Everything hurts! Why?

chorlton chimp

I braved the icy conditions yesterday on my Genesis cdf which normally only sees service on my short commute. We did just over 20 miles and I was a wreck when I got home and would like some advice/suggestions on bike set-up. I have no issues on my Secteur and have tried to set the cdf up the same. The only difference seems to me to be that the bars on the cdf are higher relative to the saddle than on the Secteur.

Symptoms:

1) Right foot pain on underside of foot near little toe. I am guessing this is SPD cleat set up - I have new shoes and the left and right cleats appear to be in identical position. Initially I thought I had overtightened the shoes as I have done that before. I have been careful not to havethem too tight but still the foot pain, left is fine though.

2) Sore knees - Saddle height seems fine although it took me a lot of tinkering. It's possibly just lack of fitness as I haven't done much from mid november to early january and the body needs to get used to it again.

3) Really sore lower back around the base of the spine - no idea at all what that can be - I sometimes get a bit of a sore back on the other bike but that is always just fatigue on longer rides.

Any advice would be welcome.

ShutUpLegs

Don't ride when it's icy
Cheque your saddle fore/ aft position

diy

check your cadence too. sore knees can be caused by riding in a gear which is too high. Also warm up before. stretch your legs and back before a ride and warm down properly after.

danlikesbikes

1) if its not your shoes being too tight (a common mistake which I too suffer from some times) could it be that your feet are slightly different sizes? Which is also quite common and depending on what bike shoes your wearing some of the toe boxes are pretty tight and could be compounding the issues.

2) Possibly a case of getting used to it as your quite right if you need to ease yourself back into it. If using SPD's make sure the pedal are set as lose as possible to give you extra movement until your body gets used to riding again.

3) Lower back pain suggests that your bike set up is pretty good with your weight not to far forward & requiring you to support your body using muscles that perhaps are not overly being used. This does get easier, or you could always do some specific strength exercises as home if you want. Google or Youtube it, but you don't need any equipment best ones are simple like a reverse sit-up with you laying face down and arching your back by lifting your upper body off the ground.

A couple of weeks and a few minor changes and you'll soon be flying on the bike.

diy

Just wanted to add, I used to get the pain in the foot thing (right foot outside arch too) when I switched to stiffer shoes on the MTB. I don't get it on the road bike (same shoes, same SPD system), the pain came in after about 20 mins of riding and was gone after 1/2 an hour more.

strongman

I had a similar problem with a pain in the outside of my left foot. I initially thought it was due to it being my larger foot so I loosened the straps. This did not work. I finally changed the insole in that shoe and hey preso no ache.
Not sure if this will work for you but it did for me.