Weight feels very much forward on MTB

[SymbolOfLife]

So after years of just thinking about it, I finally went and picked up a MTB last week. It's high time this long sedentiary lifestyle got seen to.

Anyway, I havent been on a bike since highschool, some 25 years ago. 

As background, the bike my budget settled on is a Trek Marlin 5. I am borderline between L and XL so I opted for the XL rather. 

In the store they did all the setup measurements etc you'd expect and set it up for me, but for the life of me, my weight feels scarily too much tilted forward on the handlebars when seated. A fair amount of strain on the arms, shoulders, and sore wrists/palms. I've now subsequently checked a couple of sites and videos to double check seat height and angle, and everything checks out...seat is level and post appears to be the correct height. 

I so also see that core strength could cause this as a weak core could dump weight to the upper body. I mention this as I've led a pretty sedentiary lifestyle the last couple of years hahahaha, so yes, out of shape is an understatement. 

Like mentioned I've not been on a bike in over two decades, so I am also not sure if I'm just not used to the eseating position on a MTB anymore....

So, with all that mentioned, and pointers in this regard?

 

Edited 15 hours ago by SymbolOfLife
spelling

[RobynE 🚵‍♀️]

Congrats on the bike! 

It sounds like it is too big for you. You’re reaching. Even if you’re out of shape, you should feel at ease on the bike. The right fit feels like you’re “in” the bike, not “on” the bike, if that makes sense. 

XL bikes are very big things and Trek tends to run large - how tall are you and are you long in the leg or long in the torso? 

[SymbolOfLife]

2 hours ago, RobynE 🚵‍♀️ said:

Congrats on the bike! 

It sounds like it is too big for you. You’re reaching. Even if you’re out of shape, you should feel at ease on the bike. The right fit feels like you’re “in” the bike, not “on” the bike, if that makes sense. 

XL bikes are very big things and Trek tends to run large - how tall are you and are you long in the leg or long in the torso? 

1.93 tall with inseam of 86cm

Edited 11 hours ago by SymbolOfLife

[Zebra]

Seems you are around 6 foot 4 inches in non-metric.

That does not SOUND unreasonable to ride an XL bike.

If you have not ridden for 25-odd years, then ‘reach’ and ‘stack’ (think ROUGHLY the HEIGHT of your h/bars) m-i-g-h-t be the area that is making you feel ‘forward’, uncomfortable. Consider starting there, possibly.

A Bike Fit (Irma), goes a long way to CHECKING fit,  and maybe better than a bike shop saying ‘that looks about right’.YMMV.

Good luck

Chris

[RobertWhitehead]

Get yourself a riser bar

[ajnkzn]

I’ve been down this road extensively - weight feeling too far forward when pedaling. 
 

Counterintuitively for me - has been more a factor of saddle too far forward and too short of a stem.

 

Is the saddle pretty much in the middle of the rails - newer bikes have a steeper seat angle which can push you forward. 
 

Take note of the current saddle position and move it back by 10-15mm and see if it feels better / worse.

 

[SymbolOfLife]

14 minutes ago, ajnkzn said:

I’ve been down this road extensively - weight feeling too far forward when pedaling. 
 

Counterintuitively for me - has been more a factor of saddle too far forward and too short of a stem.

 

Is the saddle pretty much in the middle of the rails - newer bikes have a steeper seat angle which can push you forward. 
 

Take note of the current saddle position and move it back by 10-15mm and see if it feels better / worse.

 

At present, saddle is completely flat, and centered on the rails yes. I'll see if a slight shift back alleviates the issue. 

[RobynE 🚵‍♀️]

Robert is also a big boy so I’d go with his recommendation on this. 

[michaelbiker]

It also takes some time to get used to the position. The more you ride the stronger your core gets, the less weight on your hands, the less discomfort.

[Mamil]

Im 190 and ride an xl trek mtb so at 193 you are probably on tthe right bike size.

It is worth getting a bikefit donenif you feel uneasynon the bike.  An radically improve tje experience and stave off injury too.

As another thing to check.... When you are on tthe bike how far into the travel of your fork do you go? There should be a rubber ring on the stanchion you can use to check how much the fork compresses when you are riding. If a little noodle down tje road and back is.compressing the fork by more than about 20 to 30 percent then put more air in tthe fork.

Think the marlin has an air fork?