ancker

As expected, even after a fit most are going to do a little tweaking because things feel differently on a long ride than they do on a trainer for the fit.

I raised my saddle slowly over the course of a 200 miles or so. There was no noticeable difference until a 70 mile ride or so where I got a decent amount of pain at the connection point of both Hamstring tendons. (This is the tendon that that connects on the back/outside part of the knee and runs up through the hamstring, not to be confused with the IT band. If you put your thumb right above the knee cap and wrap you hand around your bent leg, your index finger wraps right around this tendon) At this point the saddle was about 2cm higher than it was for my fit.

Since then I've started lowering the saddle. The pain in my right leg has disappeared but remains in my left. I'm back down to the original position of my saddle. Even after a short 15 mile ride last night I still have noticeable tenderness, even still this morning. I should note that exertion isn't a factor. I rode a leisurely 12mph for an hour with some family over the weekend and still felt discomfort after the ride.

I can continue to lower the saddle but I know I'm not supposed to go too low because it might cause problems with my knees. I've only ridden about 50 miles with the saddle at this position. Do I just need to let the tendon heal a bit before I ride again? Do I need to keep adjusting? Do I just need to keep riding? Has anyone even felt this type of pain before?

This is extremely frustrating to me since I'm just now gaining enough strength that I can ride 50+ miles and not have any muscle soreness....Now this happens.

Da Sherm

Why were you raising your saddle in the first place?

My guess would be that your hamstring is still recovering from the previous aggravation. Leave your saddle be for now, lowering it won't magically heal your hamstring. in fact you could probably raise it back up 1-1.5 inches or so if that was more comfortable before you went too high however, focus on recovering before making any more adjustments in the mean time

ancker

I started raising it because on a longer ride it felt like I was putting too much pressure on my knees due to the saddle being a bit too low.

I'm thinking I might skip the group ride tonight and just relax until Saturday's ride. I have a race on the 16th and 23rd so I don't want to spend too much time off the bike.

roadwarrior

So you went and got fitted, and then messed around with the setup.

I love it.

If you needed a large change in the seat setup, we generally recommend that take place over 1-4 weeks depending on how big a change is required. Not on one ride.

My favorite thing in a bike shop is when a customer asks for my advice or help and then proceeds to argue with me about the answers.

I've had hamstring pain after a layoff. If I don't stretch and don't ride (like during an illness), and I get back on the bike I'll have soreness due to the loss of some flexibility.

One of the things we do in a fitting is determine the rider's level of flexibility and set up using that as a starting point. If you can't bend over and put your hands flat in the floor, you can't have the Jens Voight/Tom Boonen setup.

Fit is a moving target. As you become a stronger rider, you MAY want more drop. If you are not real strong and flexible, then the setup's different.

Stretch before and after rides. You might also call whomever did your fitting and get the measurement for your saddle if they didn't give you a sheet with your measurements on it.

ancker

Because a fit at a shop is exactly like riding on the road and it's impossible that changes might be needed....No one ever limbers up or develops more strength or fitness that might change the fit of the bike over time.
Look, I'm not questioning the qualities of a professional fit. I'm just not buying that once you get a fit you should never change anything. As I'll explain down below (and in my original post), I didn't get fit and then run home and change it.

Did you even read my post? Let me quote it for you: "I raised my saddle slowly over the course of a 200 miles or so." For me 200 miles is about 3 weeks. Each change was in the 5mm range.

I'm not doubting the fit, or questioning/arguing anything with anyone. I got a fit and after a few hundred miles I felt that something wasn't quite right. I then changed my saddle height over the course of another 200 miles. At the top of this change (only 2cm) and after a rather sprited 70mile ride I developed pain. I started slowly lowering the saddle by 5mm at a time over another 5-10 rides and am still experiencing pain in one of my legs. My saddle is now back to where my fit had it (and where there was no pain) but the pain remains.

I'm ASKING, in the 41's experience, is this a fit issue? Am I just aggravating a one time injury? Anyone felt anything like this before?

roadwarrior

read the second to the last paragraph I wrote in my original response.

It could be a fit issue from the perspective that you've been riding in a bad position so long that your muscle memory will make the new position feel strange, even what you are describing. My point was that if the person doing the fit had a computer, whatever, that was able to ascertain the spot, given your current level of fitness that made the most power, then that's where you strive to be...but also note that I said if the position you were in is much different than where the fitter shows you ought to eventually be, yeah, you will feel it. It's no different than squatting 100 pounds, then going to 200 pounds. You will be sore.

If you've developed a bad pedaling action due to a bad fit (you are riding around the position rather than having the bike set up for the way you ride) it will take a little while to adjust.

that's my point...that and I am assuming that the fitter was knowledgable and told or showed you why he or she did what they were doing.

...and I thought you were saying you had gone on a 70 mile ride and adjusted the seat from what it should have been given the fitting.

We will always tell people to gradually (if the change is dramatic) move to the new position.

rogerstg

IMO, that's not slowly at all. And that's a huge change - relatively. Next time don't change more than 5mm, then ride a hundred miles before considering another change.

On the bright side, you now know that 2cm higher is too much - sucks that you had to find out this way though. Hope you heal quickly.

Nachoman

I think as a general rule, as you obviously already know, lower saddle is better for hamstring issues. I bet a few days off the bike, with some very light stretching, will make you feel better.

ancker

I'm feeling a bit vindicated for my saddle height adjustment. I had my wife help me do some measuring and found after about 4 different measurements that my left leg is longer than my right by about 5mm. This is the 'not right' feeling that kept making me want to raise my saddle.

I'm scheduling a fit appointment where I plan to bring up my leg length discrepancy. I'm hoping some shims will help me out. Since I'm currently getting no pain with my right leg, I'll likely have to add a shim on my right side and raise the saddle a bit to match the length of the longer, left leg.

As you can tell I'm really excited about finding this. I've not been able to ride as much as I want to because of the pain. I have an appointment with a Sports Medicine doctor to go over my issues but I unfortunately cannot get in until Aug 24. I hope the fit takes care of me and the Dr's Appt just confirms I haven't done any long term damage.

Triode

Probably no long term damage, would be a guess.

As to stretching - a massage therapist taught me how to do PNF stretching of the hamstring. _really_ helped me as a runner.

While you probably should not stretch much till healed - once healed:

While standing, rest a leg on something solid, roughly picnic table height ( what I used to use in the park) and start a good stretch of the hamstring by bending forward from the waist - when you have a good solid stretch - maybe 80/85% of your total bend - push down on your leg at the ankle, while attempting to push your leg _up_ against your hands - you can feel the hamstring and related muscles relax more, then smoothly bend in for the rest of the stretch.

The basic principle here is - when you activate (tighten) a muscle, the opposite muscle relaxes - so when you attempt to push _up_ with your leg, the hamstring relaxes more and this allows you to increase the stretch.

Absolutely killer hamstring stretch.

There is a good bit available now on PNF stretching, if you wish to research it further

ancker

I'm feeling even more vindicated now. I had my professional fit yesterday. He actually raised my saddle 1.5cm. This is only 5mm lower than where I had originally moved it to by myself. So I'm doubting the extra 5mm that I had it raised caused much damage.
He also adjusted my cleats a bit (moved them back) and moved my bars up a bit. He said I could easily drop my bars back down but he wanted to see how I did with them up for a little bit.

Did a short ride after the fit last night and felt really good. Going on another ride tonight.