Bike fit / correct riding position

It's a pub bike. You're overthinking this.

Probably, I'm the patron saint of overthinking!

To answer your question though - it might make it a bit twitchier than before but you get used to it. I did this with my old Ribble Audax/Winter bike after I misread the geo when buying a used bike.

Thanks.

I had already booked a fit for later this month as I suffered with the occasional saddle sore last year, have had a slight (right) knee strain for the past 2 months and lately noticed that I seem to be listing to the left a little. It's only now I actually check my saddle to find out the left hand side of the saddle has cracked. Idiot.

Is there anywhere in london that lets your try out saddles or anywhere good for a saddle fitting? Getting mad saddle sores on a bike I’ve done good mileage on in the position so feeling my Antares is starting to let me down

Has the Antares always been comfortable prior to this? If it has just started to become uncomfortable, perhaps just buy a new one? Saddle padding deteriorates over time.

Yea, done up to 300km days on it last summer with 0 issues and then September onwards really I started getting saddle sores. Probably done about 12k km on it now so maybe it is breaking down

I'm not sure I'd go straight to blaming the saddle. What about your knicks? Is the position the same? Did you gain/lose weight? Ride in the rain with/without chamois cream?

My knicks? Same saddle height and bar position. Holding weight pretty consistent, maybe a kg or two change either way but wouldn’t expect enough to make a major difference. I’ve definitely done a few rides over the winter wet, I only used to wear chamois cream when I did tours but since getting sores I’ve used it for any ride over an hour or it gets unbearable. I just find it strange I’ve done rides like John o groats to lands end with no issues and now an hour on the turbo leaves me so sore

Tubro is not same as road! You're comparing apples and oranges. You're (unintentionally) withholding infomation. Somethings changed, its just what... hippy listed some of the good options.

He means bib shorts.

Start at the top and think about anything that could of changed, and address that. Before changing something else.

@yepre

knicks = padded cycling shorts (if you wear them). They also wear out, stretch, etc.

Turbo != road. Turbo riding generally has you in a much more static position and unless you've thought about it you don't get out of the saddle, you don't rock so much, you don't shuffle when you change ascent/descent or move when you hit a bump. Then you're also generally a lot hotter indoors - there's way less airflow - so more sweat and more of it trends downwards towards your nether region.

Get some more cooling. Add a timer or something to remind you to spend 30s out of the saddle to get some more blood downstairs.

I'd agree with it likely not being an issue with the saddle. The foam/gel compresses when sat on anyway, so I don't think age of it should cause such extreme issues unless there's a problem with the body of the saddle like in my example above.

Yep. Brooks leather saddles and similar are the ones most likely to change enough to cause issues, because they've got bigger scope for sag, although I've heard of racers having issues if they're particularly sensitive to saddle height changes.

I do use bibs, but the one I got now aren’t that old, three pairs <1 year old with the older ones being retired.
Could be an airflow issue, the fan I use is at an angle so maybe not breeding in the crotch area quite enough. Again though last winter I was doing 3 hour turbo sessions and boredom was always the first thing to make me quit

in desparate need of opinion: I have been riding 95% fixed over the last 4 years and I'm really comfortable on my bikes (52cm Standert umlaufbahn v3 and a 56cm fuji classic, tt54cm and tt55cm respectively)

Within those 4yrs I've tried buying 2 road/cc bikes that tend to be longer than what I expected based on my current configuration on the fixed.

Why would that be the case, could it be related to the fact that the hoods add a couple cm in front of the handlebars? (have tried shorter stems but same feeling, bike too long)
(bikes in query: Planet X nanolight 54cm 2011 and a Cannondale SuperX 54cm 2016, tt55 and tt55 respectively)

Im 178cm so usually these companies put me in top range of medium bikes, which I suppose should feel smaller rather than bigger, right?

Measure them? Measure the top tube length and then the stem and then the bars. Compare.

Are you using same saddle and seatpost? Might also help to run a tape measure from saddle nose to centre of bars because less steep angles might have saddle further back relative to the BB. You might have saddle in diff position or a setback post and combined with longer stem at a different angle, blah blah, could be lots of variables.

I've measured these and the Standert and Dale have the same distance from nose of saddle to the centre of bars, bars on Standert though are a lot lower than the saddle height as expected from an aggressive frame than the Dale

Set the bikes up identically.

Get saddle height and setback first and then adjust the bar height and reach with respect to the saddle the same.

Bikefit oracles of LFGSS, setting myself up for a flaming so i'm prepared for that but...is there any glaring issues here with cleat, knee, arse position that stands out?

Little bit of trouble with knees which is almost certainly overuse the last 4 or 5 days carrying a load but I did just get these shoes (to replace an earlier model of the same shoes) and fiddled a little with saddle height and position which felt good by and large.

Fire away, do your worst.

3 Attachments

Return the saddle to its previous height and position.

All changes will take some adaptation. Also if you are not used to riding with a load that will be placing novel strain upon your physiology too.

What kind of knee issues?

If it's overuse then stopping can help, but if it's overuse AND some position issue you might be masking one with the other.

It's front of the left knee.

Feels like the surface rather than deep.

Stiff and sharp pain in the morning. Will ease and sometimes go away completely later in the day while pedalling. (Absolutley no out of the saddle ability) I know I shouldn't be pedalling at all but needed to get somewhere I could do some proper R&R (is my excuse)

I'm fairly confident it's just over use and it's the tedium of time that's guna do it. But I'm touring...I was excited, now I'm bored and going down inflammation remedy rabbit holes on the internet :(

(Writing to you from a tent in Germany which definitely doesn't help...living on the ground, not the Germans)

Don't have anything to add fit wise but like your set up above, looks great. What's the frame?

Lower gears, slower riding, more rest, do quad stretches, maybe saddle is too low - you could add a couple of mm just for a day to see if it improves - if it is a fit issue the change in pain level is fairly rapid. When I messed my knees up starting TABR with too low a saddle I was going to bail until I measured it to find it still way too low. I then spent a day or more going backwards and forwards until it settled down and I could ride properly.

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/fitness/cycling-knee-pain-everything-you-need-to-know-329957