Saffron Frameworks Dream Bike

Went to see Nichola Roberts, as suggested by JB... she's seems to know what she's doing.
I have three main issues; strength, flexibility, and leg length discrepancy...

• I'm doing squats and bridges etc to strengthen my bad leg. Atm my 'good' leg is overcompensating, which has led to knee pain. The weakness also means my legs are tracking oddly, which is (possibly) causing itb issues and exacerbating the knee pain.

• I'm doing stretches to get more flexibility... I've never been flexible anyway, but atm the moment the muscles in my bad leg are particularly tight, which doesn't help with tracking or itb problems.

• And I now have shims to help with the leg length thing. So saddle height is simpler... obviously with one leg shorter than the other, you're either too high on one side, or too low on the other, which means more knee and itb issues, more bad tracking, and hips that wobble all over the place. The shims have made my hips a lot more stable.

I haven't done a proper ride in about 8 weeks and the knee issues haven't completely disappeared, so I probably need to sort out my walking shoes as well.

I'd basically like to be able to push myself properly again without risking more injury. I'm 41 so it won't be easy, but I'm starting to see modest results already which is encouraging : )

Sorry to hear of your troubles. That's more complex than I what I've experienced, though mine are similar issues (muscle tightening, flexibility, lower back pain pulling me one way). Hope this next phase helps things settle down for you.

I am 28 so I may get away with it more than you but we have similar issues. I don't have the bad leg thing but certainly am not that flexible and I have a fairly substantial leg length discrepancy.

'With shims, the difference in hip stability is quite noticeable.' - isn't it? I have 6mm of leg length shim and the difference is really quite amazing. I experienced the exact same issue as you, too high on one side or too low on one side. The shim fixed this entirely.

I don't know how you get on with your feet/shoe setup, but I have high arches and something that also made a huge difference for knee tracking and foot stability was G8 2620 insoles. They're not cheap and they only last for about a year, but man oh man, they were a genuine game changer for me. My foot pain disappeared and my power through the pedals felt like it increased substantially. This was then backed up by my fitter having pre-G8 power data/pedal stroke mapping and post-G8 power data/pedal stroke mapping. He was really, really impressed with the difference from the G8s.

Out of interest, what pedal system(s) are you running?

The shims are easy enough to sort out on my Speedplays but I also use SPDs, and there's no point doing one bike and not the other. Struggling to imagine how SPD shims would work for walking on mtb shoe grips... I guess I'd just have one foot where I'm walking around on the metal cleat, which kind of ruins the point of having grips in the first place?!

I have G8s from Scherrit (is he your fitter?), they're decent enough so far. I don't go in for power meters so I have no idea if they made me faster!

SPD SL. I agree. Shimming an SPD is awkward. Especially if you require a big stack change.

I have been fitted by him but not since 2014. I have had two fits where I live now. One at my local LBS who used to work at a big chain in SoCal, but I guess the primary fitter is also the guy who designed my Seven and upcoming Gaulzetti, Craig Gaulzetti. He's a couple of hours away but was well worth the trip. Very different fit style to Scherrit but it's worked for me.

Oh yes, I think this might be the second time I've forgotten you live in the States!

I have a vague memory that Nichola mentioned SPD cleats that basically add height to the entire sole. Can't find anything like that online though.
I have a 1cm discrepancy but for reasons I don't fully understand only have a 3mm shim, so maybe not too ridiculous.

Brief update... Light Bicycle have finally finished the wheels, and have very generously (and a bit bafflingly) sent me 17 very professional-looking photos of them.

Here are three:

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Had forgotten I'd asked for oil slick nipples either side of the valve hole : )

What's the latest with the frame?

I'm waiting for a bruised coccyx to heal, then I have a few months of physio to sort out the broken femur stuff... and then, when everything's approaching normal again, I can get proper numbers and order the frame.

As soon it's delivered I'll ride it as hard as I can into a wall and start again. Good to have something to look forward to.

In other news, I bought a headset.
It's 'pewter', and I'm hoping it'll sit nicely with the paint and the silly brakes. It's never been fitted but has a couple of light storage marks so was relatively cheap. I should be able to hide the blemishes under the down tube once it's on.

I'm kind of into it:

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I had a pewter CK once and it always look much more like plain ol purple to me. Maybe I got a particularly light anodizing run or maybe it just lightens up in sunlight.

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Any info on this stem? Is it a Saffron custom? Looks exactly like what i need. We appear to have lots of crossover tastes on our builds.
EDIT: Just found this on the Saffron builds page. It's a custom one so my search for the perfect stem continues

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Yeah that's a custom job: Cheeky 3 degree angle to match the top tube, and a special fixing to hold the EPS unit.

Not sure if Saffron would make a stem independently of a bike, but Winston almost certainly would.

Although at that price point, I'd be tempted to get something modern and extravagant like Extralite.

Yeah mine is basically a dark, smokey purple. Apparently pewter is supposed to be a type of grey.

Are you after a steel one specifically?

No just something slender and gloss black for a new master x light. Any material almost any budget for the right look. Simworks anna lee looks best so far but 70 mm stack

Gotcha. I've made myself one similar to the above in the past. Though not as perfect of course. Not light though

Currently exploring all options most recently £170+ 250g+ options. I'll update my own build thread.

No stem choice for you yet then? I saw the extralite on the tommasini in your build inspiration. Posh but cheaper than custom and about 1/3 of the weight. I'm trying to offset the extra weight if my frame and forks with light bits where i can but still has to look right. Yours is coming along nicely 👌

@M_V made me a lovely slim custom stem to go on my Cliff Shrubb

Lifeline skewers. They were even on offer woop woop!

Bit late but they don't really work well and strongly recommend against (as well as open cam skewer) as they do not provide enough purchase to hold the wheel in place (can cause creaking, maybe even move in the drop out, wear the drop out face).

It's not a place you wanna skim on weight, go for Shimano skewer that have a closed cam.

Nice I'll have a look on his thread. Might contact John Chickens as well as he's a friend of a friend and local and see what he says. I'm getting close to the point of no return on budget now so will look at all options. This could work but the body profile may me a bit 90s syncros which is great but not for a skinny master. They so it in black? My opologies to Gaz for the thread hijack but hopefully these may help him find something suitable as well.

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Not yet, no... length and angle depends on final bike fit numbers so have to do all my physio etc before I can choose one. Same goes with seatpost because of layback, although I have a Superleggero ready to go. It has 15mm layback so should leave room for fore and aft changes if my body keeps changing.

Yeah, I have them on the Varonha and they do creak a bit.
Other than that they seem okay, but it is a tad annoying.

They are well past their return date now so might as well use them.