one = more foot pain

Which one brings on more foot pain/discomfort and why?

We're a fan of Cyclo-Core.

Graeme Street, Owner & Creator of the Cyclo-Core (body weight strength & conditioning) & Cyclo-Zen (cycling oriented flexibility/ Yoga) DVDs are resources worth having and knowing about. Besides DVDs for his customers, Graeme has these in downloadable for as well. This is especially true if you do not have such resources in an area where you live that are easily accessible.

It seems some may come for a BikeFit session thinking it's a "magic bullet" to become Tour Champion. The same goes for their conditioning/fitness. If they do not have a sound physical foundation to support this increased workload, it would seem they are not spending their time to the best outcome.

Considering that aspect towards conditioning, the same could be said for the BikeFit results they will get. BikeFit is not static and with effort they can improve so much.

Check out Graeme's efforts at www.cyclo-core.com

Full disclosure: Paul Swift and BikeFit.com are the BikeFit experts in Graeme's www.cyclo-club.com project -- bringing together some resources to help the Everyday Cyclist get more out of their cycling.

Can you find the one product that worked well.....in this photo?

from Look

http://www.lookcycle.com/docs/techsupport-fr/keofit/photopop.php?photo=7

It is also in this photo - what is it?

From http://www.look.com/

http://www.lookcycle.com/docs/techsupport-fr/keofit/?lang=en

Hint - it is not the Keo Max pedals

New cool place coming soon

http://www.velosouplesse.com/coming-soon/

Specialized gets a Connection of Excellence Award

Yes we have very good luck with their saddles.

Look for other products we have had luck with as well soon.

Congrats to Specialized getting a BikeFit award for 2009 in the saddle category.

Remember bike fit is about the connections. We work with any brand of bike but only adjust the areas where we connect.

from one of the 7 fits

seat post
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 this

He's back online - easy to find....

Steve Hogg, an Australian bike fitter with prolific writing capabilities and producer of BikeFit.com's Leg Length Shims for 3-hole, 2-hole pedal systems, is back to his online forum at Cyclingnews.com.

BikeFit is excited at this news, as his Q & A stuff on BikeFit problems and solutions has helped so many to find answers -- and moreover it has let others start the process to think about their own comfort and performance on the bike.

See the story here...

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cyclingnews-form-and-fitness-panel-returns

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?

Besides this blog, where else on the internet do you go for BikeFit related information?

I want to know if any of the cycling related websites cover BikeFit topics and attract your attention on a regular basis....

thanks for any replies...

buzz words - here are a few

Do you get these words when you do a bike fit?

Kona count is in....

http://triathlon.competitor.com/2009/10/news/results-are-in-2009-kona-bike-count-presented-by-triathlete-magazine_5170

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.

Do you currently have a lift or shim in your walking or running shoes…..if not, why do you think you need it on the bike? Keep in mind it is possible you may need this for one modality and not the other.

The amount of difference and how it affects your cycling gait needs to be considered. For example, you may already compensate some for this difference so building it up we might start with only a small amount of shimming. After a period of time does your pedaling change or stay the same? If you have never addressed this before you may need to try a certain amount of shimming and check again over time and repeat this process more than once adding or perhaps taking some amount of shimming away.

More than a few millimeters of difference and I would probably start with a small amount of shimming. Not sure where but depending on the situation…maybe around 5mm difference or more (which is really not easy to know) I would also consider moving the cleat back on the longer leg....or maybe slightly forward on the shorter....

Keep in mind your femur is a lever so if one is shorter than the other you are potentially losing leverage. Moving the cleat forward on the shorter leg may help the shorter leg gain a bit more leverage.

Then again I have only moved the cleat back on the opposite leg of a few cyclists and we did not actually shim......rare but it has happened.

Make sure you have the correct amount of wedges. Lack of wedges can cause and addition need to extend the leg.

More on Hogg and the "proper" wedges

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/cyclingnews-fitness-q-and-a-october-7-2009

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!!!!!!!!!!!!