Yet another bike fit thread. Yawn. For the short version of the story, fast forward to the end of the post.
Hopefully this bike fit htread will be a bit different from the norm. For one thing, I promise not to post pics of my fat self or my bike - which, yes, has spacers under the stem! gasp!
Ok, on to the meat of the matter. I have a PT in my family who's helped me with various problems over the years. He deals mostly with sports related injuries, and has plenty of clients who are endurance athletes (runners, bikers, swimmers, etc.) I'm confident in his PT skills, but he's clearly not a bike fit expert - which is where I'm hoping slowtwitch can help.
I'm starting to work with him on leg flexibility. He claims that I have very stiff hips and knees, caused by tight quads and hip extenders. (forgive me if my terminology isn't spot on here) He also commented that it seems like my quads are overdeveloped compared to my hamstrings and glutes. I've had some minor knee pain lately, and he thinks that these issues might be causing the pain.
So on to the bike fit stuff. I'm currently riding a P2K, essentially in a self-selected position. Before anyone recommends it, there are NO local fitters - at least not for TT/tri fitting. The closest shops that have any sort of reputation are easily 4+ hours away, which isn't really within the realm of possibility. At any of the immediately local shops, "bike fit" consists of a guy looking you up and down and declaring "yep, you're probably a 54." Anyways, I've been in my current position on this bike for about 1,000 miles, and am fairly confident that it's somewhat close to the mark as far as correctness. I'm comfortable and fast. Could I be more comfortable or faster? Maybe. My position is fairly steep and has a fairly high front end, which has helped me deal with my inflexible hips. (though, until my PT pointed out this lack of flexibility, I didn't quite know why I was most comfortable like that).
However, my PT is concerned that my position might not be optimal, and might be contributing to my stiffness/muscle imbalance, but he doesn't know how to transfer his knowledge into position changes. Again, that's where I'm hoping for help from this community. So. . . .
Cliff's Notes Version:
1) I'm currently in a relatively comfy, fast (for me!) position on a P2K
2) I have really stiff hip joints, which restricts my range of motion - this has lead to a fairly steep position with a fairly high front end.
3) My PT thinks I'm over-utilizing my quads, compared to my hams and glutes
4) I'm working on flexibility, hopefully this will give me a wider range of comfortable positions at some point down the road
So: What does ST say? The main issues I'd like advice on are these:
1) What position changes would help me utilize all the muscle groups in my legs instead of just my quads?
2) Has anyone else dealt with low flexibility when doing a tri bike fit?
3) will a bike fit thread with ZERO pictures get ANY comments? (I'm half serious. Is there any critical information I haven't included here that would only be revealed by adding photos?)
4) Is my seat too high? (har, har)
5) etc.
Oh, I should add: I'm all about the short course stuff. All day comfort isn't an issue, as long as I can finish a 40k tt or live through the run in a local sprint I'm happy.
Hopefully this bike fit htread will be a bit different from the norm. For one thing, I promise not to post pics of my fat self or my bike - which, yes, has spacers under the stem! gasp!
Ok, on to the meat of the matter. I have a PT in my family who's helped me with various problems over the years. He deals mostly with sports related injuries, and has plenty of clients who are endurance athletes (runners, bikers, swimmers, etc.) I'm confident in his PT skills, but he's clearly not a bike fit expert - which is where I'm hoping slowtwitch can help.
I'm starting to work with him on leg flexibility. He claims that I have very stiff hips and knees, caused by tight quads and hip extenders. (forgive me if my terminology isn't spot on here) He also commented that it seems like my quads are overdeveloped compared to my hamstrings and glutes. I've had some minor knee pain lately, and he thinks that these issues might be causing the pain.
So on to the bike fit stuff. I'm currently riding a P2K, essentially in a self-selected position. Before anyone recommends it, there are NO local fitters - at least not for TT/tri fitting. The closest shops that have any sort of reputation are easily 4+ hours away, which isn't really within the realm of possibility. At any of the immediately local shops, "bike fit" consists of a guy looking you up and down and declaring "yep, you're probably a 54." Anyways, I've been in my current position on this bike for about 1,000 miles, and am fairly confident that it's somewhat close to the mark as far as correctness. I'm comfortable and fast. Could I be more comfortable or faster? Maybe. My position is fairly steep and has a fairly high front end, which has helped me deal with my inflexible hips. (though, until my PT pointed out this lack of flexibility, I didn't quite know why I was most comfortable like that).
However, my PT is concerned that my position might not be optimal, and might be contributing to my stiffness/muscle imbalance, but he doesn't know how to transfer his knowledge into position changes. Again, that's where I'm hoping for help from this community. So. . . .
Cliff's Notes Version:
1) I'm currently in a relatively comfy, fast (for me!) position on a P2K
2) I have really stiff hip joints, which restricts my range of motion - this has lead to a fairly steep position with a fairly high front end.
3) My PT thinks I'm over-utilizing my quads, compared to my hams and glutes
4) I'm working on flexibility, hopefully this will give me a wider range of comfortable positions at some point down the road
So: What does ST say? The main issues I'd like advice on are these:
1) What position changes would help me utilize all the muscle groups in my legs instead of just my quads?
2) Has anyone else dealt with low flexibility when doing a tri bike fit?
3) will a bike fit thread with ZERO pictures get ANY comments? (I'm half serious. Is there any critical information I haven't included here that would only be revealed by adding photos?)
4) Is my seat too high? (har, har)
5) etc.
Oh, I should add: I'm all about the short course stuff. All day comfort isn't an issue, as long as I can finish a 40k tt or live through the run in a local sprint I'm happy.