Persistent shoulders/neck pain after bike fit

[Edereese]

23 hours ago, J Wakefield said:

Any bikefitment software or tool is only as good as the person using it and interpreting the data. Wether this is STT, Retul, Trek, Shimano or EF. 
 

Going back to Stevie post above, we at S2S will correct and attend to this once I have the info in the PM sent. 

This is spot on.. You can have the latest tech, but if you do not understand the data, pointless.

[J Wakefield]

21 hours ago, Eldron said:

While I'm flexing here is a pic of my fitting room....

Never flex 

 

Edited September 28, 2021 by J Wakefield

[Eldron]

Just now, J Wakefield said:

Never flex 

Hahaha there is always a bigger dog in town. Is that your set up in SA or Europe?

[Hairy]

12 minutes ago, J Wakefield said:

Never flex 

@Eldron would never let this happen #JustSaying

[J Wakefield]

12 minutes ago, Eldron said:

Hahaha there is always a bigger dog in town. Is that your set up in SA or Europe?

This is Girona bud 

[Eldron]

35 minutes ago, J Wakefield said:

This is Girona bud 

Have you seen the Shimano setup in Valkenburg?

[Ispeed_V]

41 minutes ago, J Wakefield said:

This is Girona bud 

Are they renovating the building? Looks like plastic over the windows?

PS. How is Gibbo healing up?

[J Wakefield]

3 minutes ago, FondTF2 said:

Are they renovating the building? Looks like plastic over the windows?

PS. How is Gibbo healing up?

Renovating the building next door 

[dasilvarsa]

16 hours ago, Furbz said:

Richard Baxter is phenomenal. 

Does bike fits at Mellovelo so close enough for you.

I've been riding competitively for 15 years plus and thought I knew my stuff setting up all my own bikes.

I eventually started getting neck and shoulder pain. 

Went for a fit and basically all but the saddle height contact points shifted plenty.

At first I felt to compact compared to my self setup. Took a few km to get used to it.

I then found I could put more power down and it felt less strained.

Funny I chose to go against advice and kept the bars high as it was my demo bike and needed to be able to offer customers options. I still had some neck and shoulder issues.

My new bike arrived(same frame, custom paint job) and I followed Richard's advice and actually slammed the stem.

Guess what, no more neck and shoulder pain!

Get a professional bike fit it's the best money you can spend. Period.

There is no need for pain on bikes under any circumstances.

Every Time I buy a New Bike I get a Bike Fit. (MTB)

Never Been Happy with the Results and after a couple of months of unhappy riding I end up copying the settings from the Old Bike.

Seems to Work for Me.

saddle height

angle and position of the saddle

bar height (Headset Spacers)

bar roll

position of the brake levers

 

 

 

[Stevie G]

On 9/27/2021 at 9:28 AM, J Wakefield said:

Any bikefitment software or tool is only as good as the person using it and interpreting the data. Wether this is STT, Retul, Trek, Shimano or EF. 
 

Going back to Stevie post above, we at S2S will correct and attend to this once I have the info in the PM sent. 

Guys just wanted to update you on my issue which was resolved by John and Reece from Ergofit at the Sport Science Institute. They sorted out my back/should/neck issue with a proper bikefit and some fine tuning which helped me instantly. I got some good advice on my body positioning and posture to prevent stiffness and muscle tension.

Very professional and will go the extra mile in sorting out any issue you might be experiencing.

Thank you once again John for your professionalism and dedication.  

[blinx]

On 9/27/2021 at 9:28 AM, J Wakefield said:

Any bikefitment software or tool is only as good as the person using it and interpreting the data. Wether this is STT, Retul, Trek, Shimano or EF. 
 

Going back to Stevie post above, we at S2S will correct and attend to this once I have the info in the PM sent. 

Hi where are you guys based @J Wakefield

[J Wakefield]

12 hours ago, blinx said:

Hi where are you guys based @J Wakefield

In South Africa - Sports Science Institute in Newlands Cape Town
However we have biomechanics in JHB and KZN we can refer you to.

In Europe: Main lab is in Girona, Spain

[DieselnDust]

15 hours ago, Stevie G said:

Guys just wanted to update you on my issue which was resolved by John and Reece from Ergofit at the Sport Science Institute. They sorted out my back/should/neck issue with a proper bikefit and some fine tuning which helped me instantly. I got some good advice on my body positioning and posture to prevent stiffness and muscle tension.

Very professional and will go the extra mile in sorting out any issue you might be experiencing.

Thank you once again John for your professionalism and dedication.  

cool so what were these changes?

[dasilvarsa]

15 hours ago, Stevie G said:

Guys just wanted to update you on my issue which was resolved by John and Reece from Ergofit at the Sport Science Institute. They sorted out my back/should/neck issue with a proper bikefit and some fine tuning which helped me instantly. I got some good advice on my body positioning and posture to prevent stiffness and muscle tension.

Very professional and will go the extra mile in sorting out any issue you might be experiencing.

Thank you once again John for your professionalism and dedication.  

How much have you ridden since Sunday ?

I'm not Convinced !

2 Days and It's Sorted !

[Eldron]

17 hours ago, Stevie G said:

Guys just wanted to update you on my issue which was resolved by John and Reece from Ergofit at the Sport Science Institute. They sorted out my back/should/neck issue with a proper bikefit and some fine tuning which helped me instantly. I got some good advice on my body positioning and posture to prevent stiffness and muscle tension.

Very professional and will go the extra mile in sorting out any issue you might be experiencing.

Thank you once again John for your professionalism and dedication.  

Great that they've sorted you out.

Let us know what they did and how it feels after your next 5 hour ride.

 

[Paul Ruinaard]

On 9/28/2021 at 8:54 AM, Eldron said:

In all my dealings with SA fitters and related people in the cycle industry I've only heard good things about Richard Baxter. A fine choice ????

Please give us some feedback when you're done!

Okay so had a bike fit done by Richard Baxter on wednesday at Dunkeld. I was a bit worried as i am riding CTCT this weekend so wasn't sure but WTH if it fixes shoulder and back pain then its worth it and he came highly recommended off this string.

So far the changes have been great. 

Seat height wasn't an issue but saddle width and softness was and i was too far forward, also cleat location and Q Factor which i will discuss below. So just FYI being on the downhill slope to 58, 105 kgs (should be about 90) and have been riding for about 25 years so have some Kms under my belt. However the bars were too narrow (41 cm bars shipped on a large Roubaix - they were Specialized standard bars - not sure why they used such narrow bars as standard). Tick - new wider bars. Stem up a bit and aligned with Saddle height. Softer and wider saddle. tick. Pressure removed from seat area and then also off hands by raising bars.

The big change was where i had always struggled and found no answers. So i have always had hassles with getting wide enough Q factor for my stance. Richard looked at it and added 20mm spacers on to my pedal axles. this was radical compared to the 2 mm spacers i had in there. I also showed him how on the PCO measurements on the Garmin software i pedal 25 mm off the outside of the pedals and also have a problem with shoes etc (always have).  So 20 mm was huge - i didnt even know if you could do it or should but i have for example got extra axle length Shimano pedals but when i went to the Garmin Vector pedals i couldnt get so was using small spacers.

So feedback after 3 x rides (2 x indoor and about 50 km yesterday ) has been interesting. Definitely my back and shoulders are much less painful as i am much less hunched over so that seems to have fixed the primary problem. However i am also pedalling down directly and even though the PCO is still high i am able to correct it much better. Next step would be a set of wide platform Lake road shoes but i am not changing that prior to the race on Sunday.

The crazy thing is now i feel like i can put more power down and therefore it seems like my HR is lower but the most bizarre thing on my training data is that my VO2 max has shot up, coincidentally since July when i had my first vaccine. By a lot. Since mid July from 42 to 48 yesterday and it went from 45 to 48 yesterday and has been consistently increasing. I don't know if its related i.e. i am more efficient in the pedal stroke so HR is lower but i would be interested in the observations of others. My only major change hasnt really been an increase in training (up a little) but why would your VO2 max go up by 20% and then after the vaccine. Given its the highest its been in 10 years i cant really attribute it to much and i cant see what else i changed. Had a vaccine and got a setup. Something is different. So HR at a given power is lower. I suppose i need to do an FTP test to prove it but Gramin told me about a month ago when i started to ramp up training that my FTP was down about 10 watts from 230 to 220.

Would be keen to hear theories.

But overall much happier, this was a great outcome and i am glad i questioned you guys as i assumed my discomfort was par for the course related to become and old fart and not having enough core strength and too heavy so just live with it. 

Notch one up to the hub gurus.

Oh and i posted many times on Q factor and no one replied so i thought i was unique but it turns out that its a pretty common problem and that pedal extensions should be used a lot more. I used to crush the sides of my feet after a long race so badly i often couldnt walk for days.