Helping my wife to get some comfortable on her bike

pessimal
pessimal Posts: 58
edited August 2013 in Women's cycling forum
hi,

was hoping someone might be able to give me some pointers on getting my wifes bike setup for her.

She bought a Pinnacle Lithium 3 in XL size recently (shes 6'1") and we have been going out for a few rides, but after a mile or so shes suffering from cramp at the top of her leg/bottom of her buttock.

i've tried raising the saddle up, which seems to help a little, but she keeps suffering the pain/cramp sooner or later.

i'm not sure what to do to try an eradicate the problem, could anyone give me any pointers.

also, she finds the stretch to the bars a little much, is it getter to get a shorter/more angled stem, or get a pair of raiser handle bars?

thanks.

Comments

  • dnwhite88
    dnwhite88 Posts: 285
    Could you post a picture of her on the bike? That's really the only way people can help
    "It never gets easier, you just go faster"
  • spacedog
    spacedog Posts: 97
    I wounded if its not just a bike issue but could also be biomechanical problem.... A trip to a Physio or such like could be a good idea if the bike fit doesn't help things.

    I have had issues in the past that have been argovated by cycling even short distances.

    Don't be too quick to shorten stems or raise bars it can make things worse. I suggest getting a good bike shop to help out getting it fitted right.
  • mrushton
    mrushton Posts: 5,182
    Where are you based? She may need a trip to get fitted to the bike. Sounds more a bio-mechanical problem but could be saddle/position related. It gets expensive trying to guess the problem and changing components
    M.Rushton
  • pessimal
    pessimal Posts: 58
    was wondering about getting a proper fit, but what sort of fit do people suggest?

    something the local LBS can do, or a more detailed retul type fit?
  • Alitogata
    Alitogata Posts: 148
    pessimal wrote:
    was wondering about getting a proper fit, but what sort of fit do people suggest?

    something the local LBS can do, or a more detailed retul type fit?

    Get a start by going to a local bike shop and if the problem insists then go for a retul one. I agree with the rest that this is probably a bad fitting problem.
  • mrushton
    mrushton Posts: 5,182
    Planet X offer a retul service. Specialized do their own as do Trek altho' Trek are trained by Cyclefit who were used by LeopardTrek this year.
    M.Rushton
  • pessimal
    pessimal Posts: 58
    been into the local LBS who are going to do a basic fit with her.

    hopefully that should help :)
  • Baby Trek
    Baby Trek Posts: 118
    Get your wife and bike to a decent bike shop - a local one rather than the Halfords of the world and get one of their chaps to review the set up etc. There is no point fiddling and changing things yourself until you know what the issues might be. It could be reach, saddle, pedal set up....anything.
    Some of it is trial and error and correcting and improving over time, but usually there is something obvious that a trained eye will see straight away.
    My bike was fitted for me from the start and even then I have tweaked things to get the fit even better...new handlebars to bring the brake levers closer for on the drops, saddle etc etc.

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