On the importance of fit...
I'm feeling a little sheepish today.
About three or four weeks ago, I started to notice some knee soreness. It felt like the mild tendonitis I used to get sometimes from jogging. But never had anything like it from cycling, even putting in a lot of miles last year.
So I figured I'd just rest a little, take some days off, go a little slower etc., which always seemed to work when I had sore knees from running. On a ride two weeks ago, a friend told me he had had some knee soreness associated with his seat being a little too low, but that an improved fitting had solved the problem.
I thought that couldn't be my problem, since I'd had my seat at the same mark all last year. So I just continued to take it easy. I broke my almost year-long no-Metro streak a couple nights and got a ride home another night, just to keep the miles low.
Then, yesterday, on a group ride, I was riding my other bike for the first time in a while, at least for a long distance. After the ride, my knees weren't sore at all, and when I sprinted into the wind for a few moments at full power to catch up with some other riders, I didn't have to hold back at all. Also, the seat position seemed unusually high. Hmmm..
This morning, I got one block on the commuter bike and I noticed my knee gave a little twinge. I stopped and checked my seatpost. It had slipped maybe 3/8 inch from my mark. Must have happened gradually since I really didn't notice.
That 3/8" really made a difference. Full power and no knee soreness the rest of the way in today. On the one hand, I feel sort of like the princess and the pea that such a small adjustment could make such a big difference in how my legs feel after a ride. But I also feel dumb that I didn't take my friend's advice and check the seat position 2 weeks ago!
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Originally Posted by jrenaut
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