Welcome to the Croston Cycles Bike Fitting Blog. We offer bike fitting in store and Nick Thomas, our expert and qualified fitter, will be using this blog to share his tips and ensure you maximise your cycling comfort and performance. This week we look at the subject of 'handlebar width' and cycling performance.
When buying a road bike the handlebar width will be determined by the frame size: the smaller the bike the narrower the bars, the bigger the bike the wider the bars. For most people this sizing works well but there are exceptions.
For someone tall and slim the bars might be slightly too wide which can cause a number of potential problems:
Discomfort leads to the rider constantly altering position to improve the situation and this consequently leads to loss of sustainable power, not to mention enjoyment of riding the bike.
A short, wide person might find the bars are too narrow due to the smaller frame size. Narrow bars can cause the following problems:
When buying a second hand bike check whether the previous owner changed the bars from the original ones – we’ve seen several bikes where the handlebar width was unusually narrow or wide for the frame size.
So how do you know how wide your handlebars should be? The simplest way is measure the distance between the acromion on each shoulder – if you run your finger from your neck to your shoulder this is the bony bit at the end just before the top of your arm. This distance should be the same as the handlebar width measured between the centre of the handlebars.
Establishing the correct handlebar width is quick and simple and for most people a correctly fitted bike will have suitable bars fitted. If you have especially wide or narrow shoulders, or have bought a second hand bike, measure your shoulder width to ensure you have the appropriate bars.
Nick Thomas is the resident bike fitter at The Endurance Coach, based at Croston Cycles. He is a fully qualified bike fitter and expert in lower limb mechanics, holding a BSc (Hons) in podiatry. A 90 minute bike fitting session costs £75 and you can contact him using the email address: nickthomas@theendurancecoach.com or see more about his fitting services by GOING HERE.
]]>Welcome to the Croston Cycles Bike Fitting Blog. We offer bike fitting in store and Nick Thomas, our expert and qualified fitter, will be using this blog to share his tips and ensure you maximise your cycling comfort and performance. This week we look at the subject of 'holding form' and cycling performance.
Achieving the correct bike fit with the rider adopting the most efficient position during a bike fit is all well and good but this is irrelevant if the person can’t maintain the same position when riding the bike in the real world.
There's been a real spate of this in recent years with the development and progress of aerodynamic positions. They may feel fine during the bike fit and when cycling on the turbo, but holding it for an hour or more on the road and whilst trying to steer, may be a different task entirely!
Let's start with the basics. Often, the cyclists we deal with have no idea how to sit correctly on the bike. An important part of the bike fitting process is therefore correcting posture but the most important thing is explaining how to maintain the correct position when riding. It’s much easier to adjust your position with continual feedback from someone standing next to you but how do you ensure you’re maintaining the same position without any help?
Many road cyclists ride with a slumped position which results in the pelvis being posteriorly rotated and the hands struggling to reach the handlebars. The result is the following:
1. Excessive tension throughout the back
2. Inadequate weight distribution through the upper body
3. Ineffective use of core postural muscles
4. Reduced efficiency and power
Here's 3 basic checks you can make to assess upper body and lower limb posture and efficiency.
Check 1:
When the cyclist achieves the correct position with a more extended posture (and more anteriorly rotated pelvis) the centre of the front wheel is partially or fully obscured by the handlebars.
Check 2:
Your hands should be rested into the hoods, not creeping back towards the bend in the bars
Check 3:
The knee should track directly up and down over the foot when cycling with minimal deviation in (adduction) or out (abduction) from this direct line of travel. Adducted knees are often due to inadequate hip stability (e.g. ineffective glutes) and abducted knees can be a compensation for inadequate hip mobility at the top of the pedal stroke, tight glutes. Often it’s because the person simply doesn’t realise how the knees should track and the once aware the fault is instantly corrected.
Conclusion:
Riding posture affects comfort and efficiency so must be an integral part of any bike fit and a good bike set up is only effective if the cyclist maintains the correct position when riding the bike. By regularly completing the above checks the cyclist can maintain the correct posture and ride with greater comfort and efficiency.
Don't always presume that the 'ideal position' is something you've seen on social media! We get sold an 'optimised position' that we're unable to hold in the real world.
Nick Thomas is the resident bike fitter at The Endurance Coach, based at Croston Cycles. He is a fully qualified bike fitter and expert in lower limb mechanics, holding a BSc (Hons) in podiatry. A 90 minute bike fitting session costs £75 and you can contact him using the email address: nickthomas@theendurancecoach.com or see more about his fitting services by GOING HERE.
]]>Welcome to the Croston Cycles Bike Fitting Blog. We offer bike fitting in store and Nick Thomas, our expert and qualified fitter, will be using this blog to share his tips and ensure you maximise your cycling comfort and performance. This week we look at the subject of saddle angle and cycling performance.
Saddle angle is often overlooked when people set the position on their road bike. This is a mistake as a saddle which tilts posteriorly (backwards / nose up) or forwards (anteriorly / nose down) can potentially affect the rider’s weight distribution and is often a contributing cause of discomfort.
A saddle is most commonly positioned so it’s horizontal (flat). This way the cyclist has optimum weight distribution between the saddle and handlebars. People have their saddle tilted for various reasons. Some people are completely unaware of the saddle angle, whereas others have chosen the position with a specific outcome in mind.
The most common compensation people are trying to achieve is to reduce discomfort under the nose of the saddle by anteriorly tilting the saddle (drop nose to it slopes down). The discomfort is usually attributed to one of two reasons:
When the saddle is too high some people anteriorly tilt the saddle instead of lowering it thereby reducing the pressure from the nose. The problem with this is the rider isn’t balanced properly and the bodyweight is shifted forward towards the handlebars. This then leads to excessive weight bearing through the arms, shoulders and upper back. The same people often report excessive fatigue and/or pain throughout the upper body – this typically gets worse as the ride progresses.
By establishing the correct saddle height and ensuring the saddle is adequately cushioned there shouldn’t be any need to tilt the saddle forwards on a road bike.
Although it’s less common to see a saddle tilted backwards the consequences still need to be considered. A posteriorly tilted saddle tends to be more by chance than choice. The usual reason when deliberately tilted is the person felt it fitted more comfortably. Assessment usually shows that the cyclist is sitting with a poor, slumped posture so they’re adjusting the saddle angle to accommodate a posteriorly rotated pelvis. The result is excessive stress throughout the back as it supports the rider’s posture due to less weight being placed through the arms. The riding position is much less efficient and the accompanying discomfort will lead to loss in power.
There are some instances when an anteriorly rotated saddle (dropped nose) can often be the correct choice is when fitting a time trial bike. Because the rider is in a more aero position, they roll forwards onto the nose of the saddle to create extra pressure. A slightly lower saddle nose can in many cases provide a more efficient riding position.
Saddle angle should range between horizontal and five degrees of tilt. If your saddle is tilted it’s important to determine why and whether it’s a compensation for bad posture and/or an incorrectly fitted bike.
Nick Thomas is the resident bike fitter at The Endurance Coach, based at Croston Cycles. He is a fully qualified bike fitter and expert in lower limb mechanics, holding a BSc (Hons) in podiatry. A 90 minute bike fitting session costs £75 and you can contact him using the email address: nickthomas@theendurancecoach.com or see more about his fitting services by GOING HERE.
]]>Welcome to the Croston Cycles Bike Fitting Blog. We offer bike fitting in store and Nick Thomas, our expert and qualified fitter, will be using this blog to share his tips and ensure you maximise your cycling comfort and performance. This week we look at the subject of cleat position and cycling performance.
One of the most common problems we see when bike fitting is the rider over reaching. In simple terms, this is the rider reaching too far to hold the handlebars. This can be attributable to one or more of the following potential causes:
Over reaching can lead to excessive tension in the lower, mid and upper back musculature with resulting fatigue and discomfort. The discomfort leads to loss of power and the longer an event is the more debilitating this discomfort can become.
Over reaching also closes the 'hip angle' leading to a loss of power, due to an ineffective pedal stroke.
On a road bike we determine the correct reach by achieving a 90 degree angle at the shoulder when the hands are resting on the hoods (Note: this is done as part of the entire fitting process and not an isolated measurement). At 90 degrees shoulder angle the rider can relax and weight bear correctly through the bars – by doing this the unnecessary tension is released throughout the back.
Reach is often reduced once the saddle height and/or handlebar position have been improved. You can slide the saddle forwards and add a shorter stem to reduce the reach, but these are not long term solutions for someone riding a bike which is simply too big for them.
Many people also tend to sit in a slumped position which posteriorly rotates the pelvis, drawing the rider backwards – the result is they then can’t reach the bars properly. This is usually a combination of inadequate postural endurance and/or complete unawareness, both of which can easily be addressed. A bike which initially looks too big can appear dramatically different once the person understands how to sit on the bike correctly.
The top tube on a road bike is longer than that of a time trial bike. If you add triathlon bars to a road bike and try to rest your elbows on the pads, unless you have a very long torso, it's likely you'll be significantly over reaching. Very short triathlon bars tend to work best in this scenario.
As always with bike fitting, the process to work through in order of importance:
1. Comfort come first
2. Power output and efficiency
3. Aerodynamics - without impacting the 2 things above
Nick Thomas is the resident bike fitter at The Endurance Coach, based at Croston Cycles. He is a fully qualified bike fitter and expert in lower limb mechanics, holding a BSc (Hons) in podiatry. A 90 minute bike fitting session costs £75 and you can contact him using the email address: nickthomas@theendurancecoach.com or see more about his fitting services by GOING HERE.
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Welcome to the Croston Cycles Bike Fitting Blog. We offer bike fitting in store and Nick Thomas, our expert and qualified fitter, will be using this blog to share his tips and ensure you maximise your cycling comfort and performance. This week we look at the subject of cleat position and cycling performance.
If there’s only one adjustment everyone will make when establishing their road bike position it’s the saddle height. This is because altering saddle height is instantly noticeable and is very simple to achieve even for the most mechanically challenged person. There are several formulas and guides available based on inside leg measurement but the final position is usually determined by adjusting the height until it feels ‘about right’.
The higher the saddle the greater the amount of knee and hip extension is achieved at the bottom of the stroke: this increases the leverage (and therefore power output) up to a certain height but beyond that height overextension occurs leading to a variety of possible problems and compensations.
Establishing the correct saddle height is very subjective and ultimately dependent on the bike fitter’s opinion. However the process can become more objective if the following principle factors are taken into account:
Excessively High Saddle Position:
Hamstring flexibility:
The higher the saddle the more extension there is in the hamstrings. Saddle height is therefore greatly affected by hamstring flexibility and the tighter the hamstrings the lower the saddle tends to be. To reduce the stretch on the hamstrings the following compensations are often observed:
Plantarflexed feet:
Excessively plantarflexed (pointing down) feet enable the rider to reach the pedals with less knee extension. This leads to unnecessary fatigue in the calf muscles often leading to cramp. This is particularly problematic for triathletes who need the calf muscles for propulsion during the run.
Rocking hips:
Another way to avoid overextension at the knee and reach the pedals is to drop the hip as the leg passes through the bottom of the pedal stroke - this is visible from behind the rider as the hips drop from side to side. Excessive movement in the hips decreases efficiency and can also lead to lower back discomfort.
Posteriorly rotated pelvis:
As overstretched hamstrings fatigue they can gradually shorten throughout the ride. As the top of the hamstrings attach to the pelvis an obvious compensation is to rotate the pelvis back to lessen the tension in the hamstrings. The result is a slumped, hunched body position with the arms overstretched to reach the bars. The position is much less efficient and leads to reduction in sustainable power.
Lower back flexibility:
If the saddle height causes the pelvis to posteriorly rotate there is more tension in the lower back as the amount of lumbar flexion is increased. For someone with limited lower back flexibility this can result in lower, mid or upper back pain which becomes worse as the ride progresses.
Excessively Low Saddle Position:
Hip flexion range of movement (ROM):
If the saddle is too low there is less leverage, reduced power output and insufficient knee extension at the bottom of the stroke. This can lead to knee problems due to increased stress behind the patella, especially if the cyclist is prone to using big gears.
At the top of the stroke the hip flexion angle is consequently reduced which requires a certain amount of mobility in the hips to enable the leg to pass over the top. If hip flexion ROM is limited there is usually a dead spot at the top of the stroke which affects pedalling efficiency and power output. To compensate for this the following compensations are often observed:
Rocking hips:
As the foot passes over the top of the stroke the hip ‘hitches’ up to provide unrestricted movement and maintain continuity in the pedal stroke. The result is rocking hips, inefficient cycling mechanics and an increased likelihood of lower back pain.
Abducted knees:
As insufficient hip flexion ROM prevents the foot passing uninterrupted over the top of the stroke the body can avoid the dead spot and provide the necessary movement by abducting (sticking out) the knees and passing them around the pedal stroke instead. The problem is that the knees are misaligned so the patella doesn’t track properly, a common cause of knee pain, especially if the cyclist uses big gears or does a lot of climbing.
Injury History
Injury history should always be taken into account when the above points are considered. For someone with a history of hamstring or calf injuries it would make sense to limit the amount of knee extension. Conversely if someone complains of knee pain they might benefit from a higher saddle to improve knee biomechanics and reduce the stress in the knees.
Conclusion:
It’s questionable whether a generic chart or formula will provide the most appropriate saddle height. There are numerous factors to consider and the position can change over time as flexibility, strength and riding posture changes. The position is ultimately down to the bike fitter’s judgement but the final height should derived by using as much objective information as possible.
Nick Thomas is the resident bike fitter at The Endurance Coach, based at Croston Cycles. He is a fully qualified bike fitter and expert in lower limb mechanics, holding a BSc (Hons) in podiatry. A 90 minute bike fitting session costs £75 and you can contact him using the email address: nickthomas@theendurancecoach.com or see more about his fitting services by GOING HERE.
]]>Welcome to the Croston Cycles Bike Fitting Blog. We offer bike fitting in store and Nick Thomas, our expert and qualified fitter, will be using this blog to share his tips and ensure you maximise your cycling comfort and performance. This week we look at the subject of cleat position and cycling performance.
Cleat Position
We see a wide variety of cleat positions during bike fits but rarely can the cyclist explain why they chose that position. The cleat position determines where the body connects with the bike so is an important factor in how effective power transfer is to the drive chain.
Cleats are designed to provide a stable connection between the pedal and foot. Designs vary between brands but the basic principles still apply: they should be secure, provide adequate float, maximise physical potential and be as comfortable as possible.
Float
Float is the amount of medial and lateral movement the cleats allow the foot to rotate on the pedal. Different cleats provide varying levels of float (including zero float) and can be further controlled by adjusting the tension in the pedals.
Float should enable you to ride naturally with some degree of float either side of your natural foot position. For most people this tends to be the neutral position for both feet but occasionally one - or both - of the cleats needs to be adjusted to provide a more abducted foot position.
If you feel you’re pulling against the end range of cleat movement you’ll most likely experience an uncomfortable twisting feeling in the knee with eventual soreness and muscle tightness down the outside of the thigh. To resolve this rotate the cleat until enough float is provided and the tension is eliminated.
If you feel the foot sliding around while riding consider using a cleat with less float or adjust the tightness on the pedals until the movement is sufficiently reduced.
Position
Most cyclists we see position their cleats under – or in font of – the metatarsophalangeal joint (ball of the foot). Most people have decided on this position by accident but some have done so to provide more leverage around the ankle joint. There are several problems associated with fitting cleats so far forward on the foot:
There is more evidence to suggest a cleat position set further back is more efficient in terms of increasing power transfer, reducing muscular fatigue and improving biomechanical efficiency. For cyclists we usually set the cleats at least 10mm behind the metatarsophalangeal joint to prevent any of the problems described above.
Triathlon-specific
When bike fitting for a triathlete it’s essential to take the running discipline into account. It’s therefore surprising to see how many triathletes have previously been fitted without consideration being given to how the cleat position impacts on the run. Whereas the lower leg muscles are simply required for ankling during the bike, the same muscles are essential when running for propulsion and to maintain biomechanical efficiency. This is especially relevant for people competing at Ironman where biomechanical efficiency already deteriorates substantially as the marathon progresses. In simple terms, over stressing the lower leg during the cycle section will significantly Impact your ability to run.
For anyone competing at Ironman 70.3 or further it’s often appropriate to position the cleats as far back as possible. This enables the athlete to pedal efficiently, reduces fatigue in the calves and lower limb and allows them to effectively off the bike.
Nick Thomas is the resident bike fitter at The Endurance Coach, based at Croston Cycles. He is a fully qualified bike fitter and expert in lower limb mechanics, holding a BSc (Hons) in podiatry. A 90 minute bike fitting session costs £75 and you can contact him using the email address: nickthomas@theendurancecoach.com or see more about his fitting services by GOING HERE.
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