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Setup Help

by davedicko
Tue, Sep 03, 2013 22:55
6

So I'm new to road riding having spent the last 10 years riding DH and now more enduro type riding.

Story is that I had been running quite a bit, but was suffering from pain in my knees consistently. Never had any trouble on the mountain bike, so thought a road bike was a good place to go for more consistent fitness work. Had been looking at the usual £300-600 starter bikes and eventually got a killer deal on a 2013 Trek 1.2 off gumtree which was actually brand new.
I'm 5ft11 and would probably have naturally felt a bit more comfortable on a 56, but the deal on the bike was incredible and although it was a 58 I knew 56-58 was my recommended range and I thought that if it didn't work out I could always sell for what I bought it for.

Have had the bike for about a month now riding several times a week and have done rides from 15-30miles generally feeling good in my legs but have recently been suffering from a lot of pain in the back of my right knee/lowest point of the Hamstring. (Just spotted a thread on RCUK about Biceps Femoris which looks pretty much where I'm feeling it.) Not sure if I've just pulled something (lack of warmup, and then rode again probably without enough rest/recovery) or if its something from bad setup.

So setup and cleat position then -
I'm off for a proper setup next week to see if I'm in the right place. Sorry for the cack pictures - but just wondering if any of you setup masters think my positioning looks about right?
I think seat height is about right as far as I can tell, and the plumb-line tells me that I'm about right in terms of fore/aft.

Any thoughts?
Help would be great!

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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6 comments

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Al'76 | 11 years ago
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I used to get the same issue; found it was due to the saddle being too high. In the pictures your foot position is quite "toe down"; you might well find that when you're riding hard you drop your heel, extending your leg and tweaking the muscle behind the knee.
Drop the saddle 5mm and see if it helps.
The fitter should put you on a turbo, will be able to confirm if you do indeed do the above, and will set saddle height accordingly.....bike fit is money well spent.

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sm | 11 years ago
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Follow the rules in this video as a start and then adjust one thing at at time, little by little. Starting with seat height and position on the rails, then look at cleat position. It takes a few adjustments but you'll get there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAl_5e7bIHk

The plumb line from knee to cleat may help.

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Tilesey | 11 years ago
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I've had a bike fit and they adjusted my saddle to be as low as yours with respect to leg straightening. I found after 50 miles, my knees were shagged (which was a bit of a problem as there were 40 more to go to get back to the car!). The pain was in both tendons at the back.

By raising my saddle by a little less than a centimeter and moving the cleats on my shoes closer to the toes, my knees have stopped hurting.

Now that worked for me, but everyone is different.

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Shanefutcher | 11 years ago
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Your reach is too long.saddle height and cleat position is always hard to get right and pretty much trial and error.Eddy Merckx used to change saddle height all the time and still was quite successful

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arrieredupeleton | 11 years ago
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It probably won't affect your knee much but from the pictures it seems to me that the reach is slightly too long. I think you are right that a 56 would be better (I am same height as you) but shortening the stem will help in terms of general comfort - it might make steering a bit twitchy if too short though. Saddle height looks about right so I think it may be the cleat position.

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Bedfordshire Clanger | 11 years ago
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As no-one has answered I'll put my 2p in. Pain at the back of the knee is often associated with the saddle being too high or cleats too far forward. A bike fit is definitely the the thing to do. I hope it sorts out your problem.

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