Bike fit or over the hill?

MikeCheryl

Hi

Really been enjoying the new bikes, the wife and I have been out on several trips now, not high milage by most pro standards but fun all the same.
We got fitted for the bikes at Decathlon in Southampton, the chap there observed us and said which size we should go for.
Can't give you a frame size as the bikes we got are Rockrider 5.2s and they come in S-xxl sizes, odd but I guess it works.
Anyway at 48 I wonder if parts of me are worn out lol.
Main issue is my right knee cluncks at the top of the stroke, not always be certainly at first and the other day it persisted all the time not so much pain and discomfort.

My question is, the saddle can go up and down of course, but also can tilt, and move forward and back.

Is there a adjustment I can make that might help me with this?

Got new saddles as the coccyx was sore at first and discovered that the saddle needs to be level or even slightly up at the front, so thats fixed at least.

Any friendly advice gratefully received.

Mike

ElliesDad

First thing to check is the saddle height, a good rule of thumb is with the pedal at the bottom of the stroke in line with the seat tube put your heel on the pedal, your leg should be straight without rocking the hips. This will give a slight bend in the knee when the ball of the foot is on the pedal. I'm 43 and have a dodgy right knee, painful when climbing stairs sometimes but on the bike using this method I get no problems at all!

cooldad

Are you using all the gears?
Uphill keep the gears low (big cogs) and spin fast. Pushing high gears will blow your knees up.

Also sounds like your saddle is too low though. Measure as above.

MikeCheryl

Hi both thanks, yes using all the gears, find it amazing to have more than 3

Yes raised my saddle a bit as ED suggested and while better it still pops at the top of the stroke, well just after the top anyway. What about the fore and aft on the saddle? thanks guys

ElliesDad

You could just try different set ups and settle on the one most comfortable but it may just be that you have a dodgy knee that no amount of adjustment will help. I also get a bad back when riding for more than about an hour. Only tends to be on road though, off road I'm stood up more and moving around which must help. No amount of tweaking has solved the problem so I have just resigned myself to the fact that at my age my back is just FUBAR'd!

The other rule of thumb regarding saddle position (fore and aft position) is to have your cranks level, with your foot in the normal riding position, ie with the ball of the foot on the pedal, your knee cap should be directly in line with the axle of the pedal. You can check this with a bit of string held against your knee cap with a small weight on the end, the weight should be directly over the axle when the cranks are level.

Saddle tilt is personal choice really depending on whether you feel your weight is pushing too far forward or back.

At the end of the day these are rules of thumb though and don't work for everybody.

MikeCheryl

Thanks, I'll give that a go later today.
Where abouts does your back hurt?

ElliesDad

It's right at the back, more on the right hand side. It's a pain in the arse because even though I'm not that fit, it cuts my road fitness rides short and limits them to just over an hour.