ED MACINNES 
Sqn Ldr Edward MacInnes ('RAF Cycling Club) How many times have you ridden in races or for pleasure and that pleasure is diminished by the pain you experience in either your back or knees or some other part of your body? I would suggest that this has happened more often than some of us would care to admit racing is painful, but it should only be as a result of the effort expended and not because of poorly fitting equipment. Too many people ride bikes that are the wrong size for them, but unlike other bits of cycling equipment we seldom seek an opportunity to be correctly fitted to our bike.
In Apr 04, I took the plunge and decided to go for a bike fitting session with Cyclefit (www.cyclefit.co.uk) who reside in Covent Garden in London. This is my experience of being correctly fitted for a bike I didn’t buy a bike from Cyclefit, but they enabled me to adjust my current bicycle to better suit my size and the improvements in comfort and power have been exceptional a good season’s racing has been enjoyed with the only discomfort coming from the speed of the races rather than as a result of an incorrect position on the bike. (Ed eventually bought a Serotta OttrotST)
Cyclefit is not a standard bike shop. Yes, they do have bikes for sale and they will build you a bike to the spec that comes out of the fitting, but their main aim is to help riders get fitted to a bike correctly. The process takes in excess of 2 hours and you will have to ride for nearly half that time on a turbo-like contraption. Having booked my session I turned up to the shop at 0930hrs to be met by Phil Cavell who was going to do the sizing. The first part doesn’t involve a bike at all, so over a coffee, we had an in depth interview which looks at athletic history, past and present injuries, which includes any discomfort when riding, weekly mileage, future aspirations and specific goals.
After the comprehensive interview it is time to change into your cycling kit for the physical assessment. Don’t worry this is not going to end up as a maximal endurance test, but it will end with you feeling as if you have worked abit. The first element of the physical assessment involves the taking of some baseline measurements, which include inside-leg, shoulder-width, shoe size. Then there comes the assessment of your posture and flexibility. There are some people who are quite flexible, but when the body is placed in a neutral plain you can find out that you really do have tight hamstrings and you slouch. During this period the fitter looks at your neutral back shape, general flexibility, hip-flexor range, hamstring range, pelvic alignment, leg-symmetry, forefoot tilt. Finally your general posture as well as the posture on the bike. An arched back on the bike creates an inefficient cycling action.
There then follows a period where the shoe/cleat/ pedal set-up is investigated in considerable depth. It is at this point that the foot shape, arch-length and neutral stance is measured, which will determine the amount of pronation (feet rolling in) or supination (feet rolling out) that is experienced. The cleats will then be placed in a position so that they sit over the 2nd metatarsal head for maximum leverage and power transference. Stance-width and neutral-foot will be further checked by laser-line when pedalling. Once the shoes and cleats are fitted the main element of the test will commence the position on the bike.
You will then be asked to ride in your existing position for this I took the measurements of my current bike and the fitter set-up the turbo jig to these figures; however, you can take your own bike and it will be set-up on the turbo. It is during the warm-up and whilst riding your own position that notes will be made about posture, muscle recruitment and pedalling style (cadence, ankling etc). Once observations have been made adjustments to your position will be made from the feet upwards until the fitter and you find the “sweet-spot”. This “sweet-spot” is the position where you are working efficiently, but also as comfortably as possible; this is the position that you manage to generate the most power in watts. Most of the time the position that is recommended will feel somewhat different from that of your current bike. The thing I found was that although the new position felt slightly awkward at first it only took a couple of races before I felt comfortable and certainly more stable.
The fitting cost £150 for the 2 hrs of fitting. Whilst this may seem expensive I would recommend the outlay in order to enable efficient pedalling and to maintain the comfort throughout the racing season. I found that I was more efficient and, probably more importantly, comfortable. If you want to have a Cyclefit then contact 020 7430 0083 or email info@cyclefit.co.uk; say that I recommended you and you will receive an excellent service from people who know a thing or 2 about cycling. Following my Cyclefit I have managed to gain a 2nd Cat Road licence and do a 21:52 10 mile TT and a 57:51 25 mile TT; which I certainly didn’t expect to do..
Sqn Ldr Edward MacInnes ('RAF Cycling Club) How many times have you ridden in races or for pleasure and that pleasure is diminished by the pain you experience in either your back or knees or some other part of your body? I would suggest that this has happened more often than some of us would care to admit racing is painful, but it should only be as a result of the effort expended and not because of poorly fitting equipment. Too many people ride bikes that are the wrong size for them, but unlike other bits of cycling equipment we seldom seek an opportunity to be correctly fitted to our bike.
In Apr 04, I took the plunge and decided to go for a bike fitting session with Cyclefit (www.cyclefit.co.uk) who reside in Covent Garden in London. This is my experience of being correctly fitted for a bike I didn’t buy a bike from Cyclefit, but they enabled me to adjust my current bicycle to better suit my size and the improvements in comfort and power have been exceptional a good season’s racing has been enjoyed with the only discomfort coming from the speed of the races rather than as a result of an incorrect position on the bike. (Ed eventually bought a Serotta OttrotST)
Cyclefit is not a standard bike shop. Yes, they do have bikes for sale and they will build you a bike to the spec that comes out of the fitting, but their main aim is to help riders get fitted to a bike correctly. The process takes in excess of 2 hours and you will have to ride for nearly half that time on a turbo-like contraption. Having booked my session I turned up to the shop at 0930hrs to be met by Phil Cavell who was going to do the sizing. The first part doesn’t involve a bike at all, so over a coffee, we had an in depth interview which looks at athletic history, past and present injuries, which includes any discomfort when riding, weekly mileage, future aspirations and specific goals.
After the comprehensive interview it is time to change into your cycling kit for the physical assessment. Don’t worry this is not going to end up as a maximal endurance test, but it will end with you feeling as if you have worked abit. The first element of the physical assessment involves the taking of some baseline measurements, which include inside-leg, shoulder-width, shoe size. Then there comes the assessment of your posture and flexibility. There are some people who are quite flexible, but when the body is placed in a neutral plain you can find out that you really do have tight hamstrings and you slouch. During this period the fitter looks at your neutral back shape, general flexibility, hip-flexor range, hamstring range, pelvic alignment, leg-symmetry, forefoot tilt. Finally your general posture as well as the posture on the bike. An arched back on the bike creates an inefficient cycling action.
There then follows a period where the shoe/cleat/ pedal set-up is investigated in considerable depth. It is at this point that the foot shape, arch-length and neutral stance is measured, which will determine the amount of pronation (feet rolling in) or supination (feet rolling out) that is experienced. The cleats will then be placed in a position so that they sit over the 2nd metatarsal head for maximum leverage and power transference. Stance-width and neutral-foot will be further checked by laser-line when pedalling. Once the shoes and cleats are fitted the main element of the test will commence the position on the bike.
You will then be asked to ride in your existing position for this I took the measurements of my current bike and the fitter set-up the turbo jig to these figures; however, you can take your own bike and it will be set-up on the turbo. It is during the warm-up and whilst riding your own position that notes will be made about posture, muscle recruitment and pedalling style (cadence, ankling etc). Once observations have been made adjustments to your position will be made from the feet upwards until the fitter and you find the “sweet-spot”. This “sweet-spot” is the position where you are working efficiently, but also as comfortably as possible; this is the position that you manage to generate the most power in watts. Most of the time the position that is recommended will feel somewhat different from that of your current bike. The thing I found was that although the new position felt slightly awkward at first it only took a couple of races before I felt comfortable and certainly more stable.
The fitting cost £150 for the 2 hrs of fitting. Whilst this may seem expensive I would recommend the outlay in order to enable efficient pedalling and to maintain the comfort throughout the racing season. I found that I was more efficient and, probably more importantly, comfortable. If you want to have a Cyclefit then contact 020 7430 0083 or email info@cyclefit.co.uk; say that I recommended you and you will receive an excellent service from people who know a thing or 2 about cycling. Following my Cyclefit I have managed to gain a 2nd Cat Road licence and do a 21:52 10 mile TT and a 57:51 25 mile TT; which I certainly didn’t expect to do..
