Athlete Background
- Experience: Novice
- Interest: Knee Rehab and General Fitness
- Goals: Increase time on the bike without discomfort
- Injuries: Knee and Back
- Notables: Athlete worked in distribution/delivery and is currently retired
Bike Data
- Brand: Cannondale
- Model: Synapse Disc
- Size: 58
- Year: 2018
- Notables: The athlete was experiencing shoulder and saddle discomfort.
Fit Data
- Saddle fore/aft which in this case required a small adjustment to the fore position by 4-5 millimeters to meet the fit solution of 65mm.
- Saddle tilt. Tilt was set at +.5. The saddle was set to -1 degree.
- Saddle height. The height was 9mm too low which can also add to lower back pain/discomfort. The saddle height was adjusted by 9mm.
- Effective Body Extension (measured from the sweet spot of the saddle to the center of the handlebar). The 58cm frame came with an 80 mm stem which in combination with the saddle height and fore/aft adjustment met the fit solution.
- Above Horizontal (bar drop). Considering the athlete’s flexibility and injury history I placed the stem in the positive position (+/- 6-degree flip/flop stem) and kept all 5 and 10 mm spacers – this in combination with the headset set the athlete at 24mm above horizontal which compliments his interests/history and torso angle needs.
- Hoods angle, bar angle and lever reach. The handlebars were tilted too far up (the ergo portion of the drop) which was preventing the athlete from gaining all benefits from the drops in addition to being able to reach the brake and shifter levers. I set the angle at 10 degrees and made sure the hoods had a flat and smooth transition from the handlebar to the hood (final visual assessment would ensure proper wrist angle)
- Cleat Alignment. The athlete chose an SPD pedal platform for several reasons… one is a large amount of float along with the ability to use a walkable shoe. The cleat was set too far forward causing the athlete to experience toe numbness. I set the cleats to the solution which resulted in the cleat further towards the heal.
Conclusion
After a long warm-up on the trainer and multiple hard efforts, the was pleased with the results and confirmed that previous issues with the lower back and shoulders was no longer evident. The final position can be seen in the pic below.
