F. I. S. T. - a Rare View

Earlier this month I had the privilege of teaching again in Valeyermo, CA at the FIST Certification course. If you do not know where this is do not feel like the Lone Ranger. If you ask 20 people in the Los Angeles area ( even cyclists and triathletes) where it is, at best one might have an idea. NO ONE knows where this place is. However once you get there it is a getaway worth the visit.

Dan Empfield has invited me to teach foot/pedal interface several times at his F.I.S.T. Bike Fitting classes. Interesting that the most important part of the education he leaves for the last day ... . Dan Empfield was the founder of Quintana Roo bicycles, the first triathlon specific bicycle on the market! He knows a thing or 2 about bicycle design and fitting, so being able to teach part of his TT/bikefit curriculum focusing on foot/pedal interface is an indication of the importance that Dan "Slowman" Empfield bestows upon his fitters.

Here is a rare glimpse at where the teaching is done at the compound. Check out the gang all looking at the front view; a laser resting on a Speedplay case ... need I say more?

Leg Length - To Shim or not to Shim?

It is not every day I really see obvious leg length issues. However, anytime someone comes to us and says they have this issue, I ask several questions to absolutely make sure. I prefer to have many signs showing the issue so I can build a case before adding a Leg Length Shim of any size.


This person presented one of the most obvious cases I have seen in some time. So just for kicks in our training we decided to look at this from all sorts of views. One of the views we had the cyclist stand against the wall. We projected a laser line direct splitting his legs in half and upward past his head. You will see most people try to get their head back to center. Here his head indeed does that but it is not even close to being centered.

It can be interesting to look at people and seeing how symmetrical or balanced they appear to be. This cyclist pedaled for over 20 years without a Leg Length Shim. For the first time had a heel lift put in his walking shoes only a few weeks prior to these photos (standing photos are without his heel lift).



Here is his Leg Length shim in white - LL Shim complements of Steve Hogg - we like to call the Hogg shims "Hoggies"
Here are the notes from this bike fit. Some of the buzz words he used during the major changes in his fit were: WOW - CENTERED -EVEN

When you hear these comments and buzz words in a bike fit you know you are going in the right direction!

Happy Pedals

Foot Length....more

Ok, I mentioned cleat stagger as a way to help with different foot lengths. I then heard from a friend of mine that I should have addressed the foot length, not with cleat stagger, but rather a leg length shim.

On one hand I agree, but I think it may be situational dependent. Look at the following photo from Atlanta when I was working with USAC Coach John Kelly. Now here is a SIGNIFICANT difference.
I believe we did add a leg length shim in this scenario to help. A cleat stagger alone would not be the answer.

In fact my mention of cleat stagger in the previous post even resulted in an insult that I was "Pruitting" this person. Perhaps I am guilty of some influences but I am not someone that easily buys into another school of thought. I really did come up with my own when it comes to bike fit.

The result of my original thoughts was something called "The Bicycle Fitting System" which was the second commercially available bike fitting system in the world. Fit Kit was the first.

When I began bike fit there were no classes for me to take; I simply put it together and tried to make sense of it. Being that I introduced the Cleat Wedges to Pruitt I was sort of jilted with the Priuttism comment. Pruitt has certainly contributed a lot to bike fit but I was doing cleat wedges and inside the shoe wedges long before he started purchasing them from me……and long before a company misnamed the In The Shoe Wedge a shim….

opppppps - I am getting off topic. Notice this difference in foot length is much greater in the photo than the difference we saw in Arkansas a few days ago.

Please keep an open mind with this scenario as leg length shims may also be the answer.

Happy Pedals

Be careful when there is a different foot length

As Andrew mentioned Andres certainly threw us some challenges. Here is one of the cyclists we fitted whose feet are not the same length.

With the advent of cycling shoes becoming stiffer and stiffer over the past decade addressing this issue is much easier than in the past. The stiffer sole allows us more fore/aft cleat placement range.

Standing (off the bike) leg length can be one thing but on the bike it can be another if one has one foot longer than the other. In the video below if we placed the cleats under the ball of each foot we would have effectively created a different leg length. By moving the cleat back on the longer foot and maybe even a little forward on the shorter foot we can help even leg length on the bike in this scenario.

Hope you enjoy this one as much as we all did in Fayetteville.

Arkansas' amazing experience

... once I arrived in Fayetteville at 11:00pm where the temperature was a balmy 26 degrees and dropping, it was time to rest-up for the next 2 days of training. Needless to say that watching Paul in action and his thinking process for each "outside the box" situation that was presented in each fit during the 2 days was just incredible; we saw drop shoulders, skogliosis, leg length discrepancy, strange pressure points on saddles, limited ROM in lower backs and much more.

I am now a convert to Speedplay pedals, sorry Look but our 24 year relationship is over. The simplicity to get them dialed in is just way too easy from a bike fitter's view.

As a rider I have heard in the past that people did experience "hot spots" under their feet when using Speedplay pedals, but the more I learn from fitting individuals, I can tell that those hot spots are caused not by the pedals but from improper foot/cleat/pedal interface. All of the subject being fitted suring this training required a change in the spindle length to achieve a perfect position on the bike, with 6 needing longer spindles on 1 or both pedals and 1 subject needing to go with shorter spindles.

Back to the fits ... as mentioned before every subject that was fitted presented our group with some challenges however everyone of them left a happy cyclist! The common underlying theme was too long of stems!!! If you are experiencing lower back pain or shoulder pain make sure to revisit your reach! If your hands do not gravitate to the hoods, revisit your reach! There are some great handlebars out there available in shorter reaches and shallower drops which should be considered when building up your new bike or upgrading your old bike.

Until next time ... ride in comfort!

Training in Arkansas - Not just cold ...

Today BikeFit.com is kicking off their first blog entry from right here in Fayettville, AR. This weekend BikeFit Pro Eduction was hosted by Andres Angulo of Advanced Cycling. New BikeFit Pros as of today are Andres, Branton Moore both of Fayetteville and Michael Irwin from Kansas City, KS. Andrew Weber, Director of International Sales for BikeFit.com assisted with the training.

Here is the group pictured below.



The weekend was filled with continuous bike fits from 8am to 8pm. We had some of the most interesting and challenging fits during this week-end's instruction. A new record was achieved for BikeFit with Speedplay pedals. Six of the 7 cyclists fit this past weekend needed different spindle lengths. Pedal spindle length options are something ONLY Speedplay offers and is often the only option for cyclists needing increased or decreased stance width. If you are a fitter and you do not have the Speedplay Pedal kit you are missing something very special.

Topping the Speedplay odds was stem length needs/changes. ALL 7 cyclists left with shorter stems, making us wonder what the bike manufactures have in mind when they design and equip bikes.


The first day of training was such a success that on the second day Andres received many more requests from people hoping to get a bike fit. Word is spreading fast about the BikeFit Pros in Fayetteville. If you are in the area and would like a fit I feel you will be in very good hands with these BikeFit Pros. Look them up and schedule your fit today.

Watch the front view for this fit

Those of you racing or planning on racing in Arkansas be aware of the newly fitted and faster individuals from the Tyson Cycling Team ... Debra Dunn, Bruce Dunn, Wade Colwell, Phuong Mueller, Dori Hornbaker, John Mikesch and Adrian Balsara from the Mercy Cycling Team.

This training marked another Specialized dealer choosing BikeFit.com for education. Branton works for High Roller a Specialized dealer in Fayetterville.

Occupational Therapist Assistant Michael joined many other therapists/clinicians adding BikeFitting to their credentials. Health Care Professionals are BikeFit.coms fasted growing segment in the bike fit world surpassing Bike Shops and coaches participating with more education.


Watch the second view from the front for the same fit