Saddle holder that pivot turn left/right

[owlgirl]

I have a cannondale synapse which i love. i have had the hardest time getting the fit on it to avoid right knee pain, but i feel like i'm really getting close, which makes me happy. I have had a pro fit, but we made huge adjustments, and after i got used to them, i went back to the fitter for a few more tweaks. The fitter has a one month come back policy, and i am out of this window, but I might end up having to go back...
now, i feel like everything is just right, except that the top of my left hamstring (i think that is what it is, maybe it is actually the ischeal tuberosity?)) is getting too much pressure put on it after about an hour on the bike. My PT says that sometimes my left leg is a little longer than my right because my pelvis gets out of alignment, so I thought I could make a little adjustment by myself - I thought it would be ok to turn my saddle a little bit to the right and that might help that little area of hamstring that is getting hurt. However, my Synapse has some crazy type of seatpost that won't pivot in the left/right direction!!!! I can't turn the seat tube because it's tear shaped. Has anyone else had this problem? what can I do? Am I going to have to address this pain in some other way? Or buy a new piece of equipment?

[indysteel]

I've corrected my leg length discrepancy with a shim underneath my cleat.

Everybody is different, but it seems to me that trying to address this with your saddle will just result in problems elsewhere. I know what happens when my saddle is off kilter. It's not pretty.

[owlgirl]

The leg length discrepancy is weird. My PT checks it every time, and sometimes it's off, and sometimes it's not. He says it's not very bad. It seems like it'd be hard to correct if it shifts. But still, something uneven is happening, and I just thought it would be nice if I could try this.

[moonfroggy]

did your pt offer any exercises to help your pelvis? because when i saw a pt before one of my hips was way higher than the other and she showed me exercises to do to help and i am wondering if something like that could help you?

[owlgirl]

yeah, I have been in PT for my knee so many times, and I think at this point I am doing every exercise known to god and man for my hips, glutes, quads, abs, back etc. I didn't start doing hip exercises till this last round of PT(started in april) and i think it is helping with the leg length discrepancy, but I went to PT this week, and I was in alignment, and rode the following day and got asymmetric pain. I guess i should have cross posted in the health forum, but I am really wondering if there's a way to tilt my seat that anyone knows of.

[KnottedYet]

Pelvic shifts don't need strengthening exercises so much as just a simple motion you do that puts the innominate bones back in alignment with the sacrum.

If your PT doesn't know how to teach you these very simple and basic techniques, ask him to recommend a NIOMPT, Great Lakes, or McKenzie certified therapist.

It is just ridiculous that a PT would recognize the problem, but not teach you how to take 10 seconds to realign yourself!

ETA: somewhere on TE I gave instructions for two PNF/MET moves to help correct pelvic obliquity, which Biciclista found very helpful. I can't find them (maybe 2 or 3 years ago?), but I'm still searching.

ETA #2: here's a pretty good thread. Not the one I was looking for, but still pretty good. http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=36464

[owlgirl]

Hi everyone, thanks for the advice so far. Knott and Moon, my PT did give me a re-alignment protocol that involves using a broomstick and putting one knee 'pit' on the stick, with the other side of the broomstick right above my knee, then trying to "break the stick". I guess it works? it never seems to fix my knee pain.

I actually stumbled upon your SI joint thread awhile back. The flapping doesn't do anything. The Cobra feels kind of good, especially if i move my hips a little bit while up in cobra. Somewhere, and I don't see it on this thread but it was in response to another SI problem, someone's PT gave an exercise where you lifted your knees to your chest and twisted your pelvis. when I do this to the left side, all is fine but when I twist to the right, it is always way tighter, and sometimes i get a massive pop that releases my leg down several mms or even inches. it's quite frightening. It's one of those pops that doesn't hurt, but doesn't feel like I should keep doing it.

But I feel like I need to clarify, my back and SI do not hurt. I just get pain on one side of my seat when riding (and of course my right knee is never 100%, but feels pretty great in this current setup i've got on my bike. i still can't run though). I know it is some kind of asymmetry problem because there are alot of things in my right hip that are really tight. If I do the classic quad stretch, I don't stretch my quad, I stretch something in my back that is close to where I think my SI joint is. I once strained my right groin, and I've got a lot of scar tissue there I think, and when I do a straddle stretch to the right, especially when i grab my right foot and rotate it internally, it's a pretty intense groin stretch (the left side is fine). Pidgin is intense on the right side too. I think I get fore/aft pelvic tilt instead of up down. I have baffled many bike fitters and PTs with the way that I get messed up, and I feel that my current PT is really good, but still calls me a puzzle. Do you even encounter puzzles, or is he lacking knowledge somewhere?