Although I suspect many cyclists consider getting a bike fit to be a luxury, I think it’s essential for anyone who cycles regularly. While most bike shops do provide a rudimentary fitting as part of the sales transaction, a proper bike fit can take up to a couple hours and involve changing handlebars, stems, seats, and tweaking cleats and shoes. A return visit might be needed to make final adjustments.
I recently paid a visit to Cycle U as coach Lang Reynolds fitted Pete Schnieider, a 62-year-old member of Cascades‘ High Performance Cycling Team.
Pete rides a 5-year-old Bianchi Vigorelli, and he did get a brief fit at the bike shop when he made the purchase. He is currently logging about 150 miles a week with long rides on the weekends, and lifts weights a couple times a week. His objectives for this season include a one-day Seattle to Portland (aka the “STP”), and improving his group cycling and paceline skills, which in turn he hopes will help him in the STP.
Some of the bike fit issues Pete wanted to address included neck and shoulder pain, pain in the lower back, a general concern about his posture, and difficulty traveling in a straight line when he has only one hand on the handlebars.
Coach Lang Reynolds discusses Pete Schnieder’s bike fit issues.
The Fitting Process
Lang has been coaching and fitting bikes for 3 years. His bike fitting mentors include coach Craig Undem, and he’s gotten formal training through USAC, Paul Swift Bike Fit Systems, and Specialized.
Like most bike fitters, Lang takes a holistic approach and integrates different schools of thought in order to address a rider’s specific needs. A key point Lang made was that bike fitting is as much an art as a science; strictly looking at measurements and power numbers doesn’t necessarily result in the best fit.
Lang starts with the lower body and works from the feet up and evaluates factors including knee extension, knee position over the pedal spindle, saddle position, and handlebar height and reach to optimize the cyclist’s upper body position. During the fitting, the cyclist’s bike is connected to a power meter that enables an analysis of the pedal stroke.
Coach Lang starts the fit process at the cyclist’s feet.
Results
In Pete’s case, the major adjustments were in the handlebars. Lang shortened the stem by 4 cm, which should alleviate the neck and shoulder pain Pete experiences on long rides. Pete immediately felt more comfortable with this change. Whereas Pete’s previous default hand position was back from the hoods, the new position made it comfortable to move them up to the hoods. Lang also rotated the handlebar up slightly, which fits Pete’s hands much better.
Lang made numerous smaller adjustments. He lowered the saddle 1 cm and moved it forward .5 cm. Pete’s knee angles were already within an acceptable range, so these changes were fine-tuning.
Lang also spent time analyzing Pete’s pedal stroke. His horizontal knee tracking was already very good: 9 out of possible 10. The spin scan showed an efficiency of 65 – 68%, which Lang said is better than average. Pete favors the left leg by 6%, and Lang recommended some single-leg pedaling to strengthen the right.
Pete’s only “complaint?” Lang didn’t find any magic fix that would increase his power output by 25%. That would be magic. Now knowing that the bike fit is optimized, Pete feels confident that he doesn’t need to worry about fit issues that could be adversely affecting his cycling, and he can focus on his training and fitness.
Other bike fitting resources:
Herriott Sports Performance
And…who have you worked with?
