please recommend a fitter in London

[nz6666]

I love cycling but never got it right (comfortable). I am not a beginner and knows all those fitting theories or craps (saddle height, kops, reach etc etc). I have tried many kinds of combinations. Gradually I found the problem is my left leg is longer in particularly left femur is longer by about 1 cm. And my right foot is supination (underpronation) on the pedal, but this could be linked with the left leg longer.

Anyway, I used to use clipless, I always felt left leg easily cramped, it seems I should sit further back for left leg, and right leg was fine but it's in an extremely toe down position.

Then I tried flat pedals, I found if left is ok, then my right foot kept slipping off the pedal towards right (the supination), if right is fine (by using mid foot on the pedal and sitting further forward), then left foot can only feel comfortable by using the heel to strike the pedal!

Then I visited a bike fitter, you know what, he said my legs were of equal length and just slightly adjusted my seat fore aft. The problem remained! Why am I so sure my left leg longer? Because I have done some measurements and my personal experience proves this. Especially my measurement matches this very well

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWjLGKl9NpA


I then decided to DIY since I didn't believe other people fitting me. I tried longer crank arm on the left, thicker insole in the right foot. I put in wedges in the right shoe for the supination. I even got pedal extenders to extend right pedal outward. Although some of these works at some point or to some degree but I still not feeling comfortable. In the end, I suspect there maybe other issues that I can't see.

So, I am looking for a fitter with experience in my case. Not just the ordinary ones who assume I don't know anything about fitting and just adjust seat height, etc.

 

[vickster]

You need a physiotherapist who does fitting ideally

perhaps try cyclefit in the first instance, not cheap though

http://www.cyclefit.co.uk

How is the actual musculature and muscle balance/biomechanics in the two legs. Maybe you also need a physiotherapy programme to get that sorted. Cyclefit have physios

Or try Nicole of Peloton physiotherapy in Putney, she is very good and specialises in sorting cyclists out

 

[nz6666]

Thanks for the info. I do have stronger quad on the left, it's from the cycling in recent one year (I started serious cycling last year), before that I have never noticed the difference.

 

[velovoice]

I second Cyclefit. Their physio is good but the two founders Phil and Julian are very savvy on leg discrepancies, whether anatomical and/or biomechanical. And they don't do The Myth of KOPS.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Corridori Cycle Sport of Epsom (looks like London to me) did a fantastic job of fitting me on my bike.

 

[nz6666]

Thanks all for the inputs. I will probably go to cyclefit as they are close to where I work. It's 250 £, it will be my last fit whether successful or not.

 

[nz6666]

Hi everyone, just want to report back.

I went to cyclefit last week. Initially it's one fitter, he checked my legs and noticed my right foot over supination (only outside edge of the foot touching the ground.) when sitting. He then called in another physio to have a look. The together gave me a thorough examination and I had been on and off the fit machine couple of times. They probably never seen this before, they told me I am basically doing one leg pushing (left) while the other just pulling (right). My right foot supinated badly on the pedal and tended to slip off but was held by the cleat so was forced into a toe down position therefore generated little power in down stroke (they have sensors can show the power generated of the whole peddling cycle). But surprisingly (to them) my right knee tracking is ok. They also said my leg difference was within the normal range so not an issue. Finally they got their founder (Phil) to have a look. He again checked me and saw me pedalling. He suggested the problem might is in the hip. At last the physio gave me another check on the hip and legs but couldn't see anything wrong. It's well past 2 hours booked time and they had no idea so the session had to end. They said a podiatrist might help. They had one coming into the center maybe next week (haven't booked yet, it's another 300 more pounds!). I think I should have gone to a podiatrist at first place.