Ggoysens

Hi all,


I bought a new bike a year ago, first i just tried to mimic the position of my previous bike. It was reasonable, but I had some issues, feeling stretched out too much and also the back of the knees that started burning after an hour or so.

So I went to a bikefitter ... And things got worse... Well... the issues described above are fixed, but new issues developed.


The first issue is something I've always done a bit, but did get worse. Every 20 seconds or so I reposition myself on the bike. Moving myself to the center of the saddle again, and trying to get my pelvis perpendicular with the saddle again. (Or at least, what feels like that to me).

The second issue was completely new, and is really annoying, more so than the the first one. I'm constantly turning my left heel outward again. It seems like something in my body is driving (and therefore wants) my heel inward a lot, but it's not a good feeling for my knees and outside of my hip. It feels like in the most extreme position my foot is pronated, but that's not a natural position for my foot (i don't pronate when i walk or the past 7 years of cycling). So I'm constantly working against it, and turning it outwards again.


I went back to the fitter, but he couldn't find a solution.

So I started experimenting by myself a bit. By moving the left cleats a bit so that my foot was 2 mm or so closer to the bike and limiting the rotation a bit, I did get it to a point where i could more or less live with it. But because it still was annoying, especially during longer rides, I decided to visit another bikefitter...


And i regretted it immediately ...

Although the first issue got better , it felt like i could stay seated on my saddle for a little longer, my heel started to come in like it never did before. Sadly it wasn't so apparent at the fitter, because yeah ... that's always the issue at a bikefitter, maybe at most you cycle 1 minute continuously, constantly changing stuff. But it's really bad at the moment.


I'm wondering if someone might have an idea of what i could try or what the issue could be?


Some extra information

I have a shorter right leg (measured using medical scan). I have shims too compensate for it, without them the moving on the saddle is worse.

Nevertheless ... I tend to ride a little bit more heel down with the right leg, which essentially shortens it further. (or more heel up with the left leg).


Thanks!

Iride01 

Have you gone back to the fitter to get the new issues addressed? Or do they think their fit is one and done?

Sliding forward on the saddle can simply be that your saddle is too far back. When you are pedaling with some power, the dynamic forces created will position you to the place it wants your butt to be. Though reach plays a part too in this.

Does your seat post have a large amount of offset or your saddle far back with the clamp in the front half of the rails?
Is your saddle tilted nose down or almost level?
Did the fitter change up your reach to the bars? If so, how?

Changing up your position on a bike will often bring up other issues. Doesn't mean the fit was entirely bad and you need to go back to what you had before. It's just something new that now needs to find a solution.

Welcome to BF

Kontact

Is the leg length in the femur or shin? Shin gets shims, femurs get cleats moved fore/aft.

Ggoysens

Hi, so, i did go back to the first fitter, but he couldn't solve it (he actually didn't really recognize the issue, which, you know, isn't surprising because at the time, for 1 minute at low intensity i only had to change my position once or so);
So that's when i decided to go to anohter one, who did recognize the issue, but it got worse after the changes he made. I'm going back next Tuesday, but my faith in him finding a solution isn't that high.

So the issue isn't that i'm sliding forward, i'm sliding to the right, laterally, and maybe rotating a bit. My left heel that wants to turn inward is probably for similar reasons as why i am shifting to the right.

My own hypothesis is that, because the last fitter moved my saddle further back, which actually feels like a more powerful position, but it also closed my hip angle a little more. I'm getting to the limit of my left hip's mobility. Secondary, I think i could use some extra padding on the right side of my saddle, to level my pelvis, but that's not easy to do (well, at least not to make it a permanent solutiion)

Ggoysens

Sadly it doesn't say on the report of the medical imaging. Based on the bike fitter's test it's in both, maybe a little more in the femur. I've tried staggering my cleats a bit, but there's no real difference so I kept it symmetrical. The shims definitely do something positive, before i had them, i always had right sided chafing issues in the groin area.

cyclezen

Did you have these 'problems' on your Old Bike ?
Do you still have your Old Bike?
Have you changed your pedals/shoes or are you still using prior bike pedals on new bike? New Shoes or cleats ?
Once we know this, we can discuss how to possibly make things better...
Remember, we're on the internet and us out here, can't possibly 'know' everything which you or fitters did...
We can't 'Solve' the issues for you, just provide a way determine adjustments which might help you resolve them.
It all comes down to knowing if the problems existed before and what might have come about to create them now.
Ride On
Yuri

Iride01 

Some more details will be helpful. I or we assume you are using a road bike. If it's a TT bike and you are using the aerobars when this happens or a mountain bike then that might make some difference how we picture things.

Size and model bike and your height and inseam length. If you aren't camera shy a picture of you from the side while on the bike in your normal position that this happens. You can crop your head and upper body out of the picture if you want. I'd want the leg on the camera side at the bottom of your down stroke. If you do two pics, then another with that leg at 3' o'clock if that's the right leg.

Saddle height from the BB center to the saddle or from the pedal when at the bottom of your stroke to the saddle might be useful too if you also give your inseam.

However you have some strange things happening that I've never had to deal with for my own riding. Though I did once have a cleat turned too far and that made for some odd things. But since the most immediate and notable thing was a pain in the knee when in a particular part of the pedal stroke, I resolved it quick. I don't think you've mentioned any bad pain in your knee from the lower leg twisting during the pedal stroke.