hello everyone,
I new to riding and just made a custom Lemond bike. My first road bike was a steel European Bertin bike, but the bottom bracket and frame fused together due to lack of attention for at least 15 years. It was a hand me down and I never got into road biking until 3 months ago so it basically sat for a long time.
I work for a outfitter shop that carries trek/lemond/cannondale bikes. There was a used steel Lemond Alpe D' Huez frame in perfect condition so I asked the bike mechanic if this was the right size for me. I beleive it is a 54 and I am 5'11". He said the frame would be great for me so we built the bike. The first rides felt great, nothing more than 3 or 4 miles, but felt a little small. It was a completly different feel from a 1970 Bertin so I thought I will just have to get used to a new position since the mechanic said it was the right size for me. The next day, I commuted to work which was 25 miles. After 15 miles or so, my left knee started to hurt a little and as I rode it progressivly got worse until I had to stop and rest. I thought I would try to ride home but had to stop twice and finally called someone to come and pick me up due to the throbbing pain.
Two weeks ago, I complety my first century ride. The night before the ride, I was riding a metal hand rail down a set of stairs on my butt. I nailed that same knee on a metal post and had to load up on pain releivers that night and the morning of the ride. There was no discoloration or swelling, just throbbing pain, esp walking up and down stairs. That was two weeks ago.
My questions are: does a 54" frame seem right for a 5'11" person, if so, would a wrong riding positon on the bike cause a knee problem like I explained or is the pain still from the night before the ride.
If the bike is to small, we could take it apart and I could order a bike however, the bike is completly custom and came out really great. I would like to keep this only if it is the right size. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Sid Crocker