The simple fact of life is that to make any improvement in fitness and strength require a certain degree of discomfort. That leve of discomfort depends on the individual. A small amount of discomfort for one person may seem like excruciating pain for another. We see it time and time again in discussion about saddles.

Then we come to bicycles. People just seem to be afraid to make adjustments to their bicycles after the initial set-up. Fit requires micro-adjustments are it becomes obvious that there are pain niggles. It also does require a bit of research; adjustment should be in millimetres (or 16ths of an inch); and adjustments should be limited to one thing at a time (for example, saddle height only, not saddle height, saddle tilt and handlebar height all at once).