SIOUX CITYBICYCLE FITTING

Bodies are complicated. So are bicycles.

Bicycle Fitting Service near Sioux City Iowa: Each of us is unique and has different physical constraints. Your body and your bicycle should fit each other perfectly, and it makes a lot more sense to adjust the bicycle to the body than the body to the bicycle.

Mobile Auto Truck Repair Sioux City, professional fitting will align your bicycle to your body, which will help you be comfortable and efficient while riding.

I use a strategy of learning to address your individual needs, which will make you more comfortable on your bike. Mobile Auto Truck Repair Sioux Citywill work with you to understand your goals of riding, physical limitations, injuries, strength, flexibility, and range of motion, to create an ideal position that brings health, not pain, to the body.

Through a process of education about position, form, alignment and balance, I will help you begin a new understanding of your relationship with your bike.

Bicycle fitting

Bicycle fitting is the process of adjusting a bike for a cyclist to optimize their comfort, performance and efficiency. Cyclists often experience overuse injuries such as cyclist’s palsy, cyclist back, and Anterior Knee Pain. and this is often due to an incorrectly set up cycle. Bike fitting aims to prevent injuries, increase efficiency, comfort and improve performance for all cyclists. Bike fitting is for anybody who cycles, particularly if an overuse injury has occurred, to maximize their enjoyment and performance.

Indication

Bike fitting is for anybody who cycles. A good bicycle fit goes a long way to prevent overuse injuries and helps muscles and lungs function at best ability, all improving performance and enjoyment.

• everyday cyclists
• touring cyclists
• tri-athletes

Clinical Presentation

Cyclist’s who complain of: buttock; back; lower limb; upper limb and neck pain associated with cycling.

Often the cyclist may have tried pressure garments to relieve areas of pressure eg gel pads in gloves, gel seat covers, upright handlebars. Often these are a band aid solution to an incorrectly fitted cycle.

4 Pillars of a cycle fit

1. Foot position

When placing your foot on a flat pedal, the ball of your foot should be just in front of the pedal spindle, i.e. the spindle of the pedal should support the back section of the meaty part of the ball of your foot allowing the rider to stay balanced when standing on the pedals. Having your foot further back on the pedal ie more contact near toe, places the achilles at a disadvantage allowing it to fatigue quicker when standing on pedals and can lead to achilles problems.[2]

2. Saddle height

A very important part of bike fit is the saddle height. A simple way to get your basic seat height is by having your heels over the pedal spindles, your heels should stay in contact with the pedals throughout an entire backpedal stroke. If you lose contact with the pedals, or have to rock your hips to maintain contact, your saddle is too high. Then with foot in cycling position your knee should have a slight bend at the bottom of the pedal stroke.[3] This keeps your knee joint stable and protected.

3. Stem

Some people prefer a more upright position eg. those with back issues, or flexibility issues. This can be addressed by adding a spacer to the stem to bring the handlebars up higher.

4. Handlebar position

A bike fit is about fitting to you so the below guidelines are loose to allow for individual anatomical variations. The handlebars should be in a comfortable lean forward position that doesn’t strain your back, neck, shoulders or wrists.

A basic bicycle fit

The video below gives an elementary guide to a bike fit. Specialists exist who exclusively do bike fits ( tri-athletes etc. pay big dollars to have these done) or bike stores may offer bike fits when purchasing a bike.

The Importance of bicycle Fit

Bicycle Fitting Service near Sioux City Iowa: Spring has sprung, and it’s finally time to start adding distance to your training rides. Most people look forward to a season full of long days in the saddle. But nagging aches or pains can suck the enjoyment right out of cycling and turn a long ride into a REALLY long ride. Life’s far too short for that nonsense – particularly since most cycling discomfort is easily eliminated through proper bike fit. For most people, this requires the help of a professional.

What is a bicycle fit?

Bikes come in a limited number of shapes and sizes. Cyclists do not. Bike manufacturers use adjustable components so their bikes can be made to accommodate a larger cross-section of riders. A trained bike fitter knows which adjustments need to be made to each of these components so that human and machine can truly become one.

Who needs a bicycle fit?

Anyone who plans to spend any length of time riding a bicycle will benefit greatly from a professional bike fit. A proper fit can:

• Improve overall rider comfort
• Help prevent cycling-induced repetitive stress injuries
• Reduce or eliminate back, knee, neck and wrist pain
• Reduce or eliminate hot foot
• Reduce or eliminate saddle discomfort and genital numbness
• Reduce or eliminate numbness in the hands and fingers
• Reduce rider fatigue
• A good fit can also improve riding performance, because it allows the rider to use multiple muscle groups in the most effective and efficient manner.

What happens during a bicycle fitting session?

The first step in the process is the rider interview. We take into account your history as a cyclist (and an athlete), your cycling goals and any injuries you’ve had that can affect your comfort on the bicycle. From there we assess your flexibility and measure various parts of your body.

A typical fitting includes:

• Setting clipless pedal cleats in the correct orientation and fore/aft position
• Setting your seat height and fore/aft position
• Evaluating shoes and insoles
• Determining correct stem length, handlebar height and handlebar width

A fitting takes between one and two hours and costs between $100 and $150. Much of the fitting takes place with you and your bike on a stationary indoor trainer. For this reason, you should bring all your riding gear to your fitting and be prepared to spend 10 minutes or more riding on the trainer.

When should you get your bicycle fit?

As soon as possible. Today is the ideal day to make an appointment to have your bike fit. Getting this taken care of early in the season will give you and your body time to adapt to changes made to your position on the bike before the start of Mobile Auto Truck Repair Sioux City. In addition, it will make your training rides more enjoyable.

Most fitters guarantee the fit for a full year, so you can go back later in the season to take care of any adjustments and fine-tuning if the need arises, or to facilitate any changes your body might have undergone through training.

Where can I go for a bicycle fitting?

Bicycle Fitting Service near Sioux City Iowa: Today there are more professional bike fitters than ever before. Most work in full-service bike shops, but some cycling-specific physical therapists and coaches also do fittings. One good place to find a local fitter is to consult the list of dealers of Bike Fit Systems products. Of course, if you’re in Portland, come see us at any of the six Bike Gallery locations in the metro area. The Bike Gallery has been doing bike fittings for more than two decades, and all our fitters are highly trained and experienced professionals.

Our ultimate goal is for the bike to all but disappear underneath you. While we can’t guarantee you won’t be sore after that long ride, we do guarantee you won’t be in any pain.

bicycle fit detail

There are numerous methodologies used in the bike fit process, some more complex and detailed than others, using a variety of different technologies. Some focus on traditional biomechanical fits whilst others look to use physiological data (power, cadence, heart rate) as a benchmark. In fact, these days the choice can be a little overwhelming. The process usually takes around 2-3 hours and normally includes a pre fit interview as well as a flexibility assessment. (Getting an ideal position is one thing, being able to actually reach it is another!) The interview is a critical part of the process as factors like pre and existing injuries/conditions need to be taken into account and considered.

The next key steps are to work out the ideal positions for the five contact points where you meet the bike; hands (stem, handlebar and lever hood positions), feet (pedals and cranks) and pelvis/backside(saddle position). I won’t describe in detail each method as different fitters use a variety of methodologies using differing equipment, some at a more basic level and others using lasers and state of the art 3D motion capture. All will generally use some sort of hydraulic rig that can be manually or automatically adjusted as you ride whilst data is captured.

Another key element to ensure is right is stem stack height; how high your hands are when resting on the tops of the handlebars in comparison to your seated position. This is often called the seat stem drop differential. Professional riders more often than not have the stem ‘slammed’ down low with a considerable difference in height compared to their seat. This is because the pros need to adopt a very aerodynamic position. However this posture is very extreme and can cause back pain or even damage if attempted by a rider new to the sport. It’s a common mistake to make as inexperienced riders look to the positions of pros for guidance.

When you consider that a bike is symmetrical and our bodies are far from it you can see that this process isn’t a simple case of ‘measure and go,’ but a rigorous and detailed assessment involving the fine-tuning of each contact point. And then there’s the biomechanical knock on effect to the other areas if something isn’t quite right to tackle too. Specific areas that can require a fair bit of trial and error are pedal cleat positions for example. Traditionally this could be a rather long-winded and arduous affair to get right, with potentially serious consequences for your knees if you got it wrong. The bike fit process will make this far easier.

When you take all of this into account you can begin to see where the money is spent. You’re paying for expertise, time and some very expensive equipment and technology when looking at the more expensive end of the Fit spectrum.

To fit or not to fit?

There are of course ways to set up your bike position yourself and this is still what most people do. There are plenty of handy online guides out there if you don’t feel you want to splash out on a bike fit. The decision whether to get a fit or not will also depend on how seriously you take your cycling. If you are riding purely for fun and perhaps use your bike infrequently using an online guide will be fine. However, if you are looking to race or ride sports then it’s certainly something to at least consider. One way to look at a bike fit is as an investment. It’ll certainly start you off on the right foot as it were. If you do go for a fit, ensure you do your research first.

Bear in mind that as you develop and change as a rider (weight loss, increased flexibility, core strength) your position may change too. It’s a fluid, dynamic ongoing process. Many top pros regularly tinker with their position as they evolve as riders.

Ultimately it’s up to you. You certainly don’t need a bike fit as most of us (including myself) have got to where we are using trial and error and a basic knowledge of the ideal set up, as well as taking advice from experienced riders. But, if you have the budget, are serious about your cycling and keen to ‘fast forward’ through the trial and error phase and want to fully optimize your cycling efficiency, then go ahead.

Visit your local Mobile Auto Truck Repair Sioux Cityto learn about their bike fit services. Happy riding!