I still remember my 3-day, Level 1 certification course for Body Geometry four (five?) years ago. I had to take a refresher course in human anatomy, I had to forget nearly everything I thought I knew about bike fitting, and then I had do several practice fits with my co-fitters. Practical, applied geometry and all that… and I was never a math whiz to begin with. My first few months after the course flew by quickly. I’ll never forget my embarrassing, 4-hour fit with Jaymie Pizarro because I couldn’t quite figure out some little issue at the time, or every time I have to set the cleats on a pair of shoes that had been soaked in piss. Surgical gloves really come in handy. And alcohol. 

But those are just the outliers. 9 times out of 10 a bike fit is a fulfilling moment for myself and my clients. As a coach who would love nothing more than to see cyclists riding better than they ever have, a bike fit is a privileged moment borne out of trust between two parties. Now it’s 2018, I’ve lost count with how many customers I’ve fitted through the years, and you’re probably looking to get a bike fit to dial in your setup for the race season. 

To be honest, I could have made so much more money fitting customers if my goal was to fleece the person for every last peso. Many customers have this mistaken notion that the bike fitter is some sort of demi-god with the answer to all their nagging issues. They willingly spend thousands on components like a new saddle, a new stem, new shoes, fancy shims or god forbid, a new bike instead of first taking the time to see if their existing setup can be tweaked and save themselves a lot of money and pain. I come from a marketing background, and I know all the tricks of the trade to sucker a buyer if I lacked a conscience. I’ll happily sell you a new bike if that’s what you really want, but I won’t sell you a line of BS that what you currently ride is a POS because my fancy, magical, state-of-the-art 4D system from the Hogwarts wind tunnel says you absolutely need a new rig. And I have the certificates to prove it, too! 

Seriously, a bike fit is NOT rocket science. It’s practical science, sure, but it’s also about communicating what you want to get out of your riding experience. It’s my job to figure out how get you the right balance between Comfort, Aerodynamics, and Power Transfer. There’s a 90% probability we can nail it so long as you got the right-sized bike in the first place, too, but first let’s understand what these three concepts mean. 

Power Transfer : You press down on the pedal, it turns the crank, which pulls the chain, which turns the cog and finally the wheel, and you go Zoom. You want the least amount of power loss during this repetitive motion. Power loss happens when you’re constantly squirming on your saddle, or perhaps the hips are rocking too much, knees are moving laterally instead of just up-and-down, or any of several other reasons. You want to be sitting “squarely” on the saddle, able to repeat the cycling motion of your legs for long periods of time and at varying intensities. A good fitter will have an eye for these subtleties and not totally reliant on his fitting hardware.

Aerodynamics: Wind resistance is a literal drag, and the faster you go, the more the air will try to slow you down. It gets worse with a head- or crosswind. The rider is the single biggest factor for air resistance, so it’s vitally important that you present the smallest possible object to the wind so you waste less energy overcoming it. Picture this: when you’re holding onto the handlebar tops or aerobar pads and sitting up, you’re in a relaxed and comfortable position, but presenting a very big picture to the wind. By getting as “low and narrow” as reasonably possible by going into an aero tuck or holding the drops, you drastically cut down on wind resistance without even having to splurge on aero wheels (but they help, of course).

Comfort: Too much aero can be a bad thing if it compromises your power transfer or comfort. While a race bike will never be as comfortable as a La-Z-Boy, you want to be seated in such a way that your major contact points (saddle, pedals, handlebar) are ideally set up so you can literally sit there for hours, pumping out a high wattage. It does you no good if you are as aerodynamic as a bullet but can barely breathe or compromise your control of the bike. Likewise, if you place too much emphasis on comfort to the point that you might as well be riding a mountain bike, well chances are you won’t be very fast. It’s a balance.

A good bike fit will get you comfortable, and in a reasonably powerful and aerodynamic position. A GREAT bike fit takes a little more time and trial-and-error both indoor and out riding on the road. The fitter needs to be sensitive to the rider’s priorities, while the latter should also have reasonable discernment on what exactly feels right or doesn’t. I advise customers after their initial fit to ride their bikes both HARD and EASY over the next several days to note anything that might feel off so we can tweak it accordingly. Don’t ever let your fitter tell you that your fit is perfect. If it’s true, you yourself should be the one to say so. Because it feels perfect, and you can ride faster, farther, and longer than ever before.

 

Coach Andy is a Level 2 Certified Body Geometry Fitter, VelogicFit Dynamic 3D Fitter, and the Philippine partner  for VelogicFit systems. Certification courses are held every quarter for interested fitters. Email alphatri5411@gmail.com for inquiries.