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Bike fit help?
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Hi all,

I've been saving up for a bike fit for some time now, but now that option's been taken away with COVID. I've read as much as I can here on ST and elsewhere but I'm still struggling with a few things with my fit so thought I'd ask for help. Please forgive the portrait video, the room is too small for my partner to be able to fit me in-frame in landscape!

About me:
I've been doing olympic tri's on this bike for two years with comparatively few issues. Some minor back tightness and foot numbness here and there but I never trained too too seriously either. I also had some soft tissue issues that were completely resolved with an ISM saddle. This year I've been training for my first Ironman in August (proceeding with it self-supported with a few friends even if it's cancelled). I really want to dial in my fit for the longer race and increased training I've been doing.

Issues:
- I still experience some lower back tightness, although that's an issue I also experience occasionally elsewhere in life so maybe that's just the way I am. Doing stretching and strengthening exercises to hopefully address it.
- I'm pretty sure my aero bars and/or saddle could be adjusted to make me more aero and/or more comfortable. But when I try to use online tools to determine angles and such I really struggle with placement and obtaining useful measurements.
- I also am still really struggling with toe numbness if I ever push more than 70% effort I would say. I can bike for 4+ hours in the aero bars in Z2 with almost no issues but 5 minutes in Z4 and my toes are numb. I've got my cleats pretty far forward, almost as far as they can go, and I've tried moving them around a bit with little success. Should I move them back farther? New shoes? Any other tips? Has anyone used inserts with any success? I'd rather do that than buy whole new bike shoes as I'm kinda on a budget. I'm wearing Shimano RP1s (basic bike shoe option from REI).

I know my head is "periscoping" in this video quite a bit so not very aero, but any advice on saddle height, cockpit height, and any angles would be truly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Link:
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Re: Bike fit help? [rkd92] [ In reply to ]
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Pull your cleats all the way back. If that doesn’t solve your feet issues, get some orthotics as well.

Your saddle needs to come up, but pulling your cleats back gets you part of the way there. Raise the saddle about 1 cm.

Your armpad need to come forward significantly - 3 cl at least.

That’s a start. Make those changes and provide another video.

Trent Nix
Owned and operated Tri Shop
F.I.S.T. Advanced Certified Fitter | Retul Master Certified Fitter (back when those were things)
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Re: Bike fit help? [trentnix] [ In reply to ]
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Excellent, thanks so much for the advice! I'll implement each of those right away.
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Re: Bike fit help? [rkd92] [ In reply to ]
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Alright here's an updated video during a 1hr bike this morning. I do think the cleat position helped some, though I still had some numbness in my right foot only, curiously enough. The seat has been moved up 1cm and felt fine. I moved the armpads only, not the rest of the bars, up about 3cm. The support was largely under my forearm and not under my elbow, not sure if that's supposed to be the case but again any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks so much for the help.

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