I picked up a 2013 Speed Concept 7.8 about a month ago. I was originally fit for a new tri bike in Dec 2012 but didn’t pull the trigger on this bike for several months after the initial fit. I rode the bike for a few weeks as seen in this link:
Fit 1
This was based on the bike shop where I purchased the bike setting it up based on the numbers from my fit session (my fit was not done at the LBS where I bought the bike but I took them the FIST sheet from my fit session). After riding in this position for a few weeks I was able to go back to person who did my fit and we made the changes shown here (note - my fitter noticed that my LBS had messed up a few of the fit coordinates from my fit sheet so this fit was very close to my numbers from the fit session in Dec 2012):
Fit 2
I rode this position for the last few weeks but have experiencing some pain in the front of my left shoulder. I did not have the shoulder discomfort during the initial fit session, or the second session where we adjusted my bike to my fit coordinates. Based on the shoulder discomfort I experimented this evening with few small changes shown here:
Fit 3
From Fit 2 to Fit 3 I made the following changes:
Removed one 5mm riser from under the arm pads.
Moved the arm pads forward by about 15mm
Fit 3 felt good tonight after a 30 min trainer ride. I did an hour earlier today based on the fit 2 video and had the same shoulder pain I’ve had each time after riding this position. I know Fit 3 feels better than fit 2 so what are your thoughts based on the progression of my fit and do you see anything I should tweak? I’ve read in other threads that some have been able to reduce shoulder pain by increasing the spacing between the arm pads. I’m already maxed out on my arm pad width on the SC so this isn’t an option. My main focus this year will by my first 70.3 race in June (Boise 70.3). I’ll spend the rest of the season doing several local sprint and Oly distance races, but the 70.3 is my “A” race.
You might want to give your shoulder some time to recover before making more adjustments than you already have. Just between Fit 2 and 3, moving the pads forward was a good idea. The angle made by your shoulder and torso was pretty tight in Fit 2 so I’m not surprised you were getting sore, the tension is apparent in the video. Your upper body looks much more relaxed in Fit 3. You might consider dropping your saddle a few milimeters, you appear to be reaching a little at the bottom of the stroke and, though it is harder to see from side-on, your hips appear to be rocking to compensate.
Poor video but it looks like your shoulder is in front of your elbows - this is adding the load to the front of your shoulders.
Your own setup in Fit 3 is best of all.
A bad fitter is far worse than no fitter. I wouldn’t go back to him/her.
You might want to give your shoulder some time to recover before making more adjustments than you already have. Just between Fit 2 and 3, moving the pads forward was a good idea. The angle made by your shoulder and torso was pretty tight in Fit 2 so I’m not surprised you were getting sore, the tension is apparent in the video. Your upper body looks much more relaxed in Fit 3. You might consider dropping your saddle a few milimeters, you appear to be reaching a little at the bottom of the stroke and, though it is harder to see from side-on, your hips appear to be rocking to compensate.
Thanks for the feedback. I had my 8 yr old son take this video from the front after the Fit 2 video (sorry for the bad view but maybe this will help with the lowering the saddle issue).
I’ll try lowering the saddle a bit and see if that helps.
Quick rough angle measurements. I would say you may want to move your seat forward a bit and then move the pads even farther forward as well (maybe also a longer stem) Dropping the seat may be needed too (as it seems like you might be reaching as mentioned earlier). if comfortable (might not be) you could also remove some spacers on the stem to get lower in the front especially if you lower the seat a bit.
