My Bike Fit experience with Speed Theory; Comfort vs Efficiency

Kia Ora guys,

Well its only three weeks and what better way to get ready for an IRONMAN but purchase a new bike ah-ha, I’m thankful that the geometry is very similar and I have been able to get settled in however, after my coach dropped a hint to my girlfriend Penny who asked him for more info while I was out riding so it didn’t take her long to talk me into getting a bike fit done to ensure I maximise not only my investment in a new bike but also the last 7 months of training for this big day which is now only 22 days away.

So firstly for some of you who are asking the question, what is a bike fit for? Well, everyone’s body is different; some of us have long legs and short torsos. Some people may pedal a little bit differently than others; maybe you have one leg that is slightly longer than the other and you never even knew it! In addition to our bodies being the way they are, injuries or personal goals can affect how your bike should be set up to maximize comfort, efficiency and power. Luckily, bicycles are machines with many adjustable parts with these goals in mind;

• Enhancing overall rider comfort
• Preventing injuries
• Diagnosing saddle discomfort
• Reducing or eliminating pain and numbness
• Reducing or eliminating discomfort associated with riding
• Reducing rider fatigue by enhancing efficiency
• Improving overall performance on the bike

So, when it came to me it didn’t take long for David Bowden to pin point where some of my discomfort could come from in an IRONMAN with my current set up which resulted in trialing different positions, as you can see in my time-lapse I have yellow dots on joints over my body with two cameras facing me backed with David’ software which read what my body is doing and also projected my positions efficiency so not only could he correct my position to make it more comfortable it also can highlight whether it is more efficient or not.

Once we got my position dialed in we were then able to tweak certain areas and test efficiency and measure what difference it would make over an Ironman distance and whither I would be able to hold that position efficiently over 180km (approx. 5 hour ride), this is where comfort vs efficiency comes to play, we opted to stay with what I am used to with a tweak or two that I can easily adjust in the coming weekend if I don’t find it suitable.
What I thought was really neat is within the first 5 minutes David could pick up that my knees went out slightly and said right away that it could be due to a tight lower back, to correct this he put my seat slightly above level and moved it back slightly then over the course of an hour my knee movement was reducing which is a massive positive.

So what do I say…? Get a fit done, no matter what, the small investment will be beneficial not only on a level of comfort but to ensure you are preventing injury.

So with that said, Thanks Simon and Penny for talking me into it and we are now ready to roll!

Roll on IRONMAN :)

Robo