I have been fitted on different bikes many years ago and was never completely satisfied to the point that I am not moving around in the saddle. I have since gotten a different bike with slightly different geometry and think that has exacerbated my discomfort a bit. When setting up my new bike, I referenced my fitting as a guide to adjust the seat height and fore/aft. The cleats remained the same at that point in time, though I have made adjustments since then.
My observation when biking is:
I always feel like I want to be further forward over the pedals, so I slide up in the saddle, sitting more on the nose which then seems to be a little uncomfortable since I'm sitting on a smaller area.
My right foot is always uncomfortable. My right foot slightly longer than my left ~ 6 mm. I have moved the cleats back to the same position on both shoes, but had them at one point compensating for the difference in length, so the right shoe had the cleat a little further forward. I had them originally positioned to try to be over the pedal spindle. I feel like when I'm pedaling that I must be pointing my right knee outward which then also means instead of me pushing straight down onto the pedal, I'm pushing at an angle. I noticed that today when I focused on keeping my foot flat / straighter that I had much less foot pain. I believe I have a dynamic leg length discrepancy in which my right leg appears to be longer, but once my back is adjusted, my legs are physically the same length.
I have my saddle high enough to where my leg is almost fully extended, but not so high that my hips are rocking.
I feel like the reach is okay when riding on the hoods, but in the drops, I feel like I need a longer stem as otherwise, it feels compressed. I feel like I have a longer torso and shorter legs where I should probably have a longer stem. On my other bikes I was fitted, I had a longer stem than the factory-installed one.
I'm hesitant to get another fitting because I think it is more than a one and done type deal. I'm not racing, so I'm not concerned about losing watts, but I'm hoping I can be comfortable to where I feel dialed in and am not wanting to move forward or backward.
My questions are:
- Should I adjust my cleats so that the ball of my foot is always over the spindle?
- If I feel like I want to be further over the pedals, should I slide my seat forward?
- If I slide my seat forward, then the reach will be further compressed and I will definitely need a longer stem to feel comfortable which is fine. Will that affect the feel of the bike as well?
EDIT: Clarified my foot / leg length.