars. If they are currently at 800mm you can try anything down to a bout 760. You can get some idea of how that might change things by merely moving your controls further towards the stem and holding the bars inboard of the grip position. It is not the same as actually reducing the bar width but can be a guide. A narrower bar raises your torso slightly.
Stems come in different lengths and rise. A longer stem with the same ( probably zero) rise will increase reach which in turn will increase weight balance on your hands. A longer stem with 5 degrees rise will raise the bars and reduce reach.
To raise the bar height without affecting reach you would have to buy a new set of bars with a higher rise than the ones you currently have fitted. So if you are on 25/27 mm rise now you could go to 40mm.

When I checked it said a Medium for up to 5ft 11” but I think your right a large would have been better .
Your advice is great and makes sense and so simple so I shall try what you say and see the improvements before purchasing anything then take it from there.
I feel like a longer reach and a little more height on the bars is what I’m after .
Thanks for taking the time to reply , very much appreciated.

 

[Jeff McD]

I had the same problem as you and made the mistake of slamming my saddle all the way back on the rails to get more room and spread out the torso but this just made the bike too rear weighted. I had to begin by moving the saddle forward to get to the optimal power position on the pedals in the seated climbing position, then dropping a plum line from the front of the knee cap while on the bike in the seated climbing position with the chest down and the crank arms perfectly horizontal, and feet horizontal as well. The plum line should intercept the pedal spindle. Then tried different stems with a 40 mm rise handle bar. Eventually settled on the correct length stem. Ended up with a 80 mm/7° rise stem versus the stock 50 mm/ 0° rise stem. My bike shop was kind enough to lend me different lengths of stem from the rental bike collection one after the other to try until I found the correct size. My problem is a very long torso for my height, but the bike is very comfortable now. This article also helped me a lot to understand what I needed:

The Importance of Handlebar Height & Why It's Often Overlooked - Pinkbike

Even a five millimeter change in bar height can have a noticeable effect on how a bike handles.

www.pinkbike.com

Hope this helps.

 

[T8COH]

I had the same problem as you and made the mistake of slamming my saddle all the way back on the rails to get more room and spread out the torso but this just made the bike too rear weighted. I had to begin by moving the saddle forward to get to the optimal power position on the pedals in the seated climbing position, then dropping a plum line from the front of the knee cap while on the bike in the seated climbing position with the chest down and the crank arms perfectly horizontal, and feet horizontal as well. The plum line should intercept the pedal spindle. Then tried different stems with a 40 mm rise handle bar. Eventually settled on the correct length stem. Ended up with a 80 mm/7° rise stem versus the stock 50 mm/ 0° rise stem. My bike shop was kind enough to lend me different lengths of stem from the rental bike collection one after the other to try until I found the correct size. My problem is a very long torso for my height, but the bike is very comfortable now. This article also helped me a lot to understand what I needed:

The Importance of Handlebar Height & Why It's Often Overlooked - Pinkbike

Even a five millimeter change in bar height can have a noticeable effect on how a bike handles.

www.pinkbike.com

Hope this helps.

Thanks a lot for that , that does help a lot . It didn’t feel too bad on the trails it was more road riding I noticed a big difference between my bike and my sons larger bike .

 

[Cyclopath1000]

My take is that if ya ride a medium non powered mountain bike and are close to the next size up , probably try the next size up. I'm not sure I can explain the physics but I tend to sometimes ride seated with the seat all the way down even when climbing if the terrain is super varied. So ya got to have room up front so your knees don't get cramped. So best way to judge is to see how that feels seat down. If you are too cramped then yes ya have too small a bike by my standards. I rarely ride analogue in that manner so it's not as critical.

 

[BadPiggy]

FWIW, I'm 5'-10" with the same struggle of which size. I went medium because I could feel a difference in cornering, and I wanted to be more maneuverable. I went back and forth on both sizes for a good 45 minutes trying to decide. So much so that the owner of the shop left me outside with two very expensive bikes without supervision to figure it out on my own. I went with medium for the reasons stated, and because from looking at the geo chart a 10mm longer stem and make up nearly all the difference in the cockpit while maintaining the better cornering. In the end, I did not need to do so, and I'm a much better rider now. Also a different stem will give you a chance to customize your bike. For instance, I have blue pedals, blue hubs, blue bottle cage screws, blue stem cap and spacers, and blue handlebars. I short I made the bike my own and somewhat different from the standard.

 

[Mcharza]

My take is that if ya ride a medium non powered mountain bike and are close to the next size up , probably try the next size up. I'm not sure I can explain the physics but I tend to sometimes ride seated with the seat all the way down even when climbing if the terrain is super varied. So ya got to have room up front so your knees don't get cramped. So best way to judge is to see how that feels seat down. If you are too cramped then yes ya have too small a bike by my standards. I rarely ride analogue in that manner so it's not as critical.

Since I rarely ride from the saddle so that it is completely down, I don’t see that I should size the bike based on it.
If I understood your writing correctly.

 

[Cyclopath1000]

It's the ultimate test of your cockpit size. I understand you don't ever do it. Nevertheless if it's too tight, I think it's an indication. Yes I can't prove it.

 

[T8COH]

I fitted a stem and another spacer with new bars and problem solved .
thanks everyone for the advice it really has transformed the bike for me.

 

[Cyclopath1000]

Just did

this ride. And I studied how many times I opted to pedal with the seat down...it was kinda frequent... This is the kind of single track that I ride throughout multiple places in the USA West. I don't go to terrain parks I don't fly off of cliffs but I try to find the scariest single track short of things like highline or poison spider the flex my chops on and I find that if you're writing that kind of stuff you're going to be peddling with your seat down and if you feel uncomfortable pedaling with your seat down then you should figure out why if you're going to be riding this kind of stuff but that's where I ride not where you ride.

 

[The Hodge]

Just did View attachment 76424 this ride. And I studied how many times I opted to pedal with the seat down...it was kinda frequent... This is the kind of single track that I ride throughout multiple places in the USA West. I don't go to terrain parks I don't fly off of cliffs but I try to find the scariest single track short of things like highline or poison spider the flex my chops on and I find that if you're writing that kind of stuff you're going to be peddling with your seat down and if you feel uncomfortable pedaling with your seat down then you should figure out why if you're going to be riding this kind of stuff but that's where I ride not where you ride.

Not sure what this is supposed to prove ...?
I don't understand why on a ride in such flat terrain you would need to be constantly dropping your seat either..

 

[Cyclopath1000]

Upper raptor and thumper is definitely not flat. But it's not 100 foot gaps. It's basically one huge rock garden. Look up thumper in trailforks for cottonwood AZ. Same bike club maintains trails in both.

 

[Cyclopath1000]

As in Sedona

 

[The Hodge]

Did you mean this ..
..
Looks like a nice flow trail ..but fairly flat ..with little in the way of a hill to climb ..

 

[Cyclopath1000]

No.

 

[The Hodge]

No.

It wasn't a question..

 

[Cyclopath1000]

The descents and climbs in and out of the washes are edited out. Yes the video focused on the flow parts and it appears tame which it is not. Come on out and try it. You will like it.

 

[The Hodge]

There is no doubt that I would like it ..however the distance to get there is a little off-putting as in a straight line it's 4,982 miles ..and my private jet is grounded at the moment ..

 

[Gary]

Just goes to show. One man's tame AF blue mtb trail might be an Emtbers super gnar to the power of sick shred fest.

Yee haaah... Whoop whoop n aw that

 

[Mikerb]

As far as I am concerned saddle fully slammed is for when you do not want the saddle in the way of moving forward and back on the bike which is essentially anytime you up on the pedals..........again for me that is anytime I am riding anything that requires balalnce and manoeuvrability. Saddle fully up is for the (rare) occasion I am looking for maximum pedal efficiency so would be on a transition section of fireroad or similar. For essentially level ground/singletrack/flow with little gnar I would typically have my saddle semi slammed and would probably be alternating between being seated and up on the pedals in line with different features on that sort of terrain.

I dont see saddle height having much to do with bike fit other than be able to achieve a decent pedalling action when at full height, and, since the seat post/seat tube is angled backwards, a full height saddle does not mean that reach to the bars becomes excessive such that too much weight is on the hands. That last aspect is of little importance to me since I rarely have the saddle at full height anyway.

For me the most important aspect of bike fit is being equally balanced in the middle of the bike when up on the pedals, and if seated, when the saddle is half height. I find riding anywhere offroad, other than simple fireroad access sections, with the saddle fully raised, puts your centre of balance on the bike far too high to be stable and badly reduces the opportunity to be manoeuvrable on the bike.

 

[Cyclopath1000]

Mikerb. Thanks this is also how I ride. The reason I say be comfy pedalling with it down is that if you apply that rule it's my belief you have picked a size that is most manoerverable. Whether or not thumper is a flat flow or not is not my point. My point isn't about my abilities or lack thereof. If your knees are getting caught seated it's too small. Unless you never tire out. If so make your life simple and just ditch your saddle.