Adjustment period for new fit

[jr59]

Originally Posted by echelon_john

Second, if you're looking at a 1.75cm change anywhere as the end goal, you should implement it .25-.5cm at a time over a period of time. Winter is good for this.

im in this camp

[skouri1]

The new position could be better, but definitely adjust slowly and pay careful attention to how each new adjustment feels.
I am a princess and the pea type. I can have my measurements within a few mm (setback, seat height, reach, drop), feel good, but slightly off. There are so many factors and they add up for sure. When it is "off" you can feel certain muscle groups being overloaded. This is fine for most riding, but once it gets longer or faster, it is unpleasant. Without glute engagement, dont feel like im firing on all cylinders.

We are creatures of habit, though, so if your goal is not to get PRs, ride farther, faster, then your old comfortable and pain free position sounds perfectly fine.

[soulspinner]

Originally Posted by jr59

im in this camp

Me too. Lil ata time and you should be able to feel ok at each increment.

[mcteague]

https://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com...ard-can-it-be/

We source fit clients from all over. In January we had clients arrive from the U.K., U.S.A and various parts of Australia. Within that months total of fits, there was an issue common to five clients. All five had been “professionally fitted” (their words) and the major cause; or at least a large part of the cause for the issues that brought them here was too high a seat height. And I don’t mean a couple of mm; I mean between 12mm and 25mm too high.

Tim

[charliedid]

I'm willing to be further educated but I don't really buy into the whole incremental adjustment over a period of days or weeks.

The body it super elastic and adaptable. This is one of those things that has been repeated so many times over many decades that it must be true. What happens if you don't do it incrementally,do your legs explode? Do they fall off or suffer major damage? How would anyone ever go mountain biking or move from sitting to standing to crest a hill or sprint for that matter?

Riding in a fixed position on a bike wearing cleats at a height that over or hyper extends your knees and supporting tissues, muscles and tendons is one thing. Raising or lowering a half inch within an acceptable range for a particular rider is another and IMO not something to be alarmed about.

Feel free to school me or prove me wrong.

[pdonk]

After my fitting for my new bike, I lowered my saddle all at once 1.5cm and moved it forward about the same.

It felt weird and my hips ached the first few rides, then all was good.


I'd say there is a big difference between feeling weird/new and a change causing pain. In my mind if it causes pain, then incremental may be needed, if weird, just do it.

[earlfoss]

Originally Posted by charliedid

I'm willing to be further educated but I don't really buy into the whole incremental adjustment over a period of days or weeks.

The body it super elastic and adaptable. This is one of those things that has been repeated so many times over many decades that it must be true. What happens if you don't do it incrementally,do your legs explode? Do they fall off or suffer major damage? How would anyone ever go mountain biking or move from sitting to standing to crest a hill or sprint for that matter?

Riding in a fixed position on a bike wearing cleats at a height that over or hyper extends your knees and supporting tissues, muscles and tendons is one thing. Raising or lowering a half inch within an acceptable range for a particular rider is another and IMO not something to be alarmed about.

Feel free to school me or prove me wrong.

This is true. To go into a little more detail, people have different tolerances to adjustment. This can be due to all kinds of things like history of injuries, current health status, flexibility, the good and bad habits of the rider on the bike, etc etc

I've always been able to make big adjustments without injury, but I know that doesn't mean the same for someone else.

[HenryA]

I’d take half of the seat height increase off and ride that for a while. If that didn’t feel good after a month or so, go back to your original setting. It kinda sounds like this wasn’t too broken to begin with if you were comfortable and successful on the bike.

[TronnyJenkins]

Thanks guys!!!
This is why I love forums like Paceline. I can get a wealth of info and nobody pulls punches.

I found this interesting as well. Basically it claims that too low a seat is better than too high, which I’d tend to agree with given my scenario...
https://www.slowtwitch.com/Bike_Fit/..._You_6229.html


With the input I’ve been given, along with my own thoughts on the matter, I decided to try dropping it halfway back to where it was first, with the potential to be raised as I grow more comfortable. Just for fun, I’ll attach a picture of my leg extension with the halfway height after my workout. Just because I like opening all sorts of worm cans.

[TronnyJenkins]

Just for fun...

The smaller image is captured from a slow motion video I did after I few minutes pedaling.

[m_sasso]

The heel is relatively flat, knee flection looks to be between 27 to 37 degrees, as long as the hips are not rocking, good to ride.

I would be more concerned with the locked out elbows/arms, assuming the posed picture is your actual riding position.

Always fascinates me when I see an aero wheel with this kind of upright posture on a bike, I would be making some time for situps and Kettle lifts.

[TronnyJenkins]

Originally Posted by m_sasso

I would be more concerned with the locked out elbows/arms, assuming the posed picture is your actual riding position.

Always fascinates me when I see an aero wheel with this kind of upright posture on a bike, I would be making some time for situps and Kettle lifts.

It’s probably not quite that bad- I think I was focused on taking the picture since iOS 12 got rid of the 30s timer. Had to hit 10s countdown and run and attempt to get seated properly. I usually try to keep a pretty good suspension system going with the arms.

Are you suggesting I’m sitting upright due to the locked out arms or just in general my positioning is upright? (I agree I can do more core work).

[hobbanero]

Echoing what Echelon_John said.....you need to take this in small increments, which is easy to do with the recommended changes. 2mm at a time on saddle height. Up front if you can find some skinny spacers you can also do 2-3mm at a time, but it may end up being 5mm.

I would give it a couple of weeks at each height to allow the soft tissues (eg. tendons, ligaments) to adapt without irritation/injury. How long depends on how much you ride. Pros move positions very slowly because they are so grooved into their pattern that any disruption risks injury with the mileage they do.

As your saddle goes up it moves back, so be aware of that dimension as well.

Note that saddle height is not 100% science....different methods/fitters will put you in different places. There are some studies showing that if you are going to err, err on the low side, because the power penalty is less than if you are too high.

Also note that TT/Tri fits and road fits are very different things. The bikes and positions make it difficult to translate one from the other.