Elbowitis

eggie

Its probably common and easy fixed but thought I'd ask anyway. I've only been back cycling a couple of weeks, put in about 450km+ in that time and suffering from sore elbows during rides of 40Km+.

I'm not locking my arms, and I am easily strong enough to hold my own weight. I'm thinking its the bike fit even though I got fitted when I purchased it. An inch here or there could prob make a bigger difference than expected I suppose. Shortly after the cycle is over my elbows are fine except when I try to lock them straight I feel some small pain. I have been going to the gym between 3-5 times a week for the last 15 years and never had any problems with my elbows before, just to inform ye that I'm not immune to exercise, albeit a different type.

I was thinking of lowering the seat a half inch and moving it forward about an inch.

Any ideas or experiences similar?

Thanks.

Eggie.

AstraMonti

Are your arms really stretched reaching the bars? If they are you can possible move the saddle a bit in the front and/or get a smaller size stem.

jautukas87

I have exactly the same thing after longer spins. I think shorter stem should fix that. I'm not 100% sure.

short circuit

Can't really advise on your bike fit without seeing you .. and even then I wouldn't be qualified but -
1. You seemed to have ramped up your distances too quickly. You might be fit, but not fit for cycling ... do a couple of weeks of shorter spins and let your body adapt. Muscles and bones take a lot longer to adapt to new exercise than heart and lungs.

2. Half an inch or an inch is too much to fiddle around in one go for a bike fit ... if you are making changes, make them in or around 5mm steps .. seat height ... probably even less .... stems you don't have a choice .. has to be done in 1cm jumps.

Lumen

Going out, no time, couple of thoughts:

- Your mileage ramp-up is nuts, and is just asking for injury.

- Moving the seat forward will probably achieve the opposite of what you want, because it will load up your upper body.

- You shouldn't be using your "gym muscles" for hold yourself on the bike, but be relaxed, comfortable, and balanced, held in position by your postural muscles.

eggie

Lumen wrote: »

Going out, no time, couple of thoughts:

- Your mileage ramp-up is nuts, and is just asking for injury.

- Moving the seat forward will probably achieve the opposite of what you want, because it will load up your upper body.

- You shouldn't be using your "gym muscles" for hold yourself on the bike, but be relaxed, comfortable, and balanced, held in position by your postural muscles.

My mileage isnt too bad now that I check my Garmin:

25/Apr - 22km
26/Apr - 26km
27/Apr - 27km
28/Apr - 45km
30/Apr - 48km
02/May - 72km
05/May - 70km
07/May - 30km
09/May - 60km

Total 400km - slightly over estimated on my initial post.

I've been thinking about this all morning and came to a few conclusions.

I'm not worried about overloading my upper body cause its very strong and my muscles arent the problem - forearms, biceps, triceps, shoulders/deltoids, neck, etc are all fine. Its the joints/tendons of the elbow, which leads me to believe there is slightly too much strain/leverage on the fulcrum of my elbow i.e. stretched slightly too much for the weight its supporting and the arm muscles are not prividing enough support due to the angle between forearm and upper arm, putting extra pressure on the joint and tendon.

I agree that it is partially down to new type of exercise where they are not used to being in similar/static position for a prolonged period of time but I really think its also bike fit.

I've lowered the seat 10mm, brought it forward 15mm and turned the handle bars forward 5mm. It already feels more comfy and natural even though i'm just measuring up at home. I'll get another spin in during the week and see how it goes.

Ironically I think this could be my own fault cause when I told the guy fitting me it was comfy I really had no idea casue it was five years since I had sat on a bike and 15 years since I had purchased a new bike.

Thanks all for the feedback.