Tuesday, February 27, 2007
My last couple of road rides have been dampened by my bike fit. When I got a new saddle, it didn't get installed into the correct position. I re-measured the saddle location and made a couple of small adjustments (mostly to the height). The fit still didn't feel right...so I decided no more long rides on the bike until I got the fit dialed in...because, I've had enough physical issues (broken ankle and neck pain) to not want to aggravate old injuries and spend weeks trying to heal. So I took my bike (and the setup instructions that came with it) to Zac at Cascade Bicycle Studio in Fremont (they sell custom Seven bicycles). Zac is a previous Seven Bicycles employee and he understands Seven's measurement system. Zac made a few corrections to my setup. One small detail that wasn't noticed before was that my bicycle setup assumes a saddle length of 25 cm. My saddle is 26cm...so Zac made the necessary corrections. It turns out I had the saddle height within 1mm (which is great). Zac moved my cleats back a bit. He also moved the saddle forward on the rails which makes it easier to get to the hoods (this is the correction that came about due to a longer saddle...measurement from the nose of the saddle to the bottom bracket was off because the nose of the saddle is 1 cm longer). He also recommended rotating the handle bars to the angle that Seven specified on their setup sheet...which should make it more comfortable in the drops. I hope to get this last change done before I leave for PacTour...just not sure I will have time. Tonight will be my first spin on the bike since the fit session. Sunday (assuming it isn't icy out) will be my first long ride with the new fit.