Bike Fit Results

[Veronica]

I went in for my bike fitting today with 5 issues:

1. The tightness behind my right knee.
2. The new soreness in my upper back, I think part of this is stress related. I have noticed that I have really been hunching my shoulders on the bike lately.
3. My hands going slightly numb after 8 hours or so of riding.
4. My feet going slightly numb after about 8 hours of riding.
5. My rocking shoulders which drive my husband nuts.

The first 30 - 40 minutes were spent talking with Chris about when, where and how I ride and my above issues. We also talked about how I spend my day and what other activities I do. We talked about when the knee and back things started, the fact that I have rocked forever and that 8 hours is a long time to be in the saddle, especially when you have another six to eight hours to go.

Chris then measured my bike set up. Then I got on the bike and he watched me pedal. Next he measured where various parts of me were in relationship to the bike. He also tested my flexibility at my hips and knees and decided that was not really an issue. Thank you yoga!

We then talked some more about what he was seeing and how that related to my various problems and this is what we did about them:

1. My legs aren't different lengths but because my left hamstring is more flexible than my right, it has greater extension. He lowered my saddle because it was too high for my right leg. He also moved it forward slightly and adjusted the cleats in my shoes forward.

2. He put a shorter stem on my bike. Now when I go into the drops I actually move forward from my hips. Before I was just reaching forward with my back and arms and there was no change to my hip angle from being on the hoods to going into the drops. Now my hips move like 5 degrees.

3. Suck it up maybe get gloves with a little more padding. The change in reach may make a little difference.

4. The new cleat position should help.

5. I don't "anchor" my pelvis when I ride. Okay... darn I was hoping this was a fit thing not a Veronica thing.

Chris then measured all of my positions on the bike and the new position of my saddle. I took the bike outside for a short ride to see how it felt. I didn't want to go back to the shop, I just wanted to keep riding.

The whole thing took about 2.5 hours.

So what do I think?

I just got back from my normal after work 18 mile bike ride. It's the first time since September that I have not had my knee get tight right from the first pedal stroke. In fact it felt better on the bike than it does just sitting here.

The shorter stem seems to make getting into the drops more comfortable. Not that I thought it was uncomfortable before. I'm looking forward to my long ride on Saturday with lots of climbing and descending to see if this really true.

The new cleat position will take a little getting used to.

All of the changes together to my shoes and saddle do seem to make me engage more of my leg muscles and glutes. Although I was really thinking about that today, so maybe that's just perception. However, I did have a pretty decent average speed without putting forth a tremendous of effort. The joys of riding with a HRM.

V.

[maillotpois]

Cool! I hope the fits helps. He's so thorough, and so nice to work with.

That cleat position was the one thing he did that I ultimately had to change back. It just did not work for me for ultra distance stuff, and moving cleats back seems to be a common remedy for the problems I was getting after DMD last year (hot foot, etc.).

[Wahine]

Moving cleats forward definitely does not work for a lot of ultra distance people. So don't fight it if it's not working for you. Sounds like you got a great fit and that you need to work on your core strength some more

[Veronica]

Yeah, I'm not really sure what it is I'm doing or not doing with this shoulder rocking/head bobbing thing going on.

How does one anchor one's pelvis? I have no plans to throw it off a boat and let it sink to the bottom.

V.

[maillotpois]

Did he say the head bobbing thing was because of the un/non-anchored pelvis? I haven't really seen it before (yes you're special) in any of the folks I have ridden with or coached.

Sorry but it has to be said: AHOY!

[Veronica]

Yep, that is what he said. 'Cause at the end we went down the list of my five issues.

V.

[maillotpois]

Ah - I see how the issues line up like that. But did he explain what that meant? Is it a stability issue? It would seem that bending at the waist business would help that whole pelvic stability and anchoring.

[Wahine]

V. What you need to do is learn how to control your pelvis motion in the frontal plane (side to side rocking). Side plank is a very good exercise for this. So is spinning on your bike at such a high speed that you start bouncing out of the saddle, then slow down your cadence until you regain control and try to focus on maintaining solid contact with the saddle with your sit bones. It might help to think about keeping both sides of your waist long, kind of like you do when you do triangle pose in yoga. I also like the first two exercises on this video for training your body to control your trunk posture while you're doing things with your legs. It's functional because that's what we ask our body to do while we cycle.

Maybe those will help with the hip rocking.

[jesvetmed]

Great website, Wahine! Thanks for the link.

[Wahine]

Jes, I should have sent you something like this sooner.

Bin busy, sorry.

[madscot13]

while we are on the topic of Bike fits, what is the cost range and what can you expect out of them?

[Trekhawk]

2. He put a shorter stem on my bike. Now when I go into the drops I actually move forward from my hips. Before I was just reaching forward with my back and arms and there was no change to my hip angle from being on the hoods to going into the drops. Now my hips move like 5 degrees.

Cool V!!
Glad to hear your fit went well. I had the same issue when going into the drops when I had my fit. I had no idea I was just reaching with my arms and back until they mentioned it.

Let us know how the longer rides go for you with the new fit.

[divingbiker]

Interesting reading about your bike fit. It sounds like he uses an approach similar approach to my most recent fitter, which was very different from the first time I had a fitting. I am going in today to finish up (brakes weren't connected on new bars so I couldn't ride it during the fitting session) and will post my thoughts on it (and the differences between it and my previous fitting).

Madscot, my fittings were $150 (each), plus $35 for cleat adjustment the first time.

[Veronica]

Thanks for the ideas of what to do Wahine. Now that I know where it originates from, maybe I can do something about it. Although really it doesn't bother me, it just bothers Thom.

V.

[madscot13]

Interesting reading about your bike fit. It sounds like he uses an approach similar approach to my most recent fitter, which was very different from the first time I had a fitting. I am going in today to finish up (brakes weren't connected on new bars so I couldn't ride it during the fitting session) and will post my thoughts on it (and the differences between it and my previous fitting).

Madscot, my fittings were $150 (each), plus $35 for cleat adjustment the first time.

where did you go for your bike fit?