Leather saddles – A bike fitter’s perspective
Leather saddles - a bike fitter's perspective Recently, a client asked me "Why don’t bike fitter’s like Brooks saddles?" The question wasn't really specific to Brooks saddles per se, but rather the 'old school' style of leather saddles made by Brooks and others like Selle Anatomica and Berthoud. I was initially surprised by the question as I have nothing against these saddles but, after some thought, I realised that there was a lot of merit to the question. I haven't ever recommended one of these saddles to a client (though I have fitted quite a few [...]
E-bike Comfort
E-bike comfort I don't know what it's like where you live, but here in Canberra E-bikes are really beginning to be a thing. I'm seeing lots of them out in the wild. They are great for the daily commute, keeping up with your faster and fitter mates on a weekend jaunt or pottering around the lake with the kids. As they allow people to spend more time in the saddle, I'm increasingly fielding questions about E-bike comfort. The (E-)bike E-bikes come in all shapes and sizes. From road racing style bikes where you're hard pressed to [...]
Bike fit limitations
Bike fit limitations Much as I wish it were otherwise, a bike fit cannot instantly solve every injury or cause of discomfort that a cyclist might suffer in the course of their cycling journey. Don't get me wrong, there is a huge array of problems that a bike fit can fix. But, in the interest of expectation management, let's explore some bike fit limitations. Stirred up Often the trigger for a cyclist to seek a bike fit is that they already have a problem. Their knee hurts. Or they have saddle sores. Or their hands get [...]
Getting the drop on handlebar shape
Getting the drop on handlebar shape Next up in my series on the properties of drop handlebars is the aspect “drop” (‘C’ in picture below) and the closely related aspect 'shape'. (Other articles in the series include one on finding your optional road handlebars and the skinny on handlebar width.) Drop is a measurement of the bars from the centre of the tops of the bars to the centre of the lowest point of the bars. Typically this distance ranges from 10 to 15cm. Handlebar shape is how the bar bends to form the [...]
The skinny on handlebar width
The skinny on handlebar width In the first article of this series, we discussed some of the issues involved in finding your optimal road handlebar. In the rest of the series, we will have a look at the different dimensions of the drop bar and how they affect fit. This article concentrates on handlebar width. Future articles will explore reach, drop and shape. For the remainder of this article we will be focusing on road handlebars. Some, but not all, of the points I'll make carry across to flat handlebars as well. What is handlebar width? [...]