Need to adjust bike need guidance

Steroo

Hi folks
I haven’t had my bike out properly in 2 years
A few back issues led to disc protrusion and that went on forever .. but now thankfully it’s a lot better and I’m still rehabbing etc.

I’m left with neural tension on the left leg regularly. The bike was set up by the brilliant fitter in wheel work for racing.. so it’s aggressive.

Now I’m aiming for easy light solo spins and I need to take the strain off the nerve.. less of the full extension etc.

With the virus I need to do it myself .. so what adjustments might get the bike less aggressive?

I know it’s all ‘how long is a piece of string’ but I can experiment !

All advice welcome and appreciated
Thanks

Steroo

Photos

magicbastarder

the main options open to you, without replacing any hardware, are saddle height, handlebar height, and how you pitch the bars (i.e. rotate up and back/forward and down).

i suspect given your history, long term it's worth shelling out on a bike fit by someone who knows what they're doing - however, i wonder if the propel (i don't know it well enough) is fundamentally a racy geometry, and a different bike may be the most effect step you can take.

mmrs

Hi Steroo,

Bike shops are still open as they are considered essential but I understand what you are looking to do isn't quite essential.

Easy things to do would be adjust the height of your saddle, move the position of the saddle back and raise the handlebars if you have the spacers.

Trial and error I suppose. Possibly try staying out of the drops as much as you can too.

kenmm

ye - as others have said that looks a very responsive/racy bike.

I suspect length is going to be the challenge - saddle back and maybe a longer stem from an lbs?

eeeee

Flip your stem, that'll bring your bars up, rotate them back towards you.
See how that goes first before messing with saddle heights.

magicbastarder

please bear in mind that medical advice is not allowed on boards, and some of the advice here may verge on that, given the nature of the question - i would ask your doctor whether being more stretched out or more upright is the best option for you; being more stretched out may put more stress on your back muscles, but your spine being less upright may be what your doctor may advise. or not.

H.E. Pennypacker

Have a think about two aspects and how they impact on you - your length on the bike and muscle recruitment. Length will involve lower back/neck shoulders and in terms of what you're asking, muscle recruitment will involve glutes and thighs. Saddle setback changes the engagement of glutes and can increase/decrease the workload on your thighs. It can also increase load on your shoulders & wrists, depending.

Google Steve Hogg right side bias - might be worth a read.

When the pandemic subsides, consider something like Pilates where right and left sides are worked separately and weaknesses on either side can be identified and addressed.

Ultimately, a Propel might not be a good option for you until you're functioning normally again but you should be able to tweak it into some sort of compromise position. That brings the risk of further injury if you don't get it right though...

Plastik

I would say, generally speaking, not to touch saddle height or set-back. That's a defined position based on leg-length, though there's probably a correct "range" to be within. Looking at the pictures of the bike and the stack of spacers already under the stem, if that's an aggressive race fit for you on that bike I think you'll find it very difficult to get a more relaxed fit. You need something with a much taller head tube and shorter top tube. My internet advice would be to think about selling that bike for something with more suitable geometry, or buy something entry level second hand with relaxed geometry and take it from there.

Steroo

Thanks very much - I will sell her and get a different bike - that makes sense but I didn’t want to part with it! I love it ;(

gaffmaster

I had a bike fit 2 years ago, and a follow up last week. My saddle height dropped 6mm in that time. This is based on a leg extension issue I didn't know I was having.

The best answer would be to have another bike fit before you decide on whether you sell the bike (or more importantly which bike you replace it with). It sounds like your physiology has changed significantly since your last fit.

In the coronavirus interim, you could try dropping your saddle 5mm to shorten your overall leg extension or swapping to shorter cranks to lower the range of motion.

Steroo

gaffmaster wrote: »

I had a bike fit 2 years ago, and a follow up last week. My saddle height dropped 6mm in that time. This is based on a leg extension issue I didn't know I was having.

The best answer would be to have another bike fit before you decide on whether you sell the bike (or more importantly which bike you replace it with). It sounds like your physiology has changed significantly since your last fit.

In the coronavirus interim, you could try dropping your saddle 5mm to shorten your overall leg extension or swapping to shorter cranks to lower the range of motion.

Appreciate that - worth a go!