Subtitle: Why your “perfect” bike fit might be causing chronic pain, and how one rider fixed two years of injury with a few millimeters of adjustment.
We often think of bike fit as a set-it-and-forget-it event. You go to a fitter, get your Retul numbers, and lock them in for a decade.
But your body changes. Your flexibility changes. And if you sit at a desk for 8 hours a day, your hips are likely getting tighter by the minute.
A recent Enduroco community discussion highlighted a hard reality: one rider suffered two years of chronic knee pain (PFPS) before realizing his correct fit was fighting his current physiology. His case is a masterclass in troubleshooting mechanical pain drivers.
The office-job effect
The rider, a software engineer, realized that years of sitting had shortened his hamstrings and hip flexors.
- Result: saddle height that was once right became effectively too high. He was toe-dipping at the bottom of the stroke, creating instability and knee shear.
- Fix: he lowered his saddle by 40mm.
- Lesson: as flexibility decreases, effective pedal reach decreases. A changed routine can require a lower setup.
The crank-length revolution
Another game-changer was fixing hip impingement. Standard road setups (172.5mm or 175mm cranks) can force knee-up compression for riders with tighter hips.
- Fix: swap to 160mm cranks.
- Benefit: opened hip angle, reduced knee flare, and decreased patellar strain.
Short cranks are not only for aerodynamics. They are for biomechanical preservation.
Stance width (Q-factor) and shoes
We do not all walk in a straight line, so we should not assume identical pedal stance either.
- Fix: use 16mm pedal spacers (as prescribed by a PT) to widen stance width.
- Fix part 2: move to truly wide shoes, then shift cleats rearward for a more stable power phase.
Many shoes labeled wide only add upper volume. True platform width matters.
Off-bike prehab
Mechanical changes were only half the solution.
- Standing desk: varied posture through the day to reduce hip-flexor shortening.
- Glute activation: pre-ride glute bridges to reduce quad-dominant compensation and improve patellar tracking.
Conclusion
If you have recurring pain, do not assume your fit is still innocent just because it used to work. Your body is dynamic, and your fit should be dynamic too. Even small changes in saddle height or crank length can save a season.