Bike fit with a lower back assessment included? - FEEDBACK

[Dynamite_funk]

Hey all. I have a history of suffering from sciatica caused by disc bulges (herniations) in my lower back and am now just about recovered from the latest spell. Cycling has never been painful, but that doesnt mean it isn't aggrevating an underlying issue, I would very much like to ensure that my riding position will not be aggrevating my back and know once and for all what my 'proper' frame size, stem length, seat set back etc is. Can anyone recmommend a bike fit place close to Leeds (say up to an hours drive away) which would understand both the cycling and back issues and combine them to give me the information I need?

EDIT - Just spotted these guys. Seem a lot more than just 'bike frame and saddle height' - http://bikedynamics.co.uk/options.htm

Unfortunately they are in Warwickshire

[colin54]

I see that ' York Bicycle Works' do bike fits in conjunction with a firm called 'Core Fitness and Physiotherapy York'. Seems like they might be what you're after.

[samsbike]

There is pedalprecision in Manchester which is about an hour by train

[Dynamite_funk]

Well I thought I would report back on my bike fit at York cycle works. Guy was very friendly and had a chat with me first about any issues and niggles I had, particularly my back.

He watched me cycle for a good 15 minutes on the turbo trainer and assessed me as best he could. He also measured my hip flexibility/ham string flexibility (using big protractor things), core strength (through doing the plank) and he used a weird wireless degree measuring tool which sat on my back. From what the chap said, I was very inflexible on my back (in the 'red zone' out of the green/amber/red categories) which mean it should have my bars much higher until I become more flexible as I work on my flexibility through stretching and core strength exercises (things I will be doing anyway), at which point the bars can drop down bit by bit.

Unfortunately due to me riding an older bike I had a quill stem which meant it could not be adjusted fore/aft. The age of the stem and seatpost also meant it was limited to how much further up either of them could be moved up due to minimum insertion lines. This was a bit annoying but nothing to do with the guy doing the fit.

As way of trying to get the ideal set up, he then got a stock bike with ahead stem and longer seatpost so he could really get to work.

He got the height of the saddle sorted out (up 2.2cm from what I had calculated for myself from Lemond and other methods!) which seemed to totally sort out some knee pain I had. He then got the saddle fore aft sorted before moving on to cleats. After getting the fore aft sorted on those he then stuck dots on various bits (ankle/knee/hips) with a laser sight line to determine if ankle/knee hip were lined up.

The front position was sorted more by him assessing how comfortable I was on my hands and how bent/relaxed my arms were and the arch of my back. I did wonder why no measurements of the arms were done, but from this guys experience and my feedback we got to a position through trial and error where I thought I was comfortable, with less ache on the hands achieved through use of a shorter stem.

He also talked about how bike fit from 10+ years ago wasn't really as advanced as now. Deeper drops then, shallower ones now, much more aggressive riding styles given to people who only ride for leisure and don't have a masseur at the end of the race to massage all their worries away etc. I’d be interested to hear what other people think of this?

What he said made sense; the only downside was not being able to sort my bike there and then. I have got a list of measurements to apply to all my other bikes and he was more than willing to give additional advice over the phone or email so overall I am fairly happy with the service.

It looks like I am going to need to get looking for some 100/110/115 stems for the multitude of bikes I own

Overall, great service and I woudl recommend them

[michael42]

Hey all. I have a history of suffering from sciatica caused by disc bulges (herniations) in my lower back and am now just about recovered from the latest spell. Cycling has never been painful, but that doesnt mean it isn't aggrevating an underlying issue, I would very much like to ensure that my riding position will not be aggrevating my back and know once and for all what my 'proper' frame size, stem length, seat set back etc is. Can anyone recmommend a bike fit place close to Leeds (say up to an hours drive away) which would understand both the cycling and back issues and combine them to give me the information I need?

EDIT - Just spotted these guys. Seem a lot more than just 'bike frame and saddle height' - http://bikedynamics.co.uk/options.htm

Unfortunately they are in Warwickshire

This is my goto site for bike fitting http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/

He's not in the UK but I think there is someone in the UK that uses his method (based in London, as you'd probably expect - and not cheap. edit, perhaps not London, darn sarf anyway http://www.thebikewhisperer.co.uk/)

I think you'll probably find bike fitters vary as much as bike shops. So everything from the equivalent to tesco direct or walmart bike fitting, which would be a guy with a set of formulas and a set square, through to whoever fits for the pros. I imagine they are priced accordingly.

Near me, Trek have a shop that do fitting (perhaps they have one near you?) other than that, the other shops that do fits seem to be one-man businesses that sell bikes. i.e LBS. There'll be some near you, but maybe advertising as bike shops. bikefitting.com is the system another shop near me uses - seems cheaper than the others.

I wouldn't have much faith in many of them having much to say about sciatica per se, especially not the ones who have done a course in bike fitting but the better ones should give you a fit that suits your anatomy.

[meic]

Unfortunately due to me riding an older bike I had a quill stem which meant it could not be adjusted fore/aft. The age of the stem and seatpost also meant it was limited to how much further up either of them could be moved up due to minimum insertion lines.

Not really true.

Stems and seatposts are available to enable old bikes to be adjusted in these ways.

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/kalloy-adjus ... m-prod428/

I have a longer stem version of this that allows me more range than the Aheadset on my new bike.

A cheaper option for a more upright ride
http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/short-reach- ... prod29690/
though not allowing a choice of reach.

How much seatpost do you need?

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/zoom-3d-ritc ... prod29325/

400mm is far from unusual and seatposts dont normally care about how old the bike they are fitted to is. I dont think there is any greater range available in the "new" diameters than the "old" ones.

[Dynamite_funk]

What I meant was that at that time, in the shop, with my bike with a quill stem of 130mm and a set available rise, short of stripping the bar down and putting a new stem on I couldn't adjust it to what I wanted. I needed an additional 20mm of seatpost which put me 5mm over the min insert line. This means a new seatpost and stem which as you show are available.

Unfortunately I don't think I'll be winning any style points putting those stems on my steel Merckx but function over fashion...right??

[colin54]

D Funk ,Thanks for letting us know how you got on; it would be interesting to know how effective the alterations suggested are once you've implemented them.

[samsbike]

for those interested, the bikewhispher is now in Newbury and he has a site of a similar name.

I used the steve hogg site as well, but really have difficulty in translating what he says into a useful measurement e.g. I cant tell if I rock my hips or not, or what a good pedal stroke is for seat height. I do have my cleats all the way back though.

Thanks for the feedback and glad you are getting sorted.

[Dynamite_funk]

Here is my commuter bike set up with new measurements. Stem and saddle have gone up fairly substantially, and drop from nose to bar has reduced to 4.5cm from 7.5cm. Looks much more of a relaxed ride than before. The minimum insert was just OK so no need for new stem/seatpost for this one, my other frames are slightly larger so will need to measure up. Looking at the saddle I think the saddle needs to be dipped very slightly

Gave it a quick ride and it feels fairly comfy and my back appears to be more evenly arched when looked at in shop window reflections, time will tell I guess. I'll report back

In terms of ideal frame size I think I defiantely need a shorter top tube than seat tube by a fair margin than I previously thought (I'm all legs )

[chocjohn9]

Just regarding the back and not the shop - I have had two operations on my spine because I suffered from a disc prolapse (where it pops out), sciatica and as a result, nerve problems. I am now involved in a back charity.I had bad ache with cycling and considered giving cycling up.

My advice to you is go for a slightly larger frame that you might normally do (or have done) and for goodness sake, make sure the head tube is disproportionally tall, plus spacers (otherwise the frame will look silly IMO!) to ensure that the saddle and handlebars are almost level. I changed all of my frames to achieve this and now I can ride all day, pain free.

[hamster]

Here is my commuter bike set up with new measurements. Stem and saddle have gone up fairly substantially, and drop from nose to bar has reduced to 4.5cm from 7.5cm. Looks much more of a relaxed ride than before. The minimum insert was just OK so no need for new stem/seatpost for this one, my other frames are slightly larger so will need to measure up. Looking at the saddle I think the saddle needs to be dipped very slightly

Gave it a quick ride and it feels fairly comfy and my back appears to be more evenly arched when looked at in shop window reflections, time will tell I guess. I'll report back

In terms of ideal frame size I think I defiantely need a shorter top tube than seat tube by a fair margin than I previously thought (I'm all legs )

That still looks like a pretty racy / fast setup, you have the handlebars quite far below your saddle.

[Freddie]

Cycling has never been painful, but that doesnt mean it isn't aggrevating an underlying issue, I would very much like to ensure that my riding position will not be aggrevating my back and know once and for all what my 'proper' frame size, stem length, seat set back etc is.

I have never had a bike fitting before, but my feeling is you will never know these things from a bike fit session. They may get you close, but they will never get the measurements to exactly what fits you best, as we are all individuals and two people of the same height often have differing measurements and flexibility. The only way to know for sure is through experimenting with different bar height and reach, just as people find their perfect saddle height.

Those bars are still relatively low, you could try raising them up and seeing if things becomes more comfortable yet.

[Dynamite_funk]

Hi all. I went out on a 40miler last night. Bike felt more comfortable to be honest, feet were not aching after going hard (I used to crush my heels a fair bit), back was definitely nicely arched and my hands felt more comfortable on the hoods whilst before they tended to go on the curve of the bar, there was also no knee pain at all.

I'll stick with this set up for now and alter it if any niggles develop over say a 60 mile ride or so. I do tend to go quite hard and fast (I think!) so a racing-ish set up probably suits that. I will try the bars a bit higher in a few weeks as I only want to make alterations incrementally, this may be a better option for my touring bike.

Just so everyone is aware, I never had any back pain from cycling, ever, in fact it always relieves it. I just wanted to make sure my back was in a natural curve and not potentially exacerbating any issues.

Although I really appreciate everyone's input (and I will keep it all in mind), I do not think advice on getting a bigger frame, shorter cranks, wider bars etc would help very much as this doesn't take into account my body proportions or actually seeing me on the bike.

Quite a few people have pm'd me on this, I'll get back to you when I get a chance!