Re: Calfee Tetra vs. Santana Team Nobium: Bikefanclub.com

Intangibles are things you can't touch. The feeling you get when you look at the workmanship of anything, for example.

As far as ride quality, there are many variables, and one technically inclined can talk about those things and understand the ramifications of a millimeter here and there on whatever measurement they are talking about.

Fit issues are specific. Sounds to me that you lean more on your right hand than the left. It is adviseable to see an a fitter that knows about excercise physiology. There are too many things about human differences, and not being a doctor, I couldn't hazard a guess as to what will help you. I can, however, give you an idea of an approach you might take:

As I like to ride long distances bike fit is very important to me. What is a minor issue on a short ride becomes major on a long ride. I have a knee problem, right knee, where occasionally it swells up on me when doing physical activity. I have pain in that knee frequently. Starting to ride I had to favor that knee and developed pain in my left knee as a result. I had to learn to balance my effort, using both legs equally. Currently I don't have a problem with my right knee. I attribute that to devloping my muscles well enough to hold my joint in place as it needs to be.

On my back issue, I have a compressed disc in my spine. I cannot sit too far upright on a bike. I also have limited flexibility, so I can't get into a deep crouch. Having a bit of a protuding belly doesn't help me either. I have the correct reach and bar height on my bike. If my legs are weak, however, my upper body suffers on a long ride as I put more weight on my arms.

For me, taking into account the issues I have, when I ride I am aware of my balance and make a conscious effort to use all of my muscles equally. Part of the knowledge I've gained is from a fitter who knows excercize physiology that observed my riding, interviewed me well, and recommended a custom geometry as being proper for me. His help set me on a path of self-healing excercise. This approach may not work well for anyone else.

Being that it is one side of your body that takes most of your weight, it is possible that you might learn to balance your weight using the left side of your body better. I don't know, but let us know if that is helpful for you.

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