Last week I went to specialized to pick up my new Era, I met Olivia from specialized who took me to meet the guys doing my bike fit Murph and DA.
I had a body geometry bike fit which started with talking about my background and any injuries I had sustained. This was a relatively short list, however I find it interesting the few injures I have had seem to all be related back to my back injury from years ago kitesurfing. My top tip, when you have a physio and exercises keep doing them and then go to Pilates to keep your core strong, it’s like any muscle if you don’t use it, you lose it and it impacts on other muscles.
I then had a physical assessment to check my alignment, leg length and flexibility. During this we also looked at the contact points on the bike so shoes, gloves and saddle. To find out what size saddle I needed I had to sit on a piece of memory foam which recorded where my sit bones were, from this Murph (one of the fitters) could work out the best width saddle for me.
One of the parts I found really interesting was this heat mat that I put my feet on and it showed where the parts of my feet where connected to the ground. Doing this test was really interesting because I learnt that I have very high arches in both my feet, which don’t collapse when I am standing, which is good. This was interesting to find out as I have always struggled with finding supportive footwear and now know why!
Because of my high arches I had special green insoles designed for people with high arches out in my new s-works shoes I immediately felt more supported on the inside of my foot.
After a few more tests it was time to get on the bike, the information Murph and DA had collected from the tests helped them to pin point changes that needed to be made straight away.
Once I was on the bike they wired up the joints of my body so that they could see my movement patterns on the computer screen.
Using side analysis they looked at my full leg extension which determined whether my saddle needed to be higher, which it did. This also helped judge how far forward to push my saddle to create more of a bend in my elbows.
The front camera showed my hip, knee and foot alignment, as I was already aware that I have one knee that moves towards my frame more than it should DA looked at my cleat position and step up and we moved my cleats to help correct my knee alignment. This was also helped by the new supportive insoles.
I get a funky bend in my wrist which seemed to happen whether my hands were wide on the bar or not, Murph cut 35mm off each end of the bar which seemed to suit my riding position.
They also looked at my riding position from behind which highlighted an issue I was having with my saddle, my left hip would drop and I had to keep moving myself backwards to get comfortable. We tried a variety of different saddles. The last one was, called power, it seemed to lock me into a stable position and also felt like my weight was distributed more evenly between my sit bones.
A little video of the bike fit:
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This process was really thorough and we spent a long time making little tweaks until I was in my optimal riding position.
I am now going to ride the bike for a couple of weeks and see if there are any little niggles that need ironing out.
I was really impressed with the whole fit and how such small tweaks can make such a difference. From having such an in-depth fit I have realised how important it is for your bike to fit you properly to be comfortable and also to make the most of the power you create! This is going to be especially important during the Trans Alp as I will be riding my bike for around 5/6 hours a day for 7 days.
Thank you Murph and DA for a brilliant fit and cuppa T! A massive thanks to Specialized for supporting my 2016 race season, I can’t wait to race my new Era.
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Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
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