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. [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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, [...]
The drawbacks of bike fitting on a trainer With the number of bike fitting methods around, you may be wondering which is the best one for optimising your position. Will the bike shop sizing serve me well? Should I have an angle based fit? A bike brand specific fit. What about having a biomechanist or sports scientist fit me? Is 3D video capture or saddle pressure mapping important? It can be a bit of minefield to wade [...]
The costs involved in a bike fit You might be wondering what sort of costs you are up for when seeking your Winning Position. My philosophy is to make this process as cost effective as possible. I like to accommodate a cyclist’s existing equipment where possible. That said, it's common that additional equipment is required to achieve a comfortable and efficient position. I'll now outline some of the common expenses that customers encounter in implementing a bike [...]
What your saddle could be saying about your fit When cyclists come for a fit at Winning Position, there are a number of 'tells' that I look for. These tells can provide an insight into what's going on with their fit. One of the things I look at is saddle position. In this article I'm going to share with you some of the saddle presentations that I see and some possible reasons as to why a cyclist [...]
The dynamic fit bike If you have been reading my earlier articles you will have seen references to the dynamic fit bike that I use. So what on earth is a dynamic fit bike? For starters a it rarely looks anything like a real bike. Rather it's a tool built specifically for the purpose of finding a rider’s winning position. What is a dynamic fit bike? The properties that define a dynamic fit bike (at least in [...]
How to find the perfect saddle I am a firm believer that a cyclist shouldn’t have to suffer saddle discomfort. Far too many people accept saddle discomfort as an inevitable part of cycling. They put up with it and hope that they will ‘toughen up’ over time. At best this approach leads to a reduction in the joy of cycling and at worst to permanent damage to bits you really don’t want damaged. I believe it is [...]
Fit first - buy later There is a mantra among most bike fitters that is along the lines of ‘fit first, buy later’. Why do we say that? Is it because we want to delay the gratification that is a new bike? No, the real reason is that it is heart breaking to have to inform a client that the fabulous, efficient, comfortable position that we found together won’t work on their shiny new bike. You know, [...]
