Getting Paranoid
popette
Posts: 2,089
is paranoia a normal state for a cyclist?
If I'm not worrying that I haven't got my set up quite right (and I do this often. Sometimes I stop mid-ride to make a mm adjustment. I look at other cyclists, even the postman, and think they all look much better on their bikes in terms of their body position!) then I'm worrying about my saddle (I'm on my 4th). Then there's the whole issue of weight - I need to lose some weight but I don't want to eat so little that I lose muscle.
I'm eventually going to upgrade my bike and I know that when I come to that it will be a nightmare and I'll be forever wondering whether I should have bought a different bike.
Am I a passionate cyclist or am I nuts? :roll:
If I'm not worrying that I haven't got my set up quite right (and I do this often. Sometimes I stop mid-ride to make a mm adjustment. I look at other cyclists, even the postman, and think they all look much better on their bikes in terms of their body position!) then I'm worrying about my saddle (I'm on my 4th). Then there's the whole issue of weight - I need to lose some weight but I don't want to eat so little that I lose muscle.
I'm eventually going to upgrade my bike and I know that when I come to that it will be a nightmare and I'll be forever wondering whether I should have bought a different bike.
Am I a passionate cyclist or am I nuts? :roll:
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It's a shame you aren't enjoying cycling at the moment - are you "paranoid" because you feel naturally self conscious, or do you think there is something genuinely wrong with your bike? What are you adjusting by mm? Position of seat or gear adjustment? Does your bike actually fit you? Have you got the seat too low (as a rough guide you should have it at a height so your leg is straight if you put your heel on the lower pedal).
Maybe go for a check-up at a good LBS.
As for 4 seats, I have got through about 6 before finding one I can live with - that's fairly normal I think, just if you ride too infrequently you won't get over the initial soreness. Make sure you wear decent padded shorts (under whatever you like), probably have the seat set absolutely level.
Give us a few more specifics about your bike and setup0 -
Oh I am enjoying cycling a lot it just seems to have taken over my life in the last 6 months since I started. Perhaps it's just because it's all new and exciting that I'm thinking about it so much - perhaps too much?
I had a professional bike fit but I think that the seat was still a bit too high (getting pain behind left knee) so it's the saddle height and position relative to the handlebars that I tweak with. I think I may have it almost right now as the pain behind my knee has cleared up. I ride about 90 miles per week so I think I'm getting enough hours on the saddle. I recently bought some Assos shorts to avoid the saddle pain.0 -
Sounds like you have done everything right popette, and you should be an experienced cyclist by now. If there is an issue with saddle to bar postition, an alternative is to change stem length, this may keep your knee position appropriate to the pedals - however the professional bike fit should have sorted this, and it is just another parameter to worry about.
Maybe you are a perfectionist / worryer?
What bike do you have?0 -
popette wrote:is paranoia a normal state for a cyclist?
If I'm not worrying that I haven't got my set up quite right (and I do this often. Sometimes I stop mid-ride to make a mm adjustment. I look at other cyclists, even the postman, and think they all look much better on their bikes in terms of their body position!) then I'm worrying about my saddle (I'm on my 4th). Then there's the whole issue of weight - I need to lose some weight but I don't want to eat so little that I lose muscle.
I'm eventually going to upgrade my bike and I know that when I come to that it will be a nightmare and I'll be forever wondering whether I should have bought a different bike.
Am I a passionate cyclist or am I nuts? :roll:
You're not nuts. But you do sound (like me) as someone who can get a little over anxious about things. Just relax and just do what your instinct tells you is right in terms of body position, what to eat etc etc. Don't over-analyse it0 -
Go to a specialist bike shop and get a fitting service - they'll tell you if your bike fits. If it doesn't they'll tweak a few things. Worst case scenario is that they'll tell you your frame is the wrong size. Hewitt cycles in Leyland, near Preston, offer such a service. Go to a decent shop like this when you get your next bike for sure, even if it means a long journey.
Generally though and cycling apart, yes you're nuts! Stop worrying; nobody really gives a shit what you do - anymore than you care what they're doing. I'm afraid the overpriced trainer people were right when they said 'just do it'. Thinking doesn't help, it just makes things harder or even stops them happening at all. Take it form an 'ex-thinker'!
Good luck with it all.'Happiness serves hardly any other purpose than to make unhappiness possible' Marcel Proust.0 -
Just for the record I didn't type in 'shoot' above - auto correct? I'm not from the mid West of the USA. (Not that I'm paranoid).'Happiness serves hardly any other purpose than to make unhappiness possible' Marcel Proust.0
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I did this for a while.
I have this thing where I always feel i'm inferior and so I used to constantly check my position etc
Then I realised that-
1) No 1 cared
2) My position was good enough and I was just making it worse
Most people will just be incredibly impressed by just looking at your bike and can't tell the difference between Lance Armstrong and Joe Nobody
If you feel comfortable when cycling your position is good,
Pedal smoothly and don;t tense your shoulders.
If you get that lot right then you're good enough
(I do find thought that even now when I go past a shiny glass shop front i always look at myself to have a look at my technique and positioning! :oops: )"I hold it true, what'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost;
Than never to have loved at all."
Alfred Tennyson0 -
yeh! i do that too - I check out my shadow to make sure it looks ok. :oops:
When I had my fitting (at Hewitts) he did say that because I'd been having pain behind my knee that I may need to adjust the saddle height - lowering it until the pain went and then trying to raise it again. That was just a license for further tweaking. I do think the saddle was still quite a bit too high though because my heels were quite far off being able to turn the pedals round and my sore bum problem seemed to get a bit worse - plus my knee pain didn't get any better. Last night after a few more mm of lowering, I cycled pain free. I'm going to stick with this set up for a bit now.
The daft thing is that when I first got my bike I set it up very basically by setting the saddle far back enough to fit my forearm and hand between saddle and handlebars and high enough so that I could just about touch my tiptoes on the floor. it was only when I started reading about the "correct" way of setting up my bike that I started fiddling and also started having problems.
I don't really care what people think when they see me. I just want to know that I've got the absolute perfect set up for me so that I don't get injured and get the most out of every pedal stroke iykwim.0 -
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Are you the same person who had boyfreind issues a while ago? Several posters (inc.me) suggested you got the boyfreind bit sorted first then got on with enjoying cycling. Now it would seem that you've got him sorted so - just get on with enjoying cycling. Sort issues that are causing discomfort obviuosly but don't go down the measuring to the half millimetre road it will drive you and everyone nearby nuts!! 0
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If you were fitted at Hewitts, the bike will be right for you.
I find I need at least 30-40 miles in one go to tell if small adjustments to saddle position are correct for me. I did have a BikeFit first - money well spent - but that only gets the saddle height and fore-and-aft position close. I have still had to make small adjustments as I have got fitter.
I now have all the critical measurements written down and if I go on holiday and have to dismantle the bike I take a tape measure to get it back together.
I've given up looking in shop windows as I go past. All they have round here are posters of some dwarf with too much tummy.0 -
ut_och_cykla wrote:Are you the same person who had boyfreind issues a while ago? Several posters (inc.me) suggested you got the boyfreind bit sorted first then got on with enjoying cycling. Now it would seem that you've got him sorted so - just get on with enjoying cycling. Sort issues that are causing discomfort obviuosly but don't go down the measuring to the half millimetre road it will drive you and everyone nearby nuts!!
No, I don't think that was me - I'm married with 4 bambinos. 4!!!!!! no wonder I'm going potty.0 -
But do you look anything like your avatar?
What do I ride? Now that's an Enigma!0 -
Well.......I'm not green, not 6ft 7", nor 600lbs! But there are a couple of similarities between she-hulk and I.
I chose that Avatar because on the couple of cycling events I've done and everytime I enter a cycling shop, I tower over all the women and most of the men. Cycling clothes are usually tight and I feel that I'm going to rip them open at the seams at any minute!0 -
popette wrote:ut_och_cykla wrote:Are you the same person who had boyfreind issues a while ago? Several posters (inc.me) suggested you got the boyfreind bit sorted first then got on with enjoying cycling. Now it would seem that you've got him sorted so - just get on with enjoying cycling. Sort issues that are causing discomfort obviuosly but don't go down the measuring to the half millimetre road it will drive you and everyone nearby nuts!!
No, I don't think that was me - I'm married with 4 bambinos. 4!!!!!! no wonder I'm going potty.
Aha - sorry - 4 kids - you're allowed to be slightly nutty, not twins by any chance ;-)) (I have - definitely crazy me)0
