The Bike fitter gets bike fitted

There’s only so far you can get as a bike fitter trying to bike fit yourself, and I had reached that point. I’ve used an indoor trainer and my trusty iPhone to fit all my bikes, but it’s difficult to assess your own asymmetry, which I had a strong suspicion I possessed.

That’s when I decided to jump on a plane to the Sunshine Coast to see Neill Stanbury from The Road Cycling Academy. Why did I choose Neill you may ask? Probably the most obvious reason is that he too was a Physio, citing unashamed bias to the Physiotherapy profession! I wanted a scientific and reasoned approach to my fitting, which most Physio’s possess. I also wanted to see someone who did not use a “system”. Whilst I am sure there are many useful bike fitting systems out there in the hands of a good fitter, I would prefer someone who used their assessment, observation and clinical reasoning skills to fit rather than numbers produced from a system. Lastly, I knew that Neill’s fundamental approach to fitting was a little different to mine, being much more based on neurological motor patterning, so it’s good to look at things from a different perspective.

I am not uncomfortable on the bike, but do occasionally get a few niggles, and it’ss as much out of curiosity as to whether they could be resolved. They are all left sided, the main one being left heel of hand pressure and pain, and numbness of my 5th finger, no doubt due to some ulnar nerves compression and tension. I would sometimes get pressure on the outside of my left foot, especially on the trainer (which I ride about 5 times a year, so really not too much of an issue!). My left VMO would sometimes feel heavy, or at other times my left hamstrings felt tight, especially at the beginning of a ride. On top of this, my power meter consistently reads 55/45%, and has done so for as long as I can remember. 

Like many cyclists, I get episodes of Patellofemoral (kneecap) pain in either knee, but it never limits my riding. I also get some low back pain, especially if training after work, which I worked out was more related to my working posture. Since stopping sitting on the floor to adjust cleats and using a table rather than bending over my laptop, it seems to have resolved!

In terms of injuries which may effect me on the bike, I have some ongoing left ankle pain and instability from a bad sprain 25 years ago. I’ve broken my left collarbone and left rib, and torn my right abdominal wall. I’ve had 3 separate left deep external rotator tendinopathies, something quite rare - I have only ever seen it in one patient in over 25 years of being a Physio!

So, what did Neill do? A lot of shimming of my cleats and shoes, and very little to my bike. This makes sense, since I experience similar issues on all 4 of my bikes which are all set up differently. He also suggested some rehab exercises to incorporate into my existing strengthening program.

I was also interested in Neill’s opinion about my next bike purchase. As much as I love my Tarmac, it was time to enter the world of disc brakes, Di2 and 12 speed! I was buying a Cervelo Soloist, initially I thought in a 51cm frame, as it had almost exactly the same stack and reach as my Tarmac SL6. However, I always had the inkling I wanted to be a bit longer and lower, although I wasn’t sure about the effect of riding a long stem on a small bike. I had already maximised my drop with a -20deg stem and short cranks (which effectively raised my saddle height).

Neill convinced me that it was perfectly fine to ride a 130mm stem on a 48cm bike, and I would get used to the change in steering quite quickly. And he was right. At first I felt that I had to push or throw the front end around a corner when travelling at speed as it seemed like the bike wanted to travel in a straight line, but now I don’t notice much difference at all. 

In the end I went for the smaller 48cm Soloist with a zero offset seat post, a 110mm -17deg stem and 100mm reach bars. This gives me a reach 20mm longer than what I was previously riding, and a drop about 25mm lower. Sometimes I feel I can still be even longer, and may change to a 120mm stem. Having a non-integrated, separate handlebar and stem combination, I am free to continue to trial difference combinations until it feels dialled in.

The 48cm Soloist has a stack of 491mm and a reach of 363mm

So, 4 months down the track, and 6 weeks into riding my new bike…

The good news is, the L foot pressure has pretty much resolved, and I have only experienced mild left VMO/hamstrings heaviness on a couple of occasions and just a the start of a ride. The left hand pressure and 5th finger numbness is still quite pronounced. It’s not a horrendous issue, just annoying, and it’s worse when I ride 15hr+ weeks, which is really not that often.

I now have dual sided power pedals on my new Soloist as I was interested to see if the power asymmetry had changed since the fit. It hasn’t. I’m still on average 55/45%. However, when racing Tuesday Night Heffron or doing VO2 intervals. it is more like 52/48 and can even be 50/50. I noticed this pattern before the bike fit. 

I toe down on the right, and have been actively thinking about flattening out my foot to see if I can correct this movement pattern. I was never fully aware of this before I saw Neill, but it does make sense now. Whenever I did a fit with the camera filming my left side (ie. in clinic), my saddle height and position looked great. However when filming from the right side (ie. at home) my right foot looked unstable and toe down, which always made me question whether my saddle was in fact too high.

For those interested in watching the fit, I’ve attached it below. It’s 18min long.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgLITnhsSBY

What I’ve learnt… whilst we all may want to strive for perfection and symmetry on a bike, it may not always matter, and not all asymmetries need to be fully corrected. Some asymmetries cannot be corrected by a bike fit alone. Also, left/right power asymmetry doesn’t always indicate there is an issue. Bike fitting is often about finding a balance, and that includes between being pragmatic and seeking perfection.