Here’s a quick run-down on my history. Had a road bike for about a year, moved the seat forward and added clip-ons. I was ok fast on it, went sub 2:40 at Vineman 1/2. Problem was I was pretty stretched out and had some lower back issues on longer rides/races. I saved my pennies and bought a tri bike earlier this year…it’s a real beauty. Since I got it, I haven’t touched my road bike. The new whip has a great ride, the fit is good (done by FIST certified guy), just a great bike. However, I’m having problems with my quads that seems to get worse as I ride more. I’m getting tightness and cramping whenever I pick-up the pace beyond a moderate effort. Am I overloading my quads too much by training only on my tri bike? Am I too far forward? With the position of the saddle, I’m riding at about 77.5 degrees. I tried going more forward and my knees started to hurt. BTW, I’m a little faster on the tri-bike but that could also be the cumulation of training. What’s a dude to do?
Sorry no help at all but this is my exact experience with a tri bike. Feels like I have lead pipes in my quads
I hope others can chime in.
I feel my quads more on the tri bike, but if this is hurting, then something is really wrong. I’d start by telling the fitter and maybe they may want to change something.
You ever try massage therapy?
I ride very steep. Never had a problem. Though was getting a lot of cramping after my early season runs. I made a committment to stretching before and after each run/ride. Haven’t had a probelm since.
I should say, I’ve always really hated stretching. Still do. I don’t do a very long routine. Just hit quads, hamstrings, calves and hip flexors. whole routine takes less than 5 minutes.
I do this after about a 1/4 mile very slow warm-up. Don’t stretch cold.
Has made a HUGE difference. I’m even taking yoga classes once or twice week when I can. My recovery time has decreased dramatically.
Still hate strecthing though.
SM
Also, drink lots of water and be sure to eat a meal (get fuel back into the muscles) within 20 mins of finishing your workout. Potassium is good.
That’s thing, I’ve been doing everything you all are recommending…the stretching, the supplements, the weights, massage, etc. I’ve had my fit checked and re-checked a couple of times. Does it make a difference that I’m a very strong runner and that’s my athletic background? And although, I had other issues (discomforts) with the road bike, my quads never hurt and my running never suffered coming off the bike. Should I slide the saddle back? Should I get back on my road bike and train more on that? Thanks for the replies so far.
hmm, damn that does suck. I come from a very strong running background too for what it’s worth. The tri bike definitly puts you in the position to use a lot of quad. I guess if i were you and had done all that stuff and felt confident in my fit on the bike, I’d defintly jump back on the road bike for the bulk of my training and try to build into acclimating my quads to the tri bike. Maybe you weren’t ready to go cold turkey. Best to listen to your body and make the needed adjustments.
I have a running background and then switched to road cycling before I got into triathlon. It took me about 2-3 years to (as a wise old roadie told me) “grow the right set of muscles” for cycling. You may just have to follow the old Army advice of “Suck it up and drive on.”
Same here. Up until about a month ago I’ve trained for 3 years on a road bike with a forward post and clipons and never had any problems with sore quads. I bought a triathlon bike a month ago and experienced exactly what you describe. I didn’t really notice it until I got about 3-4 hours into a ride. I think I’m getting used to it as the soreness is becoming less of an issue. For me, it appears that it’s just one of those things that will slowly go away. For what it’s worth my fit feels very good on the tri bike.
-Matt
This is just my experience, I rode 172.5 cranks on my tri bike for over a year, built up a new tri bike last winter, went with 175 cranks since I was a bit stronger and wanted to see if I would climb better. I had been doing 30-60 mile rides every weekend 60-100 total weekend mileage before this change. My first ride I could barely finish a flat 40 mile ride, I seriously thought about calling someone, I just could not pick my legs up (quads and hamstrings were toast), and it was impossible to keep my cadence above 90 at the end. Put in a shorter ride the next weekend and still did not enjoy it, went back to the 172.5 the following weekend, 50 miles no big deal.
I used to think a 2.5mm crank length change would not be noticeable it is only like a 1% change, but man did I perceive a change. Maybe it was mental, but 175’s on my road bike do not make me feel this way, but my cadence on the road bike is lower, around 80.
Borrow a set of shorter cranks, see what happens. Just a possibility.
Come on Slowman I would like to hear what you say about this.
I don’t know about soreness, but Steve Larsen (in a recent Triathlete mag) recommended doing a lot of your training on your road bike, along with a variety of different workouts.
I, too, would like to hear from Slowman or some of the other bike experts/fitters. I’ve heard different things…Gordo, Mark Allen and co. talk about specificity, train on the bike you’ll race on. However, others (coaches, pros and elite AGers) do a lot of their training on road bikes. If you’re training for IM or 1/2 IM races, don’t you need to train the leg muscles to be able to handle the race situation? In this case, more stress on the quads vs hamstrings/glutes. So, wouldn’t training on a road bike be counter-productive? I don’t know, so I’m asking…
I had this same discussion with Ves when we were there to pick up her bike. I didnt really understand his explanation fully but mentioned the same thing about how certain people who ride steep can end up with quads that feel like bricks - those were his words. And he is an advocate of steep!
Again sorry for being so little help, but if you run in to Ves here ask him