Bike Fitting

Within my clinic I combine cycle-specific Physiotherapy assessment and treatment with own-bike biomechanical assessment and fitting.

See link for more info:
http://www.complete-physio.co.uk/clinics/kentish-town-la/services/cycleclinic

I also see patients without bikes.

I've not used them myself but Cyclelab offer a bike fitting service too.

I'd deffo get a cycling physio who specialises. Ring around a few bike clubs.

http://bikedynamics.co.uk/guidelines.htm

"Often an attempt to open the knee angle by raising the saddle will just open up the ankle joint instead"

Prob still gonna get a fitting but sounds like this is why I haven't been able to get more than 20 mins from the settee for the last week.

i have been recommended this place by a lot of people in my club:

http://www.freespeed.co.uk/

Guys, please help me. I'm going insane.

My right knee has been clicky ever since I got doored by some guy 3 years hence. It's not always clicky, and it comes and goes. When it comes, it's pretty uncomfortable (although not painful) and the only way I can get rid of it is by extending my right leg to full lock. Over time I've made it stop by raising my saddle which has worked great.

As per posts 251-261 in this thread, I went for cycle training and the trainer moved my seat down by about an inch because I was rocking from side to side at the bottom of each pedal stroke. Putting it down made my knee click so I put it back up again.

I then went for a proper bike fit and the fitter duly moved the saddle down EVEN MOAR, by what must now be about two inches. There is practically no more seatpost left in the seat tube. I had to take the bracket for my rear light off because there wasn't enough room. My right knee is now clicking like a cicada in a beatbox contest and I'm turning the pedals like Groucho Marx. I feel completely cramped and my speed on the flat has tanked by a good 5mph.

Wtf is going on? Why is everybody hellbent on lowering my saddle into the floor? I appreciate that lowering it stabilises me overall because it stops me rocking, but the knee clicking and discomfort is the worst thing about cycling for me and I don't want stability at the price of having a fucked knee. Am I just imagining the discomfort and I'm supposed to get used to this, or what?

Ps I am certain there was another bike fitting thread here but, bafflingly, I can't find it

My saddle is at an 'incorrect' height because that stops my knee hurting. To the experts who tell me to change it I say: fuck you and have a nice day.

Hmmm, I think you are going to the wrong bike-fitters. A good bike fitter should work with you to find out what works for you and your body and your kind of riding. Every saddle position is a compromise and his/her job is to find to position that works for you.

I hope you used a fitter that offers free follow ups. It's the very least that a fitter should offer if they've made your position worse for you.

Try this fitter, bothwell--he's good :) :

https://www.lfgss.com/thread21125.html

:)

I'd avoid him.
He's too damned happy about everything and he'll force you to mainline coffee.
That bloody Scherrit!.

And he told me to stop smoking!

Worst of all, he fixed my knee issues. That rat bastard.

Knees are funny bloody things.

I rode to Paris and back on an ill fitting bike 2 years back and am still paying for it now.

Stretching daily, make sure you have a bike fit.

I'm no where near London but I'm bloody tempted to make the trip to see the bike whisperer. Anything to make this friggin pain go away.

It is worth it. I'd give them a call as they are pretty booked up as always.

Ouch, sorry to hear about your noisy knee, bothwell!

I had a bike fit recently and my saddle also got moved down. It feels a bit weird but not too odd. But if it doesn't work for you, then it doesn't work - what might be right according to "the rules" isn't necessarily going to be right for you.

I've kept it really high on the other bike mainly because I need the space to fit my saddlebag, I do think I'm rocking a little bit with it that high but it doesn't matter as I never go very far on that bike...

My bike fit was a couple of weeks ago, and I was told to ride 200 miles then go back to check it's all good (however I've got such horrendous wrist pain now that I can't bear going anywhere near my road bike... completely counterproductive as I'll never get the fit right if I never ride the bike). I'm sure whoever you went to would be happy for you to go back and make some adjustments. If it's not working for you then it's not the right fit.

I've heard this Scherrit character is good, through the grapevine like, but that's why he's got a longer waiting list than an NHS hip replacement clinic! :p

The fitter has said if I've got any problems then just go back and see him - he did a cleat fit for me on my Other Bike and I've got to say the knee feels great on that one even with the saddle down lower. I ride with cages on my proper bike so maybe my foot is being given too much opportunity to flail about in them which has a knock-on effect on the knee? Fuck knows. But an almost 30% drop in speed would seem to be a pretty epic knock to overall efficiency.

You could also go and see that bluerip00 character:

https://www.lfgss.com/thread29902.html

Knees are funny bloody things.

I rode to Paris and back on an ill fitting bike 2 years back and am still paying for it now.

Stretching daily, make sure you have a bike fit.

I'm no where near London but I'm bloody tempted to make the trip to see the bike whisperer. Anything to make this friggin pain go away.

Saying that my pain in my knees was much more bearable (able to ride 350 miles in 2.5 days and the Dunwich Dynamo last year) when I was using SPD's.

Now I'm on speedplays the pain is worse - go figure.

(I do have the speedplays with float which you can't dial in though)

You could also go and see that bluerip00 character:

https://www.lfgss.com/thread29902.html

Yeah, this is true - I thought about bluerip00 shortly after posting, so might well give him a bell after payday.

I tried the lowered saddle again today, so as to at least give it a chance, but it hurts my left knee and sends my right into clicky-clicky overdrive and I'm definitely not imagining it. I measured it and I'm not exaggerating about the two inches, either - the bottom edge of the duct tape in this pic is where the seatpost was put down to, compared to where I usually have it. Mental.

Saying that my pain in my knees was much more bearable (able to ride 350 miles in 2.5 days and the Dunwich Dynamo last year) when I was using SPD's.

Now I'm on speedplays the pain is worse - go figure.

(I do have the speedplays with float which you can't dial in though)

The fitter told me my knees bow outwards when they're under load and that the effect comes from the way my feet point (or something like that) so I guess shoes/cleats would make a difference. Makes sense if you think of the leg as a complete system rather than as a collection of individual parts that are maybe broken in discrete places.

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Pedal interface is critical. TWB are very good at this.

I am struggling getting comfortable in my genesis equilibrium. I am about 5 11 and ride a 56cm bike. However by the time I get my seat to the correct height (75cm from BB to top of seat) I have a bar drop of about 8 cm, which is uncomfortable.

I want to get the bars level with the seat, which in the current set up is impossible, unless I put a new fork in which will look ridiculous.

The other option is to get a new frame, but is there a way of working out what size etc would suit me best without loads of test rides?

Thanks

A questions best answered in a bike shop I fear.

Persevere. Unless you have back problems you'll probably get used to it quite quickly. When I first got a drop bar road bike I thought 4cm of drop was right, now I'm basically Marco Pantani that now feels stupidly upright. For max aerotuck 8cm isn't really enough.

Try an adjustable stem. It'll look a bit cack but you can play with the height and see if you can get it right for you and if you do get used to head down position you won't have spent too much. Here's one for a starter http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=39262

-17°

There are several ways of getting the bars higher on a bike with a modern aheadset without getting a new frame or forks.

1. Turn the current stem over
   
2. Get a stem with a greater angle and turn it over
   
3. Adjustable stem
   
4. Steerer tube extension