Schwingding
new member
Reged: 06/09/04
Posts: 22
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I've come to thinking about bike fit like trying to draw a perfect circle. There seems to be always room for improvement. Seems like every year I come up with a new tweak that makes me think of all of the wasted time I spent on previously (more) incorrect saddle position. Every year I get to a point where I think I'm really set up well, and then something will suggest or force a change, and I find that position better, sometimes in terms of comfort, sometimes performance.
I spent about 10 years riding various combinations of saddle height/front/back/up/down/stem changes, etc.. for triathlons. At points I was comfy and strong, but the next year something changed. Maybe it was strength, or skeletal changes, or I was heavier or lighter that year.
3 years ago Craig built me a road bike around 650c wheels, 74 degree seat tube, etc... because I'm a short guy and I already had a bunch of 650 wheels. I rode that bike for training and for Ironmans for 2 seasons, and while I was comfortable, and stronger than on my previous bike, I was never as strong as some of my other training partners, and I KNEW I should have been.
So this year I've been riding with roadies, and my oh my is it a whole new world. They do a Wednesday evening 30 mile race/group training ride and I started joining them. I got dropped in 20 minutes the first two times. I am blown away by the fact that I can ride 112 miles, solo, at 20mph, and then run a marathon, but I can't keep up with these guys for 90 minutes at 22mph through hilly countryside. One of the faster guys turns out to be a high school buddy, and has kind of taken me under his wing. I now make it about an hour, and its been through a combination of new training style and bike fit. My goal for the year is to finish with the pack. No longer am I sitting forward, but very far back (compared to the past 10 years) and WAY WAY lower, and I am finding a level of comfort and power I never dreamed possible.
So I'm still tweaking that damned saddle/bike fit. Stem changes, saddle and seat post adjustments, etc....I'll probably take another 10 years to get it right.
Is bike fit always a dynamic thing? Is there a perfect circle?
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Bruce
contributor
Reged: 12/27/03
Posts: 133
Loc: North of NYC
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Schwingding,
Welcome to the world of pack riding. Tri guys are always blown away by a pack ride when they get dropped in the hills. For the past few years, one of my double century training rides went past a bike leg of a tri. Our group loved to tourture the tri guys as we rode past them. Most tri guys are bike challenged.
As to bike fit, your body changes, so the best fit changes as well. I would recommend you get a pro to fit you. I was on a ride a few weeks ago with a guy who was fitted by the same person as I was (the shop owner). We were both saying the same thing. He fit us for power and comfort at the same time. We both felt we had much more power, yet were more comfortable. It was really weird talking to the guy, as he had exactly the same experience as I did. The harder I work the bike, the better it feels, the less fatigued I feel. Strange but true.
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Does one ever really get to "perfect" bike fit?
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