Fitting and knee pain
Hi all,
I'm sadly at the point of considering that I might just not be able to ride a road bike anymore. As background: Years ago, I used to race in college, and since then, I've been off-and-on over the years between military deployments and just exploring other exercise options (running, CrossFit, karate, and a few others).
Anyway, I got back to riding last summer and got a new bike. A great bike, actually! But bike fitting and me have never really "gotten along" too well. The issue is that my leg/torso ration is WAAAAYYYYY weird. As in, I looked at a chart of thousands height/inseam ratios and I'm the most statistical extreme outlier on that chart. By the numbers: I'm 5'9" tall, and I have an inseam of 36.25". By the population male average, I should either have an inseam of 31" or I should be 6'7" tall. I've been told that for my inseam, I probably should have a 60-62 cm frame, but for my torso length, I should probably have a 52 cm frame. Good luck finding enough micro-adjustments to bridge that gap!
So, I get that fitting me to a bike is an extreme challenge. I've worked with the local bike shop and the guys there have done about the best they can: I've got an extra-long seat post pulled almost to make extension, with a stem that's about 1.5" long with a 20-degree rise. 56cm frame, otherwise the reach would just be way too much. As it is now, my handlebars are something like 6" below the top of my saddle.
I'm not sure what anyone on here might be able to suggest, so I'm really fishing. But I've always loved cycling, and I'd really not like to give it up. It's an important part of my exercise routine (weightlifting, yoga, cycling), and obviously you all know how great of a fun exercise it is. But I can't keep on with painful knees. I'll be 42 in a couple months, and I shouldn't feel like I'm 72. Unfortunately, barbell squats don't make my knees hurt, but 45 minutes on my bike does. Apparently.
Is it possible that there are some of us out here who just can't be properly fitted on road bikes with modern geometries? Or maybe I'm just at an age where things are too tight and brittle that I just can't get away any longer with a bike that's fitted "as close as possible."
So, anyway, if anyone out there might have any ideas that I haven't thought of, even outside the box, I'd love to hear it. Thanks,