fixed my knee pain

[BURCH]

So, ever since I picked up the new Serotta in April....I have been having slight knee pain. Finally in late July and thru August it became a bad knee pain. The only difference from previous season was my new Serotta which was supposed to be fitted, right? I am riding speedplay zero's for my knees...so that should be good. I messed with the seat height just a touch, but thought that I was only messing with what should be a good fit. I just figured this year with the new CDA I was merely putting in a lot more miles which in turn aggrevated my an old knee injury from HS football (two surgeries to remove torn cartlidge).

Well, I was on a ride with a buddy and he wanted to try my bike. He rides the same pedals and is the same height and inseam as me and gets on without making any adjustments. He rides about 100 yards and then starts yelling at me that my seat is WAY too low. Since then, I have raised the seat about 2-4 inches and my knee pain has started to go away. I am so relieved. :banana:

Just a general FYI for you all...If you are like me and really know nothing about proper fit and body mechanics, don't assume that you fitting is perfect because it cost me months of unnecessary pain.

BTW, the rest of the bike fits perfectly.

[Smiley]

Burch , how could you be riding 2-4 inches low , raise the saddle and now the bars don't seem too low ? Did your dealer do a check out of your frame before it was delivered . Did they confirm saddle height with the approved draft , included in saddle height is a distance nose of saddle to bar clamp and the drop of saddle to bars to verify the saddle height . Something does not add up but glad you figured it out . You should have gone back to your fitter if anything does not work out right .

[BURCH]

Burch , how could you be riding 2-4 inches low , raise the saddle and now the bars don't seem too low ? .

Good questions....

Well, I can't say that I have been 100% satisfied with this shop. I worked only with the owner, but he basically handed me the bike to take for a spin when it came in. I did 10 miles but had to catch a flight so off I went with the bike, without any of the paperwork that he owed me, or having him look at me on the bike. I should have just waited until I returned from my trip.

Anyhow, It was early in the season so I wasn't as in tune with were I should or shouldn't be positioned. The serotta was a big upgrade from my old road bike which I hadn't really used consistently for a while. I had basically been riding single track for the last three years after getting hit by a car on the road. This Serotta was a return to road cycling gift.

I do know that we setup the bike to be more conservative so the handlebars were way too high. I have even been able to lower the bars since raising the seat a few weeks ago. I did mention conservative, right? Luckily we did not cut the steerer tube and I had plenty of spacers to mess with. I think that I can get away with lowering the bars even more by swapping to a non angled stem.

I blame the seat height on the dealer and myself. I was a clueless buyer and I should have gone back to the shop immediately with the bike...but I chose to suffer instead. Bad me.

[Smiley]

I have done many a rider that has never owner a road bike or bike before , they generally require more time to do a proper fitting since you can't get any positive feedback from the first fit and they have no clue what things should feel like . Glad it worked out for you in the end . My advice is still have yourself looked over by a pro , you may have overlooked some other issues that could develop into future problems .