The science of cycling has pushed forwarded at a rapid rate in the last 15 years. One area that has been the focus of a lot of research is cycling position. This has lead to an explosion of bike fitting studios.
Sports Rehabilitator Ben Hallam, head of Bespoke Cycling’s Fitting Studio, explains why you should be thinking of getting a bike fit as part of your winter training.
Over to you Ben:
Why Get a Bike Fit?
Bike fitting is steadily become recognised as a crucial tool for all cyclist. Professional teams like Team Sky are working with fitting organisations like Retül to get the maximum out of their riders.
People come in all manner of shapes and sizes, and your bike should be set up to support your individual biomechanics. The goal of any bike fit should be to increase comfort, power and efficiency while reducing the load muscles and joints reducing injury susceptibility. Changes to position should be done during the winter so that your body has a chance to adapt its movement patterns to fully utilise the adjustments.
Bike Fit Guide
There are many different types of fits on the market. Some experienced cyclists/coaches offer a “bike fitting” service which is nothing more than observing you riding and making a few adjustments. This is not scientific and can be very hit and miss. Many shops off a measurement fitting service where inseam, arm length and torso length are measured, and then put through a mathematical equation to produce an “ideal” set up. However, these measurements are based are “Mr/Mrs Average” and do not take into account individual flexibly, riding posture and individual rider mechanics. Finally there are active measurement fittings that take body angles with you on the bike. The gold standard is systems that measure your body angles without you stopping pedalling such as video or 3D motion capture systems. This better captures the riders individual riding mechanics while interacting with the set up.
Retül is an established bike fitting system that uses a unique 3D motion capture system to get the best possible bike fit for you as an individual:
At Bespoke Cycling’s Fitting Studio we use the Retül 3D motion tracking system to measure how the rider is sitting on the bike. This is an incredibly powerful tool that allows our fitters to document the mechanics of the whole body in just 15 seconds. But we believe that adjusting the bike is only one part of the equation. Our multidisciplinary team of physiotherapists, sport rehabilitators and trainers work together to optimise how your body utilises the bike. We assess and treat body imbalances, strengthen muscular weakness and teach correct posture control and pedalling mechanics to maximise the changes in set up.
Brevet Special Offer
All Brevet guests are entitled to 10% off bike fits and bike servicing at At Bespoke Cycling’s Fitting Studio so get in touch if you’d like to get some free speed!
Sportive Training Plan
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