The Bike Fitting Mega-Thread

Re: shorter reach… arms definitely felt a bit cramped, easy enough to deal with on 2 hour ride.

Didn’t notice the stack.

hey @mcneese.chad

I find my knee kicks inwards at the bottom of the pedalstroke, would this suggest my feet are too far apart?

for reference I have 2x varus wedges under each forefoot. the cleats are slammed inwards to push my feet apart, done by a fitter on a set of rollers.

The cleat position would make plenty sense if i was a big boy, but honestly im 5’9 63kg, pretty slim build.

Any suggestions?

Not Chad but hopefully can help. We tend to look at the tibial tuberosity being over the centre of the 2nd toe at the top of the pedal stroke, not the bottom, to help establish lateral cleat position.

Knee’s collapsing inward can be caused by a need for wedging (is 2 enough?) or arches collapsing needing increased support too. Also muscular strength and flexibility issues.

Are you suffering any discomfort?

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Hi @foxyscott

thanks for the reply!

a little discomfort/sensation over where the vmo inserts over the patella, similar sensation that happens when I do bulgarian split squats, I feel it on the leg that is raised behind me. I tore my meniscus last year and so have been recovering since.

I have custom SIDAS insoles providing arch support.

I have been issued with some posterior chain strengthening exercises, calf raised, hamstring stuff, core, etc.

I have a laser, do you expect the laser to directly bisect the middle of the knee and the second toe at the top of the pedalstroke?

If it would help, I could include a video of me riding my road bike on the turbo later this week, with the laser.

Sounds good. Are they fairly new and in good order, fitted before or after the tear?

Have you seen benefits from this? I’d guess that there’ll be over and under-compensation from this muscle group following the injury.

Yes. At the top since we’re looking to adjust the foot to the knee, not the knee to the foot.

That may well be useful.

Thorough response! appreciated!

Insoles are pre-injury, however upon inspection by the fitter, they said it was OK? they then input another shim under each forefoot (post injury).

Ive found improvements, but the posterior chain stuff is rather new so would need longer to give a yes/no really. I am quite quad dominant, but have also been doing some of the glute doping stuff in order to try and cover as many bases as possible.

It probably doesn’t help that I’m using 2 bikes with quite different q factors. Track and road, probably 10mm difference between them. Bloody annoying that. If i can get it nailed on my road bike, I might invest in some shimano 165 cranks and adaptor plate for my track bike to match Q factors.

Looks like everyone else has this well in hand. :smiley:

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You’re welcome.

Do you know the basis for the additional wedge? It can be measured and bikefit.com do prescribe the number of wedges based on the measured angle. However, it works best to build shoe wedges up one at a time and test them on the turbo and find the tipping point when the foot feels like it seems to be sliding off the side of the shoe’s sole. Then go back one. Also, repeat with heel wedges and see if there’s a preference between forefoot and heel wedging, or a mix of both.

Sounds like you’d be a good candidate for some Kinesiology muscle testing. Quad dominance can indicate the saddle height and fore/aft may need adjusting. Keep up the exercises.

Hmm, does riding one give more issues than the other?

Sorry for delayed reply,

Not sure on the basis for the wedge, I presume its for pronation. I have to have insoles in my day shoes too, with heel wedge and arch support.

I Used the laser, marking the second toe and the tibial tuberosity. Both nail the laser at the top of the stroke, and the tibial is maybe 1cm inside at the bottom of the stroke. il probably get some pedal washers for my track bike to try and match it, its definitely a more problematic bike.

Currently there is no pain per se - But i have a sensation of puffiness across where the VMO crosses the patella, came on when I tried to jog very slowly to the gym the other day. Its right in the groove between the patella and the meniscus.

This is a slowmo of my setup with the laser, let me know what you think.

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I was thinking more about the number and position of wedges. I’d have a word with your fitter and ask why it’s 2 and not 3 wedges or why it’s forefoot and not heel wedging.

You could also mark your cleat position (so that you can return to it), make small lateral changes, and note the effect on your road bike too.

Build up slowly and continue with regular stretching.

Scott

Looks pretty good to me.

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I hesitate to ask this, because I realize it may open a whole can of worms. But here goes.

Working on dialing in my bike fit. Have been using myvelotfit (that process is ongoing). Extended my stem 10mm, and have rotated my bars and hood position on the bars, etc. I have my brake hoods positioned 100% parallel to the ‘through-line’ of the bike.

My hand comfort is much improved overall, but I keep feeling as though I wish my hand position when I’m on the hoods and looking down at them were a little more like B than A due to pressure on the wrist (photo is an extreme, exaggerated example for illustration purposes only).

Is this why people rotate their brake hoods inward?

Or is angle of wrist to forearm (on the horizontal plane) due to some other factors (handlebar width, etc.)?

Yes, it is one of the reasons that rolled inward hoods is liked by some riders. It’s free and easy to try. You can start with just once side and see how you like it or not. Try something and then go further. Then dial it back. Bracket test at ends of the range and see what you like. Takes mere minutes to try.

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I was looking at a video of myself riding on the trainer from the right side and notice my hip “jumps” up a bit compared to a video from the left where my hip is more smooth. I’ve also been experiencing tfl area hip pain on that right side too. What would a bike fit fix for eliminating the right hip that “jumps” up at the top of the pedal stroke be?

@jakesaunders that’s a minefield of a question.

It could be a functional or anatomical asymmetry. It could be asymmetrical/incorrect cleat set up. It could be too long a crank. It could be poor bike fit positioning. It could be a metabolic issue. etc

I think we’d need more background on how you’ve come to be at your current set-up.

Cheers Scott

Hi, thanks for the reply. The current fit is on my trainer bike and I arrived at this position by mimicking(same distance saddle to BB/ seat set back etc.) my position that I use on my outdoor road bike. The geometry between bikes is nearly identical with stack only differing 2mm and reach 1mm from trainer bike to outdoor bike.

My outdoor position was setup by a very reputable fitter in New England. Cleats were setup using the Steve Hogg method with cleat placement between in the joint space between the 1st and 5th MTP. It should be noted I have a 3mm shim under my right cleat. I’ve seen 3-4 fitters over the last 5 years and each day I have a shorter right leg. This is also been confirmed by an ortho who estimates a .5cm leg length discrepancy.

I’m going to try and add videos if I can figure it out.