i have recently upgraded to a new Felt B12 had a very expensive fit from one of the most reputable fitters on the east coast, but i am having some problems with pain in the aero bars, back, forearms and wrist.
Before i was riding a soloist with carbon stryke clip ons, and had no real issues. my question is, should i be giving it more time for my body to get used to being in this new position, or should i be looking at switching out my felt bars for something else.
I would call the fitter, explain the pain, and see if they’ll tweak/adjust your position for you.
I was set up perfectly on my two tri bikes but always had neck and crotch discomfort after an hour or so. It was fine for sprints or oly but it almost killed me doing a 1/2 or on long training rides. In the end I switched to a more 76ish multi-sport type position on a Kestrel Talon and can ride all day, probably much the same position you were riding on the Soloist.
The typical ST answer you’re going to get is to TTFU and suffer through an adaption period, but my adaptation period was for five or six years and my neck or crotch were still never very comfortable on my Quintana Roo or Cervelo. The conclusion that I’ve come to is that some (more than you might expect) people can’t really get comfortable on a tri bike. Fitness or flexibility has nothing to do with it and there is absolutely no getting away from the fact that on a tri bike you ride with more pressure on your taint and hold your neck in more extension. Some people find this uncomfortable. End of story.
I would try an adaptation period. Don’t be afraid of fiddling with your bike and making small adjustments to your fit. Just mark where it was set up first. Just because you paid a lot of money for a fitting doesn’t necessarily mean they got it right. Your own body is the best bike fitter. If something doesn’t feel right than it probably isn’t.
If you still can’t find comfort after awhile, then you might have to think about going back to your Soloist or something else besides the B12.
thanks for the responses. im going to go back to the fitter and see what he suggests. im hoping that switching the s bend extensions to the ski bend will help.
Just because you paid a lot of money for a fitting doesn’t necessarily mean they got it right.
Blasphemy! If it wasn’t expensive, how do I know it was valuable?
I think going back to the fitter is the best advice. Switching the S-bend extensions for ski bends would only help with wrist comfort. It sounds like the cockpit is too long on this bike and the elbow pads need to be brought in closer.
my point being, i spent good money going to a reputable fitter, i did not skimp on the fitting aspect, as i understand the importance. i am not a rich man, I just appreciate that sometimes you need to spend a little more, especially when you live in NYC.
Nobody is faulting you for spending on a fitting. We’re just concerned that you get your money’s worth, and going back to the fitter is step one in making sure that happens.
On the other hand, how is your core strength and flexibility? Do you do yoga/pilates? Developing you core strength may help a lot.
Understood. Ive been working on my upper body strength, arms, back, chest etc for these reasons. Strength training outside of my regular tri training is something i have neglected in the past. Never considered pilates before. im curious if bringing my arms in will help, i always thought i was more comfortable wider. ill speak to my fitter about this.
I also agree with others who say go back to your fitter first. By the sounds of it you are having more weight on your upper body than you are used to. Most of that weight should be transmitted through the skeleton rather than muscles so some of your issues may require some fine tuning of your fit. Sometimes something like a subtle change of saddle tilt, height or fore/aft posiition may help but it would definitely be best to get your fitter to do this. In fact I would say any good fitter would appreciate the opportunity to fine tune your fit and make sure you are happy with their service.
I also recommend yoga. I certainly find it helps me - I can stay on the aero bars for 5+ hrs now no problem and attribute some of this to Yoga which is good for learning how to relax unneccessary muscles, flexibility, core strength and (for want of a better phrase) body awareness - by this I mean I found it useful for becoming tuned in to left/right imbalances etc. For example, it helped me learn to relax my shoulders when on the aerobars and eliminate a tendency to put a bit more weight on my left arm.
I use the basic workout on a DVD called Yoga Shakti which takes 45mins. If I am short of time I use a free video podcast called YOGAmazing which has sessions of about 20mins which focus on specific areas which is pretty good.
Good luck
thanks for your input, my girlfriend has been pushing me to do yoga for a while. i may finally have found a reason to give it a go.