wow-interesting bike fitting
I have read lots of good advice here since I bought my first bike as an adult last spring, and just wanted to share my experience of having it fitted just a few days ago. I bought my bike at what I believed was a reputable shop as a completely un-educated, in-experienced novice. I didn't know that a bike was supposed to be adjusted to fit you and no one at the shop offered me anything in the way of that kind of advice. I told them I wanted to ride on a paved bike path (specifically the Minuteman in Mass), for a couple hours a week. I was told I should have a ladiesTrek 7200fx. I rode it for about 45 seconds and said "OK". Partly my own fault for not educating myself but I also blame the bike shop for not educating me! Anyway, I ended up completely enjoying riding and thought I wasn't doing too bad going as far as 12 miles several times a week considering my age and out-of-shape body. But all these months I would get pins and needles in a few fingers to the point of numbness if I don't take a hand off to rest every 10 munites or so. Very annyoing. I even saw a hand specialist, but since I only have symptoms when I ride it seemed that was where something needed to be fixed. Finally I felt like I found someone at a different bike shop who could help. Wow - what a lot of good advice I got! I was really wishing for an instant cure for the pins & neeldes fingers, and that didn't happen, but maybe over time it will improve. It seems I taught myself a lot of bad habits that I now need to un-learn! He put my bike on a trainer in front of a camera so I could see myself in a monitor (not a very pretty sight!). First off he said my seat needed to come up a bit. Then he said my elbows were pointed out too much instead of down, my back was too curved making me use my hip flexors instead of my hamstrings, and I was digging a hole with my heel on the power part of the down stroke! I never would have thought of any of these things. I was curving my back to tilt my pelvis to get myself sitting on my bones instead of the soft important parts. To combat this he tilted my seat down and I immediately could straighten my back. He also raised my handlebars where they connect to the tube of the frame and tilted them out. He said they didn't really sell me the bike that would have been best for me but all these adjustments could help get me better on it somewhat. Then he held my foot as I pedaled so I could feel what it was like to not dig a hole with my heel, and kept reminding me to point my elbows down which would also help me breathe better. "Be quiet" on your bike he said, regarding the positioning of my body. Needless to say everything feels completely different now! I just am not sure about the seat being tilted down so much. I may have to attempt to tweak that myself, I might be tryng too hard to stop myself from sliding forward. But I am going to try to leave everything the way he put it until I can go for a good ride outside - maybe warm enough in a couple weeks. Now on my trainer things feel weird - but I was never as comfortable on my trainer as I was outside. The last thing he said to me was that being clipped in would make a big difference. I said I was scared of being trapped so he suggested strapless mini toe clips. I am going to go pick them up next week when they are back in stock. I just need to be brave about that! Then on the way out he even showed me an easier way to get my bike into my back seat. I feel really lucky that I found someone to give me so much advice and can only say that if you need advice or help, keep looking until you find it! And I am keeping my fingers crossed that all these adjustments help me!
