Gege-Bubu

Of course I didn't. I try to fix a problem myself first with BF collective mind, because it cost me nothing; and frankly I got a lot of useful information from it.

Yes, I am planning to get a pro fit. But I'd like to add some more miles to let most of the problem to surface.

thesmoothdome

Building the plane as you fly is never a good idea . Get fit. A good fitter will stop other problems from surfacing.

Beaker

This is a good point. Fixing my knee issue was two part - the first part has been covered in this thread, fix the underlying fit problem to prevent recurrence. The second part is letting your injury recover - for me this meant holding off steep hills, taking it easy, ice on the knee and physical therapy. OP, I'd recommend against pushing yourself harder before getting your fit fixed AND rehab'ing your knee.

garethzbarker

k. I can't tell if that was supposed to be sharp at me but I was just trying to help. Trying to fit myself ended me up with a torn knee muscle and messed up achilles. I lost two and a half of the best months of riding this summer. Hope you don't end up tearing yours dude because you are already having pain... G' luck working things out.

P.S. If you plan on getting a fitting anyway now is the best time and there is no real reason to wait as you aren't saving money; it MAY help find your problem and WILL help you achieve the most efficient safe way to work on your bike provided the fit is done right.

Gege-Bubu

Sorry, I was away from the computer to conclude the story.

I got a "professional" fit.
I am not sure how professional was it, because I expected something more sophisticated, but this is how it was:

I went to Performance LBS and scheduled the appointment. the cost was $1 a minute
The guy sit me on the trainer and said right away that the sit is too low. (of course, because I have lowered it.)

He raised the sit and visually measured "right angle" at certain pedal position. He also made sure I have my front wheel hub covered completely by the handlebars as I hold them and look down.
He was ready to quit, but I kept whining about my seat bones, and he changed the angle of the seat "one click" forward. I started to see half of the hub, but he says it's ok. I did not give up and asked him to check my shoes and pedals too. he immediately said the "look" pedals are no good because of the heels can move right and left causing knee problem. He suggested to replace them with "lollipops," because all his friends have them. Then he checked my cleats back on the shoes, because they were out of place after my falls. That was it, and it cost me $20.

The guy was nice, but I am not sure he can resolve more complicated problem, because he kept asking how did I feel, but I feel just fine for first 25 miles anyway with low seat and crooked cleats.

Anyway. Yesterday I did my first 75 miles and had no problem in my knees (both right and left), also my sitbone was good too! I never had such pleasure riding before. It took me 5 hrs, and if the sun would shine a little longer I would go further.

Thank you all. Now I have to research about the lollipops.

lpolliard

Show me a good professional fitter and I might spring the buck fifty to get one. It is easy to tell someone to get a pro fit and a lot harder to find one that isn't a waste of money.

Gege-Bubu

True. The Trek store in our area has a fitting for $150. Another LBS has Specialized Fitting for $175. I am not sure the $20 Performance guy was good, but it worked for me.

garethzbarker

Mine was under 20$ here in Korea and similar to yours; the guy took his time and measured all my angles. I also had the same reaction you did, right after the fit everything fell into place and the pain stopped. It's crazy what a 5mm change can do. I know people like computer fits but this guy was a racer and he carefully watched me, measured my angles, made me kind of warm up and made like 30 adjustments. He also coached me on posture, workouts, future goals (I just ride for recreation) and told me what to expect. Just by doing those things he made the bike fall into place perfectly. I'll take that kind of treatment over a kid with a computer.

I'm glad you feel better dude. The guy that fit me said that a fit is the beginning and that sometimes people have to make more tiny adjustments (I've had to change the tilt on my saddle for instance since then) as they expand ride length. It's good to write down any changes you make so you can get back to where you started again. It's also good to measure your crank to seat length in case you crash the bike or hop on a new one and want to quickly set your saddle up.

jr59

I love how people on BF give free advise, without ever seeing the person either on the bike, or riding his/her bike.

It's like the blind leading the blind.
When in reality, all the posters are just guessing and repeating what they have read, or what their LBS has told them, about themselves.

I'm not saying that the OP does, but what if his knee has internal damage? We simply do not know. Or his setup is so out of sorts, that any advise is not going to work. Who will take the blame if the OP takes our advise and truly hurts myself?

BTW; this applies to alot of threads on the forum.

garethzbarker

How's chocolate city jr59? I grew up in La I sure miss N.O.

jr59

NOLA is NOLA! It took a whille after Kritrian, but slowly and surly is is coming back.
It sure was fun when the Saints won the Superbowl!

Oh yes, it's very flat, no hills at all. Just the way I like it.

Robert C

Another person with knee pain here:
Pain is in Left knee.
Left leg is about 2 cm longer than right.
MRI has shown arthritis in left knee.

Right leg is significantly lerger in circumference than left.
Right leg carries most of load.
Strong Right Side body bias (other then left eye and ear work better)

Yes, I have seen a neurologist. At about 30 I was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy (never went to neurologist before).

So, ignoring the neurology problem, I have often wondered if a longer crank arm on th left would help; but, I need to reduce th epressure on the left knee. That would have th eopposite effect. Yes, I have noticed that higher RPMs does reduce knee pain.

To re-ask the question, how does one identify a person that is able to give a GOOD professional fitting?

surgeonstone

We usually emphasize the right leg in our motions, very little is truly symmetrical in life. Unwittingly we push harder with the right leg in the right handed individual. Knee pain is often from pushing too hard with too low a cadence. Lighten up the thrust and keep the rpms above 90. Make sure your saddle is high enough.

DScott

Good result. I'd say it's now officially "not broke". Don't try and fix it anymore.

Beaker

Best bet is good personal recommendation from someone who's been through the process already. If you don't know any local riders you could ask, then try your local forum on BF.

BTW - nice result OP, as it should be.