Bike Fitting: What is it to you and what it should really be

More and more riders have been added to the population of cyclist in recent years and have you wondered how comfortable and efficient they are or could be on a race or tri bike. Why these two groups of riders? They will ride for long distances, spend many grueling hours under the sun and likely using the same legs in the same range of motion, perhaps 90 to 100 cycles per minute, and multiply that by 60 minutes and another 2 hours. That gives 10,800 to 12,000 leg rotations for an average training ride. Likely chance of an injury? YES!! Only if the rider is not aligned properly on his/her bike.

Riders who have bought bikes would have probably got measured up. Well that's 10% of what a bike fit should do. Furthermore the variables which matter should not be ignored. Online size calculators give u a recommendation and it's probably only a suggestion. There are a lot more variables other than inseam and torso length and arm length that can determine the final setup.

A bicycle is powered by muscles, leveraging on both the femur and tibia about the pelvis. This resultant force is torque generation in the crank arm revolution which in turn rotates the wheels. Many a times we totally ignore this power transfer area and focus on the reach, saddle height and aerodynamics. Remember that without sustainable power output, getting aerodynamic is futile as the rider cannot achieve the speed before aerodynamics becomes increasingly important.

The clipless pedals in more advanced racing/tri bikes are designed to transfer muscular contraction to torque. The feet are crucial to ensuring correct alignment of the vertical knee movement whilst pedaling. By observing/measuring the angular difference in the feet, we can manipulate the cleat interface to ensure that the sole of the feet is contacting the maximum area in the cycle shoe and power gets efficiently transferred to the pedals without lateral movement of the ankles and the knee. As the knee is designed to be a hinge any lateral movement here will result in inflammation to specific parts of the knee. Most riders in the range of 80-90% will require some form of adaptation in the foot to have a perfectly aligned knee, hence maximum power transfer to the pedals. If you're not feeling any pain, it does not mean that the alignment is perfect. The body can tolerate up several degrees of error and once the line is crossed, injury sets in. Its best to see we can prevent it from happening in the first place.

Other important segment in a bike fit is the ability to coordinate the muscles and to use the correct technique in pedaling. It is important to pedal in a technique to allow the large muscles like the quadriceps, hamstrings and gluteus muscles to be the main source of power generation. A correct posture and a good development of the core muscles will serve as a good foundation for harder and longer rides.

In our full bike fit session, we will analyze these areas and more, look into your biomechanics and correct for them and provide corrective measures to set the foundation for a fast and efficient ride.

Please call 96688934 or email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for an appointment.

This article was contributed by SpinAsia magazine, the Sports and Lifestyle Guide for Wheelers.

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