Hey, so I’ve got tight hamstrings which I’ve recently learned accounts for the lower back pain I frequently get as my back is compensating for my legs.

I’ve been training for the 104 mile sportive on Sunday and have started getting a twinge in my left knee again. I recently changed from Spesh shoes to Shimano, but have also drastically upped my mileage. I use eggbeaters by the way.

I’m trying to stretch regularly to hopefully work on the hamstrings and I’m wondering if the shoe change has had a negative effect? The Spesh BG shoes are meant to raise the inside of your foot slightly and I think the Shimanos are flat.

There’s loads of variables so I’m not sure what to isolate. I may try and do the race in my old Spesh shoes.

Any advice on bike setup? I like my saddle pretty high as it feels more efficient but I think it puts pressure into my hips, if I drop it too much my knees have to compensate!

I can’t be the only one in this boat, but any adjustment advice is very well appreciated!

the 104 mile sportive on Sunday

and do the race

I see how it is..

Seriously though, sounds like you could benefit from a bike fitting.

it’s a bit late to do anything now really as any changes have as much chance of making things worse as better

use whatever you found the most comfortable and then after sunday go and see someone that knows what they’re talking about and get your bike fitted to you

I know it’s a bit last minute for the sportive but I guess it’s the longterm I’m concerned about.

I’ve just dropped the number of teeth on my chainset so hopefully my knees will be under less stress.

I’ll look into that bike fitting thing, anywhere specific to go (LBS?) for that?

specialized shoes have varus tilt and better arch support (if BG footbeds fitted?) built in so there is a change with shimano.

stretching regime+foam roller and a bike and cleat fit would probably sort your issues.

I like my saddle pretty high as it feels more efficient but I think it puts pressure into my hips, if I drop it too much my knees have to compensate

Raise your handle bars?. Get the saddle at the right height ( i.e. only just be able to lock out your leg with your heel on the pedal ), then work from there. Raising the height of the bar or bring it a little closer ( rotating the hoods towards you a little also ) by only a little amount could make a huge difference in the strain on your lower back.

I was the same as you with the saddle height, more height = more power. When I got a proper fitting the lower saddle felt weird for about a day but from the first pedal stroke I was putting down more power more comfortably.

It was amazing how much they changed for me. I still get back pain on the bike on longer rides (not doing much core strength exercises just now) but there’s no pain when I get off. This is in contrast to being in pain for days after.

Can’t recommend a proper fitting enough but in the mean time I’d say even a slight drop in the saddle will help you out.

I suffer from lower back pain climbing on my bike (which I never used to on old bikes) I put it down to my current bike having a shorter top tube and the bars being slightly higher than the saddle.

Who does ‘proper’ bike fitting then? I nearly always found bike shops next to useless when buying bikes as I tend to fall between a small and medium frame size and when Ive asked shops which frame they think would fit me best and what I should alter, the general response as been “dunno, what feels more comfortable to you…”

Bradford, Yorkshire if it helps!

Re Spesh shoes, if you do a bit of googling some people get on with them where as alot of people find them very uncomfortable.

The proper fittings are the ones where they take your measurements includind flexibility, speak to you about any problems, get you set up on a turbo, adjust what they think, see how it’s worked on the turbo and basically fine tune your position.

I got mine done at Alpine Bikes, don’t think there’s a branch around Bradford. A quick Google search only seems to throw up Chevin cycles but hopefully someone with local knowledge can help you.

It’s not cheap though – I paid around £100 but it did take 2.5 hours and got me a nice discount on any parts I wanted to change. I’d pay it again as not being in pain on the bike is worth a lot.