Quote Originally Posted by OakLeaf View Post
Don't know how long your legs are, but at 5'3" I can't ride anything longer than 165 without irritating my kneecaps and Achilles.
I'm a 5'6.75" with long legs. Fitter never mentioned crank length as being an issue.

Indy, that definitely made sense. My fitter knows I don't want to put too much money into the bike right now, as I'm saving up for a new one (a de facto compact double), but encouraged me to get a CD when I bought a new bike or upgraded the drivetrain on this bike.

I went on a short, slow ride (12.5 miles, or thereabouts) this evening. Honestly, the "sit bone" pain (which isn't actually on my sit bone, but slightly further forward) and chafing were bigger issues than the knee pain today. I now have an explanation for about half the stuff that's been bothering me. Apparently I'm not actually sitting on the "sit spots" on the saddle. I'm sitting weirdly...I don't even know how, since I can't replicate it on the trainer or with the bike against the wall. There is definitely a sweet spot on the saddle where my sit bones are in the right places and the knee pain is nearly gone, my left side isn't as irritated and my weight is more normally distributed on the saddle. Once I find it, the issue is keeping myself there.
I have a feeling that the weird position I'm sitting in has something to do with my overall position on the bike. It seems I prefer to be somewhat more aggressive than the bike will let me. The fitter did say that the stem I have on there is about 5mm too short, and I think that might have something to do with it, since I feel like a slight tweak lengthwise would help my shoulders as well. I'll have to give him a call and see what we can arrange.