I had my fitting done in November, 2008, because I was ordering my first custom and didn't really know what to ask for, fit-wise. I'd also been experiencing some lower back pain and my legs seemed quick to fatigue when I was pedaling hard. I went to a place that used an adjustable fit bike, a wattage meter and computer imaging as well as more conventional fitting tools to optomize one's comfort and output. First the fitter set it up to fit like my bikes I brought with me (one mtb and one road) and observed me pedaling for a while. Then he made incremental adjustments while we looked at the computer image and he monitored the wattage. He showed me how having my saddle so far back was making my lower back bend funny and thus ache. Basically, my lower back was arched back/upright, forcing my spine to curve forward further up my back in order to reach the bars. This isolated my lower back to impact from the road/trail and contributed to the pain. My saddle ended up 4-5cm further forward, a couple of millimeters lower, and with my bars a bit further forward and lowered a couple of cm's. He showed me how my back now described an arc like a suspension bridge and that the watt meter showed I was pedaling the same speed at a lower watt output. He also said I'd find myself pedaling more with the big glute muscles and to expect a sore butt "muscle sore, not saddle sore." That was an accurate assessment! I adjusted my bikes to fit this way (and sold a couple that I couldn't adapt) and also used the fitting to have my custom made, and I haven't experienced the old back pain, or had any other discomfort that I could attribute to the new position. I didn't get significantly faster, though, darn it! One more interesting tidbit--I started feeling really sluggish on my Rambouillet late last summer--the leg fatigue I remembered started coming back and I didn't feel "right," on the saddle. At first I thought it was end of the season burn out, but eventually I double checked the saddle setback and it had slipped back just over a cm. I moved it back to specs, and the deadleg feeling and saddle pain went away... Love my custom Curtlo, too--nicest handling and fitting bike I've ever owned! Steve
-----Original Message----- From: rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com [mailto:rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com]on Behalf Of PATRICK MOORE Sent: Thursday, January 14, 2010 10:50 AM To: rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: [RBW] Re: Was San Marcos - Now Seats Forward on Rivendells On Thu, Jan 14, 2010 at 8:30 AM, Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery < thill....@gmail.com> wrote: Bike fitting is a complicated subject, and many of the important variables are not considered in typical fitting sessions. In general hard-pedaling lightweight riders will prefer the saddle forward position regardless of body dimensions. Heavier riders and/or those who pedal at lower intensity will generally prefer more setback. Interesting discussion; I wonder if others have comments. I went from an all the way forward position to an all the way back position -- this over a few years -- thanks to Grant's fitting advice, and found that a butt back -- waaaay back -- position gave me more power and a much more comfortable back and neck and shoulders and arms and hands. Long torso, short legs and arms, 170 at 55 and 5'10", slender build. Bars lowish at 2" below saddle (back when I had the saddle all the way forward they were 6" below saddle, but the rearward position encourages a low back). I pedal hard and climb hills and fight winds on my various fixies, though "hard" is entirely relative, I agree. Others' comments? -- Patrick Moore Albuquerque, NM For professional resumes, contact Patrick Moore, ACRW at resumespecialt...@gmail.com (505) 227-0523--
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