OakLeaf
04-16-2008, 11:31 AM
The good news is that my shoulders feel a lot better with a longer stem (which I would never have guessed), and my weight feels a lot more balanced on the saddle. I'm truly on my sitbones and it's a good feeling.
The bad news is the fitter dropped my saddle 3 cm (!) even though I warned him I have patellofemoral issues. I understand his point about how I was using my ankles a lot, and that's not fashionable now, the way it was when I first learned to ride. But at the top of the pedal stroke - which I explained to him is where I have the problem if my knees flex excessively - I'm pretty sure my ankles have always been neutral at the top of the stroke, so there wasn't a lot to work with. And because of my tetchy knees I've never moved a saddle more than a couple of mm at a time before.
Bottom line, I felt okay on the trainer in the shop, I felt okay on the 16 mile ride home, but as soon as I got home my left knee started to swell - not a lot, but enough, and in a sickeningly familiar way.
So I raised my saddle, not all the way back, but 2 cm to give him some of the benefit of the doubt - and also because I had been getting some cramping in my lower legs and feet, which he said was related to using my ankles too much. I may ride tomorrow and maybe not until Friday. But I'm feeling like I need to stay off the commuter bike, too, especially because it's got really long crankarms and it isn't the best for my knees at the best of times. I did get a rental car to get me back from the airport the other night, so I'm not stuck at home, but I was really planning on taking it back today after I picked up my dry cleaning. And I just plain hate running errands of 3-5 miles in a car, any time, for any reason. :mad:
Not that there's ever a good time to be injured, but this is a really bad time. Keep your fingers crossed that my knee feels better tomorrow and the compromise seat height works out for me.
The bad news is the fitter dropped my saddle 3 cm (!) even though I warned him I have patellofemoral issues. I understand his point about how I was using my ankles a lot, and that's not fashionable now, the way it was when I first learned to ride. But at the top of the pedal stroke - which I explained to him is where I have the problem if my knees flex excessively - I'm pretty sure my ankles have always been neutral at the top of the stroke, so there wasn't a lot to work with. And because of my tetchy knees I've never moved a saddle more than a couple of mm at a time before.
Bottom line, I felt okay on the trainer in the shop, I felt okay on the 16 mile ride home, but as soon as I got home my left knee started to swell - not a lot, but enough, and in a sickeningly familiar way.
So I raised my saddle, not all the way back, but 2 cm to give him some of the benefit of the doubt - and also because I had been getting some cramping in my lower legs and feet, which he said was related to using my ankles too much. I may ride tomorrow and maybe not until Friday. But I'm feeling like I need to stay off the commuter bike, too, especially because it's got really long crankarms and it isn't the best for my knees at the best of times. I did get a rental car to get me back from the airport the other night, so I'm not stuck at home, but I was really planning on taking it back today after I picked up my dry cleaning. And I just plain hate running errands of 3-5 miles in a car, any time, for any reason. :mad:
Not that there's ever a good time to be injured, but this is a really bad time. Keep your fingers crossed that my knee feels better tomorrow and the compromise seat height works out for me.