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Owned by Dan

The Bike Fit Academy

354 members • Free

A FREE space for Bike Fit advice led by Pro Bike Fitters. Post videos of your Bike Fit, join educational webinars, and discuss with other riders 🚴

Memberships

24 contributions to The Bike Fit Academy
🎥 First Bike Fit Academy Webinar ✅ - thank you!
Brilliant to see so many of you join the first Bike Fit Academy webinar 🙌 Really appreciate the engagement, questions, and follow-up conversations. The goal of this session was to zoom out and look at why bike fit problems keep coming back, and why random tweaks rarely fix them, and the discussion afterwards shows just how relevant that is. If you’ve watched it: - What was your biggest takeaway? - Did anything shift how you think about your own fit? - What else would you like us to dive into? The recording will be available from tomorrow morning for a limited time, before moving into the Bike Fit Academy webinar library, so catch it while it’s there. Thanks again for being part of this - this is exactly the energy and thinking we hoped to create here 🚴‍♂️
🎤 Bike Fitter Q&A heads-up
At the end of the free Bike Fit Masterclass on Friday 6th Feb at 4pm, I’ll be opening things up for a live Q&A. If you’ve got questions about bike fit or anything related to the session, stick around at the end and bring them with you. No prep needed - just come along and ask 👍 See you there!
0 likes • 5d
@Jason Hurst the recording will be available 👍
Seat Angle
On a recent ride I was getting some pain in my inner thoigh after about an hour. I noted that my saddle had moved on my wattbike and was titlted back. After doing some searching online for 'what is the correct sadlle angle, I noted lots of people talking about saddles angled forward a little rather than level. I've tried this and set mine at 1.8 degree angle downwards at the front and have to say it does feel much more natural for me. Before i had set it to level. What are peoples thoughts on this and whats your own experience?
3 likes • 6d
Good question, and a really common one. “Level” is often the best starting point for most people, but it doesn’t mean it’s the right answer for everyone. Small changes in saddle angle can have a noticeable effect on how pressure is distributed and how freely the hips and thighs move. If you have to run a saddle very "nose down" for it to be comfortable, then there is likely to be other issues with your fit. As ever, context matters, so it’s good that you're experimenting and paying attention to how it actually feels over time.
Custom insoles
I had a bike fit back in May 25 after some frustrating issues in Mallorca. As soon as I tried to ride up hill at more than a 5% Incline, my left leg just gave up and spat the dummy out of the pram. I was ok on the flat but climbing was impossible. A mate recommended the Bike fit services at The Giant Shop near Lincoln so I gave it a shot. Lots of other stuff going on with my health at the moment but one thing I have been looking into is this left sided issue. A recent MRI scan showed I have medial damage to the left knee , OA, wear and tear, torn meniscus and fluid, I’m opting not to have surgery at the moment as all the damage is on the medial side of my left knee and other issues would prevent an operation taking place for at least 6 months as it’s not essential. The bike fit and some therapy has resolved the dying leg syndrome , but my issue now is back to the knee being the week spot when climbing, Above 220watts I start to feel it, so staying seated, higher cadence , lower gears and not grinding are key precautions I take. After my last visit with the surgeon I started to think more about off the bike and how I could improve things, and I dance down memory lane thinking about any trauma to my left side bought back the painful moment when I got booted in the left ankle playing football for an under 12’s side and having to walk 1 mile home with my Raleigh Chopper. Yes it turns out that my left ankle pronates inwards, with rotates my tibia and is likely to be the root cause of all this. So back to insoles , off the bike I’m looking at better shoes , more support and maybe a heel wedge to support the ankle and prevent over pronation. On the bike is another issue, I was using G8 insoles prior to the bike fit, alarm bells started to ring when the fitter took them out and said I should try some custom moulded insoles( I had new lake shoes with a nice wide toe box which he also didn’t like and tried to seek me more shoes, I get it , sales targets ) These custom insoles are the type where you stand in a gel mat and a vacuum comes on and moulds the gel to your feet, they then use this impression to mould your insoles. Don’t get me wrong they are really comfortable but ! Do they offer correction ? My feeling is they don’t , they just offer natural support , can anyone comment on this ?
0 likes • 6d
Hi @Dean Prior , we use both G8 insoles and solid custom-moulded insoles. In my experience, G8 insoles tend to work particularly well where there’s some knee movement or ankle pronation, as they allow a bit more natural foot motion. Fully moulded insoles can be useful in certain cases, but they’re less forgiving if the foot needs to move or adapt through the pedal stroke
Bike Position
I am 60 plus in lycra and feel uncomfortable on my bike. I have adjusted saddle height and fore and aft etc but my reach feels awkward. Do I get a shorter stem. Please see video attached
Bike Position
0 likes • 10d
Thanks for posting the video, that’s a good starting point. With reach-related questions, a single side-on view usually doesn’t give the full picture. To have a more useful discussion, it would really help to see: - A front view (to look at shoulder and arm position) - A rear view (to see stability and movement) - More context around when the discomforts you're getting. What are they? When do they show up? Etc. That extra information makes it much easier to talk about why things might feel awkward, rather than jumping straight to things like stem length. If you’re able to add a couple more angles and some more information, I’m sure others here will be happy to weigh in.
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Dan Smith
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83points to level up
@dan-smith-1101
Professional Bike Fitter at UK Bike Fit. Founder of The Bike Fit Academy.

Active 11h ago
Joined Nov 22, 2025
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