Originally Posted by kiltedcelt

Okay, since I've gotten more interested in riding regular centuries and hoping to try some brevets and permanents, I've decided to get my bike fit dialed in better. I built my bike from the wheels up a couple years back and for the most part it's been great for commuting and I've experienced little discomfort riding it on lengthy rides like centuries. However, recently I've started to experience aches and pains that I've had all along to a certain extent which for the most part I could ignore. For instance, sometimes when I've been off the bike for a few days, the first day back on, my hip flexors and the leading edge of my sit bones give me some discomfort. Additionally, lately I've been experiencing some muscle tightness/pain in my right shoulder which seems to be worse when I'm exerting myself biking into a headwind. Couple all this with losing 25 pounds over the last three months, and possibly having ruined my Brooks B17 by allowing it to get soaking wet while I was riding a few weeks back (forgot covers/baggies at home), and now I'm experiencing a kind of pinched nerve twinge sensation along my left sit bone if I sit on the saddle just right. So, I ordered a new Selle Anatomica which should arrive tomorrow and I'm going for a comprehensive $300 Retul fitting next week. How many of you have just given up on trying to figure out all those infinite little adjustments and just said "screw it!" and gone for a professional fitting. I figure it's going to be worth it to get everything dialed in once and for all, including things like cleat adjustment and such. It's just that I don't have a whole lot of money and it's tough to swallow, spending $300 on something kind of intangible like a bike fitting. I guess I've been pretty stubborn in the past, thinking I could just keep adjusting things a little bit here and there until I got the fit right, yet here I am with about 8000 miles on this bike over two years and still dealing with nagging discomforts.