Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Keep the count coming
Rider #1.
2 wedges left foot, 3 wedges right foot - measured everything with the Look Keo Fit System and after the wedges had been placed the rider can now use a gray cleat while before due to "excessive rotation" could only ride with a red cleat. Right cleat was moved in about 1mm to get better tracking. Other changes were raise and moved forward seat (original leg extension just about 30 degrees) and flip stem. For the first time he felt that his big toes were making contact with the soles of the shoes.
Rider #2
1 wedge left and 2 wedges right foot. Did not measure anything with the Keo Fit System. Seat was raised and moved forward (original extension a little shy of 30 degrees). During his 45 minute ride during lunch hour he noticed a much improved pedal stroke and improved comfort in his shoes.
Rider #3
With the FFMD I recorded 15 degree varus left and 20 degree of varus on the right food. Started out with 2 wedges left and 3 right and the knee tracking was much improved. Other changes were also were to raise the seat and move forward. Double checked for cleat rotation with the Look Keo Fit System and his number showed much less rotation after the fact which was very visible by looking at the rider from the front.
Rider #4
The recommendation is to start with 1 wedge left and 2 wedges right and then build up if needed after that. This rider uses Keo Quarz pedals on his road bike which is his training bike as he races MTB on week-end and wants to have the same set-up for his shoes.
In this picture we can really see why his right knee does not track correctly. He also complains that after 2 hours he starts getting pain on the outside of his knee/leg.
This frontal view depicts very well what 10 degrees of Varus do to the pedaling mechanics.
Summary:
Fits: 3 +1
Wedges Used: 13 +3
Average Wedges per rider: 4
Average Wedges/rider on Left: 1.25
Average Wedges/rider on Right: 2.5
Monday, December 14, 2009
new on VeloNews - The coaches panel
Here are a couple links for you
- Bow legged rider
- Fixing a 'dropped hip'
- Leg length discrepancy
and more
Hope you enjoy
Friday, December 11, 2009
Cory the 2009 Cross King at the office
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Elite
One of our best customers is writing about bike fit. You might find it interesting.
David, the owner/founder of Elite Bicycles is often brash and very confident with himself but I like him and he goes the extra mile to serve his customers.
Shalom
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
2 bike fits today - what are you averaging
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
A new world champion at the horizon?
This is the lovely Noemi Cantele, recently fitted by Candian super fitter out of Germany www.cyclefit.de Mr Lloyd Thomas! She is sporting a smile for one simple reason: Noemi wants to win Gold at the 2010 Cycling World Championships in both the TT and Road race. This is what she recently told me after having been fitted with the wedges: "The feeling I have since the first time I used the wedges is to pedal more compact and in a better symmetric way. I feel I have better use of all the the muscles, especially the back muscles of the leg. I have a better power transmission onto the pedals and the feet are more stable."
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Product recognition
Monday, November 9, 2009
Wall Street Journal tomorrow
Sunday, November 1, 2009
5 Bike Fits
CW = Cleat Wedge | ||||
ITS - In The Shoe | ||||
degrees | ||||
Nate | right | 9 varus | 2 varus CW | 20mm pedal spacer |
left | 1 valgus | 2 varus CW | 20mm pedal spacer | |
Jamie | right | 20 + varus | 2 varus CW/2 ITS | |
left | 20 + varus | 1 varus CW/2 ITS | ||
Chris | right | 11 varus | 2 varus CW/1 ITS | |
left | 11 varus | 2 varus CW/1 ITS | 20mm pedal spacer | |
Dave | right | 10 varus | 3 varus CW | shorter spindle |
right | 2mm LL shim | |||
left | 10 varus | 2 varus CW | ||
Ken | right | 11 varus | 1 valgus cw | |
left | 11 varus | 1 valgus cw | ||
5 fits | 4.8 | wedges | per cyclist | |
2.6 | wedges | per right foot | ||
2.2 | wedgs | per left foot |
As far as wedges go, how do you know the rider's body is aligned correctly?
I could write a book about this question. For the sake of trying to keep this interesting (stick with a short reply) I will offer a link and give a short answer.
http://bikefit.com/whywedge.php
Here are two basic things to consider. How does it look and how does it feel.
Looks – generally you will pedal with your knee tracking closer to a straight line. Whatever movement (knee pattern) or deviation you had before wedging, the goal is to reduce the knee movement that may go from side to side or some other pattern besides straight.
There is one illustration of this in the link above.
Feel – This is generally felt with a more even or balanced feeling near the ball of the foot when clipped into the pedal. Please see the bottom illustration of the diagram in the link.
Hope this helps.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
We're a fan of Cyclo-Core.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
It is also in this photo - what is it?
http://www.lookcycle.com/docs/techsupport-fr/keofit/?lang=en
Hint - it is not the Keo Max pedals
Friday, October 23, 2009
Specialized gets a Connection of Excellence Award
Thursday, October 22, 2009
from one of the 7 fits
stem
bars
pedal spacers (20mm)
cleat wedges
..... the bike fit... AMAZING!!! The bike feels great and I'm excited for my long ride this weekend. That was the most thorough, complete, and best bike fit experience I have ever had (was my 4th). A huge sigh of relief came when the spacers got put in and I stopped feeling the pedal stroke in my lower back. Seriously, I'm a little giddy for Saturday's long ride :) Jacob
7 Bike Fits – seat posts
Seat posts – why would we suggest a new/different seat post.
In one case we needed to get the saddle back further then the post allowed - we needed the offset to be further back. There was a history of a recent knee surgery so getting the seat height up was one goal but also moving it back (aft) was another to protect the knee as much as possible. As you know the more forward you position a saddle the more accute the angle at the knee and the more stress on the joint.
The other seat post was recommended simply because we could not get the tilt in a comfortable setting. This seat post was “notched” and one position the nose was pointed up and the other it was pointed down. We ended up recommending a more of a micro adjust seat post.
We are just reporting what we found in these 7 bike fits. Your experience may very quite a bit. We hope to do this more in the future so and hopefully we can all learn from thisWednesday, October 21, 2009
He's back online - easy to find....
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
7 bike fits
Bike Fit information from this past weekend - total 7 bike fits
7 stems needed to be shorter
5 needed the stem to be higher
7 (3.5 pairs)- 20 mm pedal spacers were added
2 required Leg Length shims of 3mm or more
4 pedals needed shorted spindles
3 one or two mm washers were required
4 needed new handle bars
2 needed a new seat post
Average number of wedges was just over 2.7 per foot – all varus (none valgus)
3 cyclists needed new saddles
None liked the Trek saddles samples – all liked at least one of the Specialized sample
7 stems, 3 saddles, 4 handle bars (and bar tape I am sure), 2 seat posts, 7- 20mm pedals spacers, 3 spacers washers, 2 LL shims, 30 plus wedges, several cleats screws
So if you were a bike shop how much would you have made on top of what you charged for bike fits?Friday, October 16, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Kona count is in....
Saturday, October 10, 2009
For leg length differences in the femur do you prefer to shim the cleat or offset the cleat positions?
Thanks for your question. In general I would shim the cleat first.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
More Interbike
Hogg Hogg Hogg…I mean Wedges, Wedges, Wedges
For a select few (actually I am sure everyone felt privileged) Steve Hogg showed just one of his techniques for determining the correct numbers of wedges to start with for a cyclist. On one hand I wish I could say more but I will say he clearly showed that most of us do not use wedges as often as we should and when we do use the wedges we often fall short. We will post a copy of his average wedge use again later.
When I first started with the wedges I will admit I allowed some (actually a lot of) criticism to reduce the number of wedges I wanted to use even though my customers were happy with the wedges. I am so glad Steve is helping reinforcing what I believed in the beginning and I will work hard to no longer let the misinformed and the ignorant hold me back anymore. I also hope the same for you.
And remember just because there is no apparent pain or discomfort does not mean a person does not need wedges. Over 95 percent of the population (Hogg says about 99 percent of the population) not only could use wedges but NEED wedges. Waiting for the pain to occur is a shameful disservice to our fellow being.
Wedge on!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Interbike day 2
Interbike 2009 - The Bike Fit Systems booth was packed!
Steve Hogg from Australia was in our booth most of the day.
Here he talking to Paraic McGlynn the head bike fitter for Serotta.
The legendary John Howard spent over an hour visiting and talking with customers.
Ed Palvelka from Road Bike Rider going over the Bike Fit Awards
Funniest thing I have seen so far at the show - Kathleen Krumme from Serotta meeting Steve Hogg and trying to sell him a Serotta fit class.....having no clue who she was talking to :-)
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
What do you think?
Neutral Forefoot - so they are now actually letting us know what we all knew about most shoes all along.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
shoes that help
Not the first time we have seen this but worth a look. Check out this link.
Nice to also have a little help from the cycling shoes. These shoes allow for more side to side cleat adjustment.
If anyone gets to see and work with these shoes we would love to hear from you.
Cheers
Monday, September 14, 2009
Russ gets some accolades after teaching recent class
Thanks for the class. Of all the fitting classes I have taken, yours offered the most practical information and by far the most hands on practice of the principals taught. The small class size makes a huge difference with these types of programs.
CycleMetrix
Russ also just won the Mt Baker Hill Climb this weekend. Way to go Russ!
http://www.norkarecreation.com/hcindex.html
results still not posted at the time of this post
Friday, September 11, 2009
Notice the Cleat Wedges - Cycling News
New Keo Pedals - this writer must be a Cleat Wedge fan.
Please folks - when you install the cleat wedges make sure the front edge is not sticking out front like you see in the photo in the link above. Wedges that stick out the front can bunch up and make it difficult to clip in. Wedges are not meant to be cut or trimmed just installed correctly.
Notice the new Keo pedal is wider. ummmmmmmmmm just like Shimano SL went wider a year or two ago.
So what does WIDER mean? Instead of the pedal wearing crooked or at an angle because most feet tilt (the older pedals were a little softer material), your tilted foot now will be even more misaligned because this will force the foot to be MORE FLAT and stay misaligned flat.
Bravo!!!!!!!!! Another pedal company not only ignoring the problem but making it worse. I gotta take my hat off to the lack of thought by both Shimano and Look for going with wider and stronger platform because the pedals wore from tilted feet but missing the actual problem.
Ignorance is truly bliss.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Welcome our new Aussie friend
David Heatley of Cycling-Inform Pty Ltd recently came on board and has been kind enough to add our tips to his site.
Happy Pedals
Monday, September 7, 2009
Big and Tall
Leonard Zinn writes some interesting and sometimes quirky stuff but he may be a good reference/lead if you are working with a very tall cyclists.
Thought you might want to keep his information in the back of your mind.
Happy Pedals
Saturday, September 5, 2009
EverydayCyclistPodcast.com mention
Friday, September 4, 2009
The new guy
Not much on the web site yet but this is one company I think you will all see more of in the future.
Swifty
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Leg length and a shorter crank..........would you?
Yes,I have heard of this. In fact, I tried it for a short period of time to address my own LLD. Personally, it is not for me. I am not saying the idea is bad but it is not a first choice or even a second or third choice of options to consider. However, how much leg length difference is there and where is the difference? What other issues are going on that you might want to consider for going this route? There may be some reasons this is an option to consider. Difficultly with flexion at the hip on the shorter leg could be one.
First Choice (NOTE: This is all sight unseen suggestions/ideas.)
alternate stacking of wedges - create a platform
and/or
A leg length shim(s)
Of course, what pedal system is being used? You can build up a 3 hole and 4 holes cleat more easily than a two hole cleat.
A second Option:Different pedals (one taller than the other) For example - Shimano SL Durace = lower platform vs Shimano Ultegra = taller platform. Note the difference is not a lot but it is something and depending on the situation you may be looking just about anywhere to get some help.
There are a few others as well.
Think about it and lets us know what you all think about this
-Swifty
PS – See Steve Hogg’s recent interview on www.BikeFit.com
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Steve Hogg
This is his first trip to America.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Look CX7 pedals - a rare sight these days
Howie
Thanks for your question. The Look pedals that did offer tilt had options of
Zero or flat
1.5 degrees either varus or valgus
And
3 degrees of varus or valgus
Our Cleat Wedges are one degree each. Two cleat wedges equals 2 degrees and so on.
Our In The Shoe (ITS) wedges are 1.5 degrees. In essence they have a similar affect in spite of the difference.
Paul Swift
Sunday, August 30, 2009
What should a bike fit feel like?
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Ever have something happen Just Riding Along?
Friday, August 28, 2009
We have a new "BUZZ" word -
I wanted to put in a follow up email with regards to my time down south. The two day course was Nirvana, I feel more comfortable with the bike fit process. Paul, I think your advice was spot on with regards to getting my feet wet and doing some fits prior to coming down. This allowed me to align myself with the information which has contributed to building a solid platform as a bike fitter. Wow, check out those buzz words!
Dave BC Bike Fit
In case you are not familiar with our BUZZ words. We try not using them during the fit but look for the cyclist to use them. We know we are on track when we hear BUZZ words.
If you have some you would like to share let us know.
Cheers
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Bicycling Medicine
"Bicycling Medicine" is a must read for all bike fitters. It is also a great book to keep in your bike fit area as a reference.
If you ever get a chance to meet Arnie he is very interesting. I also suggest you take one of his trainer classes. About 50 plus cyclists on trainers in his front yard. A lecture follows.
Swifty
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
new kid on the block
This kid has a very cool video on bike fit somewhere on the web....can anyone find it? We would like to share it with all of you.
Swifty
Sunday, August 23, 2009
bars and saddles
We are having a lot of luck with this bar and helping people (men and women) get comfortable.
By the way this person (man) also purchased a saddle - after trying SEVERAL they chose a Women's version of the toupe. Do not get caught into thinking saddles are always gender specific. Try a men's and women's model and see what you find.
Cheers
Saturday, August 22, 2009
OK - by now you know we like Speedplay
But just another bonus is - they are FAST
check out the link
Friday, August 21, 2009
BikeFit Pros in the news
Can you name the BikeFit Pros on the podium. Two of them are in this photo. They are both West coast cyclists.
Be the first to send us an e-mail with thier names and you get half off your next order.
Dead line - August 31 2009
Reminder - know someone looking for Education - we have one spot available September 9/10 in Woodinville.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
another reason to give in?
If you are doing a fit and the cyclist's feet point out (toes rotate outward) would you keep them straight if they had the shoe in the link above?
Often we hear aero dynamics taking precedence in a fit. Mostly out of ignorance but it happens.
We have nothing against this shoe. I think the shoe is cool...well probably hotter than hell but a very cool shoe.
If anyone gets to fit someone with these we would love to hear about it.
Cheers
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Health Care professionals – Clinicians – BikeFit Education
1) Oct 17-18
2) Nov 14-15
3) Dec 5-6 .
Oct and Nov are dedicated to Level 1 (Green Level) and the Dec class is dedicated to Level 2 (Red Level). Each class is ~17 CEU’s.
More information should be posted on our web site soon.
Yes you may sit in on any class a second time for a reduced fee.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Additional thought on the "Should We" Question
I guess I would call this a continuation of Paul's previous post "Should We." I find this question interesting because I am a board certified and licensed Occupational Therapy Assistant and work with Physical Therapists and other Rehabilitation professionals all the time. I of course do not know the exact context that the debate took place in but I find it interesting that the argument came about. I have also thought about the Prescriptive -vs- Preventative idea although from a little different perspective than the one Paul presents but my overall conclusions seem to be in line with what Paul discussed in his Should we post.
The fact that putting a wedge in someone's shoe is prescriptive medicine is a little far reaching, if indeed that is the exact verbiage which was used. Really to be prescriptive, at least the way I understand it, one of two things have to be true. Either the thing being "prescribed" has to have some kind of control which is placed on it, usually by the government, which makes it illegal to have without a prescription from a licensed professional. The other way is a baby aspirin or a cane can be prescribed by a medical professional and then insurance will many times cover it, which would be prescriptive medicine. The fact that a medical professional told you to use this for a medical need makes it prescriptive. Since wedges are not regulated and presumablely a bike shop employee is not a medical professional you do not have any prescribing of anything going on. Now I would believe that if this Physical Therapist is doing a fitting as a Physical Therapist and tells a client they need a wedge for a specific issue the client is having, such as pain, then it probably just became prescriptive. I won't even guess if it would be prescriptive if the same Physical Therapist did a fit outside of the therapy setting and said they need a wedge. Would that or would that not be prescriptive? I really don't know but I personally error on the side of it would be.
I have to keep all kinds of insurance for myself and my fitting business because I have more knowledge of the human body and medicine which makes me more liable if something I would do as a fitter, weather or not I am in a therapy setting, has a negative impact on the client. I would also suggest that each fitter even without a similar background as mine look into some insurance coverages as nothing can stop someone from at least saying that what you did made something worse. However, that does not make anything a fitter does prescriptive. It is also why fitters without a high degree of knowledge and confidence should be at least aware of this fact. And have some contact with medical professionals so if they see something that makes them uneasy or that they are not completely competent in they can direct their client on for a "second opinion" so to speak. This is also why during training Paul tells student to be careful when people are coming to you with pain and have not consulted with a medical professional to identify the source of the pain. You should encourage them to seek medical advice before doing the fit and always document everything. This can do nothing but make your client even more confident in your services and knowledge weather or not something is actually found as a problem by the medical professional.
On this same note, every situation is different and I myself have to be somewhat careful about this. If a fitter is working with a client and telling them that they have all kinds of issues with different anatomy of their body. Then sells them products and advice on how to fix these issues they had better have a really good background in what they are talking about, and the insurance to back that up. Reason being if that client later has issues and they go to a medical professional for help and that medical professional starts discounting or contradicting what was done then there is likely going to be, at the very least, a very unhappy client and at worst legal issues to deal with. That is why USA cycling coaches, personal trainers, medical professionals, and the like; have insurance, ongoing training, and certifications to back up what they say they know. The phrase "above all, do no Harm" from the Hippocratic Oath which most medical professionals recite during graduation comes to mind. I doubt anyone is out to knowingly make a person worse on purpose, but they need to know when they are outside their knowledge base; which is why people contact Paul for training in the first place. Trying to prevent a problem is a good thing but can be harder to prove since no problem ever happens. Maybe the phrase should be "Above all, do no Harm and if you see a potential problem fix it."
Along this same vein, I am a Certified Strength and Training Specialist. When I am working with a client and they are lifting heavy weights, or light weight for that matter, I will often have them wear a lifting belt and even wrist support to "prevent" injury. Do they have to wear it to perform the lift, Nope? In most cases they could lift fine for a long time without it but it is there to prevent injury. It is also there to remind them to tighten their ABS, keep their back straight, keep their wrists straight, it's a reminder. Yes, they do provide support and maybe even correct some issues but mostly they are preventative. I do not feel that I should wait until an injury occurs to use them because that is too late. If you read the article "Footloose" by Steve Hogg which Paul has in his Articles Section on the website Steve talks about foot wedges providing tactile feedback to our brains which creates an awareness that helps us better coordinate movements and prevent overuse injuries. The same thing is true when I use the belt and wrist supports. The fact that the client can feel them provides feedback so they remember to lift correctly and prevent injury. These are not in my opinion prescriptive items.
With all of this said I agree with Paul that what most fitters are doing when wedging a foot is not prescriptive, and is preventative, and carries with it little liability. Hell when I went in to buy running shoes someone looked at my foot and made a recommendation on what shoe I should buy based on how much I pronated. This was preventative, I don't have any issues at this time but I could if a started running 100 miles a week without the proper shoes. If they would have done nothing about the pronation and I did start running a lot then I wouldn't have been happy with the shoes and that is bad for their business. By knowing what over pronation is and addressing it preventatively they are keeping a customer happy, good business move.
My other point woven into this whole thing is I think fitters need to understand that they are incurring an amount of risk when doing a fit. There is a chance that if they choose to wedge or not wedge a person things could get worse. I do not believe the risk is large and I think that if the fitter is running their business correctly they will know about a negative issue before anything bad comes about, but the risk is always there and a fitter should be prepared for it.
Michael Irwin