Riding someone else's wheel

OK I was a great wheel sucker but I won a lot of races. So I draft into this one.
Steve Hogg on Speedplay check out this link...... but does he mention BikeFit cleat wedges are included in the Pro Fit Case....? Read for yourself and see.

http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/blog/2011/04/road-pedals-which-are-best/
And is that Specialized getting some props here...... ;-) To be honest I never have an issues with Specialized shoes. In fact most of their products I like.

Swifty - being lazy and sucking a wheel
But in all seriousness check out Hogg's blog - read and learn!

Another indicator of an uneven connection to the bike.

Do you remember to take out the insoles and look for wear when you do a bike fit? You might be amazed at some of the things you will see. In this photo it is extremely clear that this person put a lot of pressure on the outer part of the foot. However, in order to produce maximal force you need to have the first and second toe/ray involved.

Keep in mind viewing someone dynamically only, no matter what system is used or how expensive it is, you might not see any indicators of this uneven wear at the foot. You need to also assess the foot off the bike and of course examine the equipment – insole, cleat and/or pedal.

Cleat Wedges - rumor has it something "Big" is coming soon

Biomechanics of Human Gait “When the Feet Hit the Ground…..Everything Changes”

I had a treat today of being able to sit in on a couple courses about feet. I was quite surprised to see some of my own information/literature referenced. The kicker happened when the instructor held up a Cleat Wedge and an ITS Wedge – without hesitation she said the Cleat Wedge is most likely the better solution for most feet…...I had to say to myself I agreed. After all we have known that for years.

With that…..drum roll…….it looks like a Big One is coming on board with that same idea/solution. I hope I am not jumping the gun as I have not seen it myself but I believe real soon Cleat Wedges will be reaching an entirely new world.

Stay tuned.

Max

Dr Max Testa and Andrew Weber talking about the SwitchIT in our booth at Interbike.

Max is one our biggest cleat wedge customers.

The SwitchIT featured one of the award winning products from Specialized. This is two years in the row Specialized as been recognized for a “Connection of Excellence” Award for saddles.

Local Dates for Green Level BikeFit Pro Education courses are now on line

Here is the most recent schedule for local the BikeFit Tour offering BikeFit Pro Education and Training. The following are all Green Level Education courses. For more information click on this link.
http://bikefit.com/schedule10.php

October 31 & November 1
November 14 & 15, 2010
December 12 & 13, 2010
January 16 & 17, 2010
February 13 & 14, 2011
April 17 & 18, 2011
May 22 & 23, 2011
June 5 & 6, 2011

BikeFit in the news - Japanese style

I can’t read Japanese but apparently things are going Bonsai in Japan

Articles:
July 13th http://www.cyclowired.jp/?q=node/35830
April 6th http://www.cyclowired.jp/?q=node/28755

Famous shoes and 7 BikeFit Cleat Wedges

4 Cleat Wedges right and 3 Cleat Wedges left

Do you know who owns these shoes?

Hint- One of the most influential people in the bike fitting world.
How many wedges do you use?

ITS vs Cleat Wedge

First of all this is not one wedge against another – as long as you are talking about BikeFit branded wedges. Both of the Wedges offered from BikeFit.com work very well. Each wedge however has its place.

In most cases it is my preference to use the Cleat Wedge. In fact this is what most bike fitters should also find when they approach this issue at the foot. Bike fitters more and more should be able to assess this area and find the preferred product to be the Cleat Wedge.

So when should the ITS be used?

The ITS often is a “fill in” product for types of cleats that are not compatible with cleat wedges like Crank Brothers – however Cleat Wedges under the Crank Brothers shoe shield is often a good cleat wedge solution.

Perhaps more of a hyper mobile foot would be a good place to use an ITS in combination with the Cleat Wedge. This type of foot needs more support. A stiff or rather a more rigid foot tends to be more responsive with less wedging and the Cleat Wedge is really a better solution for most rigid feet (this is important to know so please keep this information in mind when you are doing bike fits)

ITS wedges are also great for diagnostics. Throw it in and see how it affects the cycling mechanics.

When you are short on time you can quickly get some needed wedging in place (probably only a temporary solution) for the foot.

ITS wedges are also good to have in your arsenal for situations when a cyclist is “in-between” or it is tough to tell if 2 cleat wedges or 3 cleat wedges is the better solution. In other words the cyclist looks good with 2 or 3 cleat wedges. Let the cyclist go with 2 cleat wedges installed and give them an ITS as the 3rd wedge. Instruct them to spend some time with the ITS in the shoe and some time with it in their back pocket. Over a period of time you will usually find the preferred amount of Cleat Wedging to settle on for the cyclist.

Bike Fits recent growth in the industry is a good thing. However with growth we must also be careful to grow properly. There is a huge amount of misinformation that is floating within the bike fitting world. Be aware of this and learn the difference. Many people have been mislead on this issue.

Just like pedal platforms got wider with world leading companies does not mean their approach was the correct one. Perhaps it was needed but it was done so with complete disregard to the reason “why” outer pedal wear was occurring. Think about this when you look at other leading companies with other products….are they really steering us in the right direction?

Happy Cleat Wedge Pedaling

Swifty

Can you think of some well known names in the bike fitting world that are a big fans of the Cleat Wedges?? An example of one is John Cobb

Orthotics - where is the value?

Last week I met with Anthony who called the office looking for someone to fine tune his bike position as he kept experiencing knee pain in spite of a previous bike fit. Interestingly enough is that he recently got a new set of orthotics and was instructed to do so for his cycling shoes every year.....to address his knee pain. On his last visit to the doctor's office, the saddle height was changed (+5mm), however the 9 year old issue of knee pain still persisted. I was skeptical about tackling this fit because he had been to a Bay Area doctor that helps many cyclists with the fit issues and he had seen by one of the Bay Area's most experienced fitters (and most expensive) both of whom could not solve his issue. Furthermore this bike fitter also taught at Serotta's SICI ... the pressure was on!



As you can see in the photo knee over tow alignment was completely off and neither the doctor nor the previous fitter measured his feet with the FFMD (http://bikefit.com/docs/FFMD.pdf ) or a similar tool! Once I saw his initial position on the bike I knew I had my work cut-out for me.
With a 17 degree and 9 degree (L/R) varus measurement and one knee tracking to the inside and the other outside of the toe line I was glad I had my Speedplay pedal kit available. His tracking was so bad on the right leg that the laser did not even come close to the patella and his knee was not stable at all throughout the pedal stroke. In addition Anthony displayed lot of inward heel rotation which had forced him to install 20mm pedal extenders a few years back. Lastly Anthony rides Specialized BG shoes which should help with their varus built into the sole ...
After close to 2.5 hours of work these are the major changes made to Anthony's fit:
Right Shoe: 2 ITS wedges, 4 cleat wedges, removed the 20mm pedal spacer and set him up with a + 1/4 pedal and moved the foot as far in as possible.
Left Shoe: 2 cleat wedges, a 3mm leg length shim and -1/8 pedal.
Seat position: brought seat forward about 8mm
Hoods: moved R & L hood inward about 10 degrees.
Handlebar: moved handlebar up a few degrees so the hoods/bar created a straight line/contact area for a more neutral wrist position!
Since Anthony was going to go for a ride the following day I gave him a few pointers in the event he would experience some discomfort with the extreme (but necessary) changes made. We are not always sure how the nervous and muscular systems will respond.

Here is what he had to say after the first ride:
"The bike fit is amazing. My bike has never felt this comfortable under me. I had no knee pain. It's the first time in a long while that my speed was entirely dictated by leg fatigue, instead of in part by knee pain. Thank you so much for an excellent fit.
My buddy and I did about 33 miles around Old La Honda, Skyline, and Page Mill. Came up to about 3400 feet of climbing. We pushed pretty hard."
The moral of the story is threefold: never be afraid to tackle a bikefit that was previously done by published experts in the field, never assume that an orthodic is the correct way for someone to adjust fit issues and use as many wedges as needed to get the tracking under control.
I have also realized that many BG shoes I have fitted in the last few months do not appear to have the varus tilt that is claimed. I am still wedging the BG shoes as if they were just plain neutral shoes; maybe their manufacturing tolerances are off because I certainly cannot explain the need for some many wedges on a shoes that supposedly is built to account for 1.5mm of varus tilt.
During my follow-up visit this week we will attempt to remove the custom orthodics and ride with the cycling specific SuperFeet ... Stay tuned!
TOTAL WEDGES USED: 8
Andrew

An ITS Wedge story - question 3 from post below

3) Should I cut your product to the proper size? I have a size 43 shoe and I am using the uncut 10 - 11 size ITS wedge. I am kind of afraid to cut them because I am getting a great result now. Will they work better if cut?


Phil,


In general, the size 10-11 will work for most people that have a 43 shoe size. However, your guide should be where the ball of the foot is located on top of the wedge. If the ball of the foot is behind the thickest area, you would need the next larger size wedge.  The opposite of this would be where the ball of the foot is in front of the thickest part of the wedge. If this is the case, you may need to trim the front or get the next size smaller ITS wedge.

You were happy with results thus far. So, I can understand why you might not want to cut them. Because of your honest and thorough feedback we will be glad to send you an extra set of the original orange ITS wedges to do with as you please. We will also throw in some cleat wedges because the cleat wedge is almost always preferred. Specialized does not offer a cleat wedge…yet!

World debut for first cleat ever being offered with tilt already built in.

Pre-order pricing is still available but only for a few more days.

Here is your last chance to jump in on the NEW patent pending BikeFit V1 cleat for SPD. This cleat comes with one degree of tilt BUILT IN. ACT FAST! This is a one-time only offer.

BikeFit Pros can purchase 11 sets for $100 or 23 sets for $200 plus shipping.  All other may purchase 9 sets for $100 (plus shipping & handling).

Retail price will be close to $34.95 a pair. So you can see your savings could be huge.
Phone and credit card orders only please – 425-821-7237