New mtb bike set-up impacting hill climbing?

[dwinter]

Howzit,

 

I recently went for a pro bike set-up - ergofit - and one of the changes made was lowering my saddle slightly, dropping my bars a tad and shifting my saddle as far forward as possible. I changed the set-up 'cos I was getting back pain on long (>3/4 hours) rides.

 

I'm a tall dude (193cm) and have always found climbing hills relatively easy, but now with this new set-up I find I don't seem to have as much power and seem to be using my quads more than before.

 

Could my previous set-up have been completely incorrect and I now need to get my quads used to doing more work, or do you reckon I should tweak my set-up further?

 

I've moved my saddle back slightly again to see if this makes a difference, but it doesn't seem to have helped.

 

Any thoughts?

[Woolf]

Lowering your saddle makes your quads work more. Lifting it will shift the work to the calves.

 

http://cyclingfitness.hubpages.com/hub/Muscles-groups-used-while-cycling#

Edited October 2, 2012 by Woolf

[davidlangebaan]

I also took a while to adjust to the Ergofit setup. My saddle was moved back a fair bit and so I felt it in my glutes more.

As I understand it your saddle setback is determined to some extent by the type of riding you do. If you do XCO type riding your saddle would be further forward than it would for marathon riding. This is because having your saddle further forward recruits the explosive power of your quads, while having it further back puts the larger glutes to work which apparently is better for endurance.

I would stick with the setup for a bit. Since I got used to the new position I have been extremely comfortable on the bike.

[davidlangebaan]

And changing your saddle height and setback from the setup is going to compromise the other measurements; your reach, knee angle, etc, which is going to put you back where you were - with back pain.

Did you have the Ergofit (static setup only) done or did you go with the Ergomax (dynamic on-bike setup)?

[canfan]

I had the same issue. Stick with the setup for a while. You are now just working muscles you never worked as hard as what you are doing now. If it doesnt improve take it back to the guys that did the setup for you.

['Dale]

I had the same issue. Stick with the setup for a while. You are now just working muscles you never worked as hard as what you are doing now. If it doesnt improve take it back to the guys that did the setup for you.

 

I also had some adjustment issues with pain in the right shoulder or something after my setup. It went away after a few rides as my body position adjusted.

[SeaBee]

Mine went the other way. My setup was to over-utilise my quads and the ergofit setup changed this to utilise my hammies and glutes. Felt useless the first couple of rides. Now I don't want it any other way.

 

Stick with it. You're adjusting to the new setup. Furthermore, like canfan said, you're now utilising different muscle groups and it may take a period for them to get up to speed. Just because it's different to what you were used to, it does not make it wrong.

[dwinter]

Thanks guys.

 

This all makes sense. I'll stick it out for now.

 

davidlangebaan - It was the ergofit set-up.