Richard Armstrong is one of the pro triathletes who led the train with a pro classes at IOS. I always asked alot of questions during the spin classes, often about bike technique. During the very last class, we had a conversation about bike position, and he said I would benefit by having my saddle more forward, and my bars lowered, to rotate my whole body toward the front of the bike. I am always interested in getting better – especially if it’s free speed – so I scheduled a bike fit.
We met last Wednesday at IOS. I don’t have time to write a coherent blog about this right now, because it is 11 pm and I need to get to bed. But I will at least copy/paste my tweets and comments from my social notworking sites. I really miss having time to blog 🙁
This is what I tweeted the day of the bike fit:
“had a bike fit at IOS w/ pro Richard Armstrong and his assistant Mack. was gr8”
Later, I wrote this on Facebook:
“he moved my saddle way forward, and lowered my bars way down to get me more aero and open up my hips so I could engage my core. He kind of said I had sloppy pedal stroke and not using my core, and he fixed that. Yay, I love mistakes that can be fixed. I’ll let you know how my next cuople rides go. I am concerned about butt pain! (The reason I wrote this was that I have had alot of butt pain problems in the past)”
Richard took some video and still shots. From that, I compiled and uploaded some footage to Youtube.
Still shots, Before/After. The red and green lines are photoshopped just to help me align the two images, and to make it easier to see the new handlebar position:
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lwqCubpH_4]
Video, before:
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8uZI6SejpM]
Video, after:
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1v4gcZKOmZM]
Thursday: Rode 30 miles with IOS training group, 30 miles. Hung with B group for 33 min. then went easy solo the rest of the time. First ride after bike fit. Felt weird, but I know I have to adapt. butt hurt alot. left foot felt a bit numb after. right elbow pad seems skewed funny. lower back aches now. right it band aches too. no terrible pain, so this seems normal adaptation. 2 mile brick run afterwards. Pace on brick run was alot slower than last week. Then again, my bike ride was alot harder than last week too! (Note, Richard told me to go easy for the first few rides, but I did not listen, oops!).
Saturday: Nice hilly 69 mile ride with a friend. Got a more aggressive “bike fit” and it feels really off. Butt hurt alot the whole time. I was very glad for all the climbs, so I could stand up and get some relief! Wore a fleece shirt for heat training. Definitely felt hot and uncomfortable. Last 10 miles felt like a headwind the whole time. Hopefully, White lake will feel easier after this ride! Was going to do a short brick run after, but I was just dead, so bagged it.
More Bike fit notes from this ride: butt hurt pretty much the whole time. left foot went numb at about 1/2 way. Legs ached alot 2nd half. Did alot of hills, tho! Right elbow pad felt better (fixed the askew problem) but my right arm seems to want to slide forward still. And the pad is uncomfortable. Might just need new pads. But hurt so bad 2nd half, that I alternated sitting up and aerobars. Sitting up made my arms ache after a while, so I went from butt pain to achey arms. Calves ached too, so I stretched them from time to time. Not a fun ride 🙁
Sunday:16 mile run on the ATT, pace of 10 min/mile. wore fleece layers and black windbreaker to simulate heat. wow, that worked, i was hot! Tried to htfu and keep up good pace. Succeeded for about 12 miles at pace of 9:30, then faded. Great training. Painful. Hope white lake half is hot this year!!!
Sunday’s run was a very good pace for me, similar to last year before I did Duke half. That is a big yay, especially since my legs were extra trashed from Saturday’s ride. And, I weigh 6 lbs more!
Closing Thoughts: It definitely feels more aggressive The bottom line, lol, is that my butt hurts. alot. It feels like the tip of the saddle needs to tilt down. I have not yet talked to Richard about the butt pain. I know the fit might need some tweaking. And I know I need to give it time. And I am extremely picky – I like to feel one with my bike! Butt (hehe, pun intended) I really don’t want to go through another butt pain saga!!!
How are you feeling on the bike? Have you made any changes?
Carol,
Like you mentioned, it may be a good idea to get the other seatpost if your saddle isn’t quite level. A nose up saddle could account for some of the increase in “butt pain.”
You saddle is not too low.
Agressive isn’t really the word that I’d use to describe the changes to your fit. I think rotated would be a better word. Essentially, we rotated you around the bottom bracket a few degrees. This is obvious in your before and after montage. If we could have, we would have moved you even further over the front of the bike. Contrary to James and Ryan’s opinions, you are not too tight, to far forward, nor your saddle too low. Take a look at multiple world champion Chrissie Wellington as a reference. Her photo is linked below. Compare it to the :08 mark of your after video. Chris Lieto is not the best comparison as he’s a guy and he rides a non-standard tri position.
http://www.retul.com/ironman-world-champion-photo-2.asp
For some more visuals:
http://www.slowtwitch.com/photos/Detailed/25.html
Mouse over the thumbnail for Dan’s comment on their fit.
And more articles than you’ll care to read about tri-bike fit:
http://www.slowtwitch.com/Bike_Fit/F_I_S_T__Tri_bike_fit_system/index.html
Finally, there is an element of individuality to every fit. There are basic rules that apply to pretty much everyone but each person/bike interaction is unique.
Keep me up-to-date with your progress. Let me know if getting the saddle level helps.
Thanks for putting up the comparison photos. I’ve been trying to visualize the differences in the angels and this really helped me see it.
Looks to me your seat might be too low as well. Hard to totally tell. Your entire body looks too rotated forward.
I can’t see your feet on the bottom of the stroke but it looks like your seat could go up a bit. If you are flexible in your lower back you will be flatter. Your butt pain might be from being to far forward on your seat. Dropping the bar and putting on a longer stem will make you stretch out, just what you want, but until you get used to it you go back to old habits. Maybe just me but you seem bunched up. If you move your seat back you should be even more aero and your back would flatten out. http://gearwestbike.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/chris-lieto-speed-concept1.jpg
Thanks for the warning, I will keep that in mind! The only pain I am concerned about so far is the butt pain. The other pains so far just feel like soreness due to using my muscles in a new way (for 69 miles!).
Hi Carol, just an fyi – a buddies wife had a more aggressive fit while wind tunnel testing and ended up developing hamstring issues and derailing a very promising pro season where she opened with a 4th place finish at the Cali 70.3 a few years back.