Benefits of Incorporating Strength Training into The “Off Season”

by Jacob Fetty

Often, endurance athletes struggle with the idea of weight training in the “off season” or non competitive part of the year.  Endurance athletes tend to focus the bulk of, if not all of, their training time on sport specific workouts.  However there are great benefits for endurance athletes to incorporate strength training into the non competitive part of the year.

If you are an endurance athlete here are four benefits of incorporating strength training into your training program:

• Correct Muscle Specificity 
Endurance athletes become very strong and efficient doing their selected sport.  This efficiency, although key for athletic success, can become a hindrance if muscle specificity is allowed to become unbalanced.  When an athlete uses strength training and resistance exercises appropriately the athlete can build a more balanced body that will lead to greater athletic success.

• Improve Balance and Posture
Have you ever noticed the hunched over look of a swimmer’s shoulders? Or, have you observed cyclists taking steps that measure out to be nearly identical to their crank arm length?  Endurance athletes muscle specificity not only effects their sport movements but often times carries over into their day-to-day life affecting their balance and posture.  There is great importance to be placed in an endurance athlete mixing in strength training to correct balance and posture issues that are well beyond those that directly build strength for a given sport.

• Change of Normal Routine
During the non competitive part of the year it is often nice to take a mental break from sport specific training. Shifting focus towards strength training not only yields strength gains that can be directly applied towards goals but can provide a challenge and focus for an athlete during a break in the calendar when no events are taking place.  These mental stimuli are often needed to keep athletes fresh, fit and focused.

• Core Strength
Core strength is perhaps the most overlooked aspect of any endurance athletes training program.  There is not an endurance sport that does not require a strong core.  Additionally, much of an endurance athlete’s strength comes from his/her core.  With this in mind it is only common sense to spend time building one’s core strength.

All of these aspects directly correlate with one another.  When one makes their core strong they improve their balance and posture.  When one focuses on fixing muscle specifity they break their normal routine and refresh their competitive mind.  With these solid reasons to strength train any endurance athlete would be wise to invest in strength training during the non competitive part of their year.

 Mental Break; Physical Refresher Leads to The “Fun Factor”

by Jacob Fetty

After several months of focused, specific training the body as well as the mind needs to take a break.  Things can get fuzzy and motivation can wane.  Taking a mental break and hanging your bicycle up can not only provide a much needed short term break but can provide you the mental refreshment needed for long term enjoyment of the sport.

People who tend to go-go-go not only reach a physical improvement plateau but also are more likely for chronic “burn out”.

So what do we do during this break?  We have fun and take time to smell the roses so to speak.

Taking a break from structured training does not always mean taking a break from training.  Rather this is a good time to find new and refreshing ways to stay active and fit without feeling like we are “training”.

When people take a mental break and allow their body and mind to become refreshed and refocused they are more inclined to return to a more structured training regime with more excitement and rejuvenation.

What can we do to stay active and fit during this break?  Basically, we can engage our bodies and minds in any activity that is non sport specific and fun!

Some ideas:
• Tennis, basketball, soccer
• Hiking
• Time off/Vacation
• Running
• Yoga
• Pilaties
• Group rides you have missed to focus on specific training
• Other types of cycling—mountain biking, cyclo cross
• Camping
• Strength Training
o Plyometrics
o Rope
o Free Weight
o Classes

When you enter your “off season” or when there are no immediate events in the near future is a great time to include activities that you enjoy but that have to take a back seat to training during the racing or competitive year.

Cycling should be fun. Remember we all do this because it is an enjoyable and exciting pastime.  Take time to smell the roses, expand your fitness into new and exciting avenues.  When you do return to more cycling specific training you will be more likely to fully enjoy the wind breezing by as you pedal towards your goals as well as be more likely to reach your goals.  As my father, who is in his mid 50s says, “Riding a bicycle is like having a license to be 12 again!”

 Motor Pacing: Be Smart, Be Safe

By Jacob Fetty

Nothing catches a cyclist’s attention like the mention of motor pacing.  Over time this form of training has become synonymous with being fit and fast.  Athletes love the idea of motor pacing often romanticizing over their workload and how fast it will make them.  Oftentimes, though, athletes make mistakes when using motor pacing as a training tool.  Riding behind a motor bike can be a valuable training aid if you follow these simple common sense rules.

·Driver — Perhaps the most important aspect of motor pacing is having a safe and knowledgeable driver.  Your driver should understand your training needs and parameters of the workout prior to heading out to conduct the moto session.  This driver should also be a safe, heads up driver that is familiar with a motor bike.

·Course Selection — The course you choose to conduct your motor pacing should be a low traffic area.  Usually, athletes think the course they choose needs to be pancake flat.  Flat courses are great but a gently rolling course will work just as well.  If your driver does indeed understand the workout and your needs a slightly rolling course will be no problem.

·Fitness — Your fitness should be advanced enough to obtain benefits from motor pacing.  For instance, if you are in a period where you are building endurance inserting a motor pacing workout would not be effective.  Motor pacing should fit in specifically with your training plan and each session should have clear goals.

·Variable Power — The biggest misconception about motor pacing is that you simply tuck in behind the motor and ride fast.  This really misses the point.  You want to use the motor bike in a fashion that promotes variable power and/or controlled recovery - to simulate race-type efforts, which is the main reason you're riding behind the motorbike in the first place!

Motor pacing can be a great training aid when used properly and in a safe manner.  Contact FS Concepts for some specific motor pacing workouts to incorporate into your training program.

 Racing Strategy and Tactics: Bike Racing 101

by Jacob Fetty

When viewed through the eyes of non-competitive cyclists, bicycle racing looks like an individual sport.  Bicycle racers and fans of bike racing know that this is not the case at all.  Bicycle racing is like a chess match on wheels where teams will use strategies such as blocks, attacks and sacrifices to help increase their team’s odds of winning.  This is perhaps best illustrated via a Pro Tour team competing in Grand Tours.  However, by following and implementing some basic guidelines and tactics any team or club can race strategically and increase their odds of winning the race.

Team Members Roles: Know Them!

The most valuable thing your team can do is to have a meeting and discuss roles for the event.  Your team should meet prior to warming up to discuss tactics for the race.  Once your team gets into the habit of having these meetings, these pre-race meetings will not take much time at all.

One of the key aspects of the pre race meeting needs to be to establish each racers role for the event.  Each team member should have a specific and detailed role for the race.  Although these roles need to be clearly outlined and defined they can still be flexible.  When each rider leaves the team meeting he/she should very clearly understand their role as well as other team member’s role for the day within the context of the team’s objective.

By assigning roles you can address each rider’s strengths and weaknesses and factor them into the game plan for the day.  By dispersing roles your team will increase their chances of winning!  Be sure to factor in that the team needs to cover important moves in the race and work to have a “man up the road” if the group up the road looks like it could stick to the finish.  Factor in attacking, counter attacking, climbs, wind direction and speed, as well as other elements that can affect the race’s outcome.

Have A Rider In The Break: Be selective and aggressive!

Do not go with every single breakaway attempt.  Rather, be selective in the moves your team chooses to cover and be aggressive if the opportunity comes to attack and put other teams into difficulty. 

Use Your Head in the Breakaway !

If you are the one on your team that made it into the breakaway, use your head!  Can you ride this breakaway all the way to the finish line?  More importantly, if this break goes to the line can you win the race?  Usually, racers are so excited to be in the breakaway that they work too hard and effectively ride themselves out of the break!  The worst thing that can happen is you get dropped out of the winning break. Imagine explaining that to your teammates.  Look up; look around.  Is one of your teammates trying to bridge the gap? How far to the finish line?  Are there stronger riders in the break?  How are you going to win from this break?

If your team has more than one team member in the breakaway you have decisions to make.  Are you going to start one, two-ing the break as the finish nears or can one of you win the sprint and ride with the goal of the breakaway coming to the line together?

In the Peloton: The day is not over!

Blocking is perhaps the most misunderstood term in bicycle racing.  If you have rider(s) up the road and a team wants to chase, then let them.  If teams want to send attacks up the road, follow the attacks but do not work unless it benefits you and your team more than another team.  Teams do not need to gather on the front of the peloton in an attempt to slow the race down.  Sometimes you might be on the front and open a slight gap for a teammate who is trying to escape, but never get in the way of sporting competitors who want to chase or bring the break back.  In the same breath, never use dangerous or “sketchy” riding to disrupt the flow of the race or slow racers down.

What you can do though is set a false pace or tempo on the front of the field where your competitors think you do not like the odds of your teammate in the break and are actually working to bring the break back.  The reality is that you are not making time on the breakaway but rather allowing it to increase its gap on the peloton.

If your team missed the breakaway be prepared to chase or attempt to create a chase group to get team members up the road.  Again, riders should know their roles.  Do not let anyone rider work to the point of “blowing up” by taking one big pull.  Spread the workload around.  Even communicate with other teams to encourage them to help.  Another point to keep in mind is not to start the full on chase until all your riders are at the front ready to work.  The worst thing is to have half of your team chasing and the other half still trying to get to the front.  In this scenario you will have too many racers in the wind at the same time!

Your team will need to have a plan to work to bring back the breakaway back should your team miss the breakaway.  Is it more effective to work/pull as a unit to pull the break back or to have guys continually attacking to keep the pace high to bring back the break?   This two different methods both can be affective and you should know which one fits your team’s strengths the best.

Is the race coming to a pack sprint finish?  If so, again everyone should know his/her role and be prepared to start a lead out.  To effectively execute a lead out, the racers doing the lead out need to be aggressive and patient at the same time; being ready to take charge at the exact time and not a moment too soon.  The racers conducting the lead out need to also be at least as strong as the sprinter, ramping the pace up and “dropping” the sprinter off at a pre-appointed spot (last turn, 200 meters to go, etc).  The sprinter, in this scenario, has a great responsibility to communicate and direct the lead out.

Racing is a dynamic event.  Not one strategy is a perfect formula all of the time.  However, if you and your team know your roles, communicate clearly and implement some simple guidelines you can increase your team’s chances of winning.

Guidelines for Team Tactics Success
• Know your role: Each rider should have a clear understanding of the team’s goals and how he/she fits into these goals
• Always have a rider in noteworthy breakaways:  Do not put your team behind the 8 ball.  Place a rider or riders in key breakaways.
• One team member in the wind at a time:  No more than one team rider should be working in the wind at any given time.  Share the work and be aware of what is going on around you.  Do not push the pace in the breakaway if you have a rider bridging and trying to make contact with the break.
• Work benefits you or your team: Never do any work that benefits someone else or another team more than it benefits you or your team.  Do not ride in the wind or pull for no reason.
• Know when to attack the breakaway or peloton:  Is everyone tired or feeling fresh?  If you attack is it to win? What is the purpose of the attack?
• To chase or not to chase: Know when and why to chase. Is it better to bridge or to chase?
• Practice Lead Outs: Know how to effectively lead out and take charge of field sprints.
• Communicate clearly:  Be sure to communicate with your team members as the race changes and changes to your team’s strategy are made.  Don’t whisper.  Talk clearly and loudly enough for your team to hear you.  Even if others hear you they still have to stop you and your plan.
• Do not get clumped up: As a team, do not ride all together.  Spreading out will increase your chances of following attacks and decrease the odds of more than one team member being involved in the same crash should that occur.

 Keep Stressed Managed and Life Balanced While Training
By Jacob Fetty

Stress is a fact of life and low levels of stress are beneficial to us.  It is when we allow stress to accumulate that we find ourselves in a tight spot.  Stress comes in all shapes, sizes and disguises.  Athletes should work with their coach to help balance worldly stresses with training stresses.

Our bodies handle or process stress via the Adrenal Glands.  What makes stress a tricky beast is that our bodies process emotional and training stress in the same manner.  With this in mind, having an objective guide or coach can be invaluable. 

Here are some helpful ideas to incorporate into your life to keep stress under control:

• Plan days off, breaks in training.  The rigors of life and training can easily accumulate.  Plan to take days off from training like you take days off from work.  Most people work 5 days per week so why do we try to train 7 days a week, 52 weeks per year?  Planning days off can allow you to catch up with life’s demands.
• Mix fun into your workouts.  I have never heard anyone go for their first bike ride and say, “Wow, this is fun! I want to do intervals everyday.”  Don’t forget why you ride in the first place.  If riding is not fun take a step back and incorporate some fun ideas into your training.
• Laughter is the best medicine.  Perhaps mixing laughter with training does not make sense but I will tell you that people who laugh a lot tend to be happier and happier people tend to have less stress.  It may be unconventional but a trip to a comedy club or a romantic-comedy may be just what you need to alleviate stress and make your training and life more productive.
• Keep variety in your workouts.  Do not hesitate to mix up your workouts.  This is closely tied to mixing fun into your cycling.  The goal is to not get stuck in a routine where you are doing the same thing week in and week out.  Keep the workouts fresh and entertaining and you will look forward to them.
• Be honest and objective; use common sense. Being honest with yourself is paramount.  If you are feeling overloaded or overworked you have to admit to this and pull the plug.  You can get by for awhile being overloaded but inevitably the load you are bearing will come crashing down on you.  Know when the load is too great and back off.
• Know your limits; don’t spread yourself too thin.  Along the same lines of being honest and objective is knowing your limits.  You have to know what you are capable of and what is too much.  Know this fine line and do not cross it.
• Make time for yourself.  Even if it is 15 minutes a day with a cup of coffee and the newspaper or walking your dog before work.  Take a few minutes a day to refresh your mind.

Don’t let stress accumulate and bring down your performance.  Incorporate these ideas to maintain fun and enjoyment in your training/life routine.  Remember, we do this because it is enjoyable, not to add more stress to our lives.  Use cycling as a fun means of exercise to reduce stress.

Power File Case Study: Jered's Power File from Day One of The Greenville Training Series
 
Jacob: Here we have Jered's Power File from his first race of the season, The Greenville Training Series.  For reference the course the race was held on is fairly rolling, all big ring with 10-15 MPH winds from all sides as the course was a loop done eight times.  Early in the second lap a breakaway snuck up the road and established a 2:20 gap.  Jered's team, TIME, missed the break resulting in Jered's role being to work to bring the gap down.  Over the next several laps the gap was brought down to 20 seconds coming into the finale.  

Email for actual file.
 
In looking at this Power File the number that stands out the most to me is the kilojoules of work done to bring the gap down and how that relates to Jered's fitness. During the chase Jered laid down 1541KJ in 1:13! A typical race output for someone of Jered's body weight is usually 1000KJ/hour so you can see why I am so impressed with this.
 
Over the winter Jered had been doing a great amount of Controlled Throttle Rides where he uses RPE, HR, and Power to find a comfortable zone where he is still applying pressure to the pedals AND having fun riding his bike.  When he started these rides in December I remember him doing 700-ish KJ per hour.  The week leading up to Greenville while Jered and I rode he mentioned he was comfortably riding in the 800-900 KJ/hour range for hour upon hour.  All of this without even training above Threshold yet!
 
Now back to the chase file.  The stats do not lie.  1290 kj/hr (avg 358 for the hardest hour - middle of the chase). The Average Heart Rate of 177 bpm probably (Jered - definitely) a little suppressed due to the large volume of training leading into the race weekend. 351 Average watts. Most importantly though, he was able to complete what his team assigned him to do that day.

Jered: Saturday's race was a real breakthrough for me in a lot of different ways. It started the way a lot of races seem to go for me - I raced hard, made some moves, but missed the move that counted. At that point, usually I'd resign myself to a spot in the field and ride out the rest of the day and get pretty much nothing out of it.

That's not the way that it's going to be with this team though - and instead of sitting in and doing nothing and hoping for the best, we went to the front and started working. I didn't feel especially amazing - I just felt like I had an assigned job to do and that was all that mattered - I had a goal and a purpose and it kept me going as the laps ticked by. I had an idea that the work I was doing was good, maybe even great, but it wasn't until after the race that I realized how much of a breakthrough it was.

Last year, I still couldn't ride a break all that well - I was always at my limit or above, and always on the verge of getting hammered right out of the break - but in Saturday's race, I was comfortable, I could continually tap through and keep the paceline moving and eventually get the job done - chopping off 2 minutes of the break's gap in a little over an hour.

Mentally, Saturday was a huge day for me: it gave me the confidence that I can ride the break, because though I missed it, I was there doing basically the same thing as riding the break, except I was bringing it back. Most importantly, I know I have the fitness to move into my next phase of training - work well over threshold: VO2Max and Anaerobic Capacity. This work will hopefully ensure that I'm not chasing breaks in the future, but rather, driving breaks.

Of note though - I worked really hard on Saturday. I pushed myself pretty much as far as I could go and then some, and it was evident in the following race the next day - I was wrecked - I pretty much had nothing. 

Just looking at the numbers - those were the highest values I've ever seen on all levels, and at the bare minimum, I know that my threshold is probably around 375, which is a full 30 watts higher than I started the winter at, which at that time was the highest threshold wattage (60 minute power) I'd ever produced. I am convinced that the Controlled Throttle Rides really made the difference - I didn't train as much as last year, but I trained harder across the board - I got the same work in terms of kilojoules done, in a lot less time. I also managed to do what I couldn't do three different times last winter - I stayed healthy, and I started the season healthy.

Working To Bring Back The Break:
1:13 hours
1547 kj
Norm Power: 381
Avg Power: 351
Avg HR: 177
Cadence: 91

Entire Race:
2:11 hours
2587 kj
Norm Power: 370
Avg Power: 328
Avg HR: 172

First Race Of The Season - Balancing It Out

by Jered Gruber

The time is nigh for the first races of the year, and if you're lucky enough to be in the far south, the racing has already started. The mentioning of that first race makes many nervous, as of course, this will be one of the first times your hard work over the winter is really put to the test. You've probably done some group rides and have a decent idea of where you're at, but that's still nothing like that first race of the season, which for everyone, is quite a shock to the system.

Instead of starting your first race of the year with that awful sense of trepidation and fear, and basically lack of enjoyment, try looking at the race from a different angle - a test, and an opportunity.
 
You've hopefully done a few performance tests over the winter - you've taken measurements to see where you are compared to where you've been in the past, where you were last year at this time. You've calculated it perhaps with a powermeter, or a certain time on a climb as a guage, or a stretch of road. For those tests, you looked at only yourself and only took note of your own data.
 
Treat your first race of the year as another performance test. It won't be anything like the tests you do on your own, but the data it provides will be equally valuable - this time though, you'll be able to use how you feel and how you rode to gauge, but also how you measure up to your competition. Many will say that the other riders don't matter, but I'm just going to go and flat out say that's wrong: if you want to win, you have to beat everybody else in the race, meaning, you have to be at least at the level of your competition, and hopefully, eventually, better.
The first race of the year will of course see differing fitness levels, but you won't know how differing until that first race, and once you've completed it, sit down, and think about where you were lacking. Did you suffer with repeated accelerations? Could you not make that necessary bridge? Was the hill on the course just too much?
 
After you look at that, you'll probably notice that, hey, I probably shouldn't be all that terribly great at these maximal efforts, because you probably haven't done any just yet! More than likely, you've done a solid base with a lot of endurance work, built upon that with some tempo, and then built yet again upon that with threshold work, but super-threshold? Probably not. So if you felt like the really hard efforts were beyond you - worry not, some racing and some specific hard interval work will hopefully have you in the driver's seat in these vital situations.
 
Go into the first race relaxed and excited that you actually get to race and reap the rewards of your hard work over the offseason. Treat the first race as another performance test, and do with it what you do with all of your tests - stand back, objectively look at what happened, and factor the experience in how it prepares you for the next step in working towards your goals.

Remember, the first race is the first step towards your goals so enjoy it and have fun out there!

Racing/Training Nutrition: Use Your Head

by Jered Gruber

It's Saturday, and you're heading out with your friends for a hard four hour ride. You probably throw a couple of gel packs in your back pocket, or maybe a granola bar. Three hours into the ride, you're feeling the efforts from the day, your legs aren't feeling so good, you reach in your pocket and you realize you still have a granola bar, so you eat that, but you still don't feel good, and you crawl home miserable, walk through the door and cram every bit of food you can find into your gaping maw.
 
What went wrong here and how do we improve this strategy?
 
This is a situation I've seen with innumerable athletes - they go out for a tough day of training, they take next to nothing to fuel their bodies with. The rider above that took two gels and a granola bar is only one of many who has made this exact mistake.
 
Let's take a look at why his nutrition strategy wasn't nearly enough to accommodate his/her efforts.
 
First, take into consideration that your liver stores about 2 hours worth of glycogen (give or take a bit). If you're like many riders, you don't really get hungry until about 1.5-2 hours into a ride. So looking at that fact with the dominating truth that you've got 2 real hours worth of energy stored in your body - if you choose to start eating that far into a ride, you might as well just turn around and find a taxi home, because you're going to be fighting a painful battle the rest of the day, as there's just no way to keep up with your body's demands once you've pretty much entirely depleted your body's glycogen stores.
 
Even if you don't 'bonk' because you've put your body in such a starved state, you can count on the fact that your performance will not be nearly optimal. If anything - think of eating as your insurance that you're going to be 100% for as long as possible on the bike. When the punches start being thrown, you want to be able to fight back, not just stare at your stem and hope for the best.
 
So when you start your day on the bike, you need to start fuelling within the first hour, and take in, EVERY hour, between 60-80g CHO. Remember that one gel is 25-30g CHO - so you're looking at 2-3 gels PER hour, not per ride!
 
Take those commonly used granola bars as an example as well - many of those only weigh in at about 25-30g CHO - meaning you need to eat 2-3 of those per hour, if you so choose.
 
If you're like many, you might think, well, if 60-80g CHO is good, then 150 is probably best. Unfortunately, your body can only absorb about 60-80g CHO per hour, so any more than that is pretty much worthless, even harmful, as it could cause stomach distress. This rule goes along with the guy who gorges himself on a giant honey bun and downs it with a Mountain Dew at the store stop - in that sitting he probably swallowed well over 100g CHO (considering that a Mountain Dew is 60g CHO). It's no wonder that he'll be complaining of horrible stomach pains in about 10 minutes. This is a common mistake though, and it goes down to a simple error - some confuse the feeling of satiety with the reality of whether they've properly fuelled or not. If you down a honey bun and a Mountain Dew, you might feel full, but you sure haven't fuelled correctly.
 
Another thing to be mindful of is the more depleted you become the longer your body takes to recover.  Proper on the bike nutrition will enable you to keep training more proffienctly day to day.
 
On your next training ride - try adjusting your fuelling strategy. Try to take in 60-80g CHO per hour. Try taking 2-3 gels per hour, or a few granola bars, or whatever works best for you - read the labels on your favorite training foods and find what works best for you.
 
Note: Jered has become proficient in making his own tasty gels. 

Contact him for details and/or ideas: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Train Hard - Train Smart
by Jered Gruber
 
It's Winter-time and everyone's goal is to get stronger, improve over last year, and make the gains to accomplish new or long-standing goals. Of course that means training hard, and pushing your body to the limit, and when you push your body as far as it can go, you leave yourself open to sickness, and apart from injury, getting sick is probably the worst thing that can happen in terms of making desired gains...as well as for the simple fact that it's just plain miserable to be sick, both for you and anyone unlucky enough to be around you while you're sick.
 
The best way to avoid getting sick is to stay honest with yourself and be smart about your fatigue levels - the best way to avoid sickness is to not push past that fine line between effective training and just plain too far.
 
There are a few things that you can do to hopefully avoid getting sick this year. Daily monitoring of your training stress parameters is important:
 
How is your sleep - restful or fitful? Do you wake up in the morning feeling refreshed and ready to go?
 
Are you getting adequate nutrition?
 
Do you feel like you've been run over by a train?
 
How does your family feel about you? Do they think you're grouchy, a jerk, a pain? That's a good sign you're going a bit too far and probably treading the razor's edge between getting stronger and getting sick.
 
Apart from these common sense approaches to seeing where exactly you stand, there are also more training-specific means:
 
If you have a powermeter, you can look at how your power is holding compared to your heart rate and rating of perceived exertion. If you're not able to complete workouts at a given wattage because you're too tired, that's a really good sign to pull back on the reins a little bit and take a break. More importantly though, if you watch all three: wattage, HR, and RPE and there's a disconnect between several, there's a big clue to go home and get some rest.
 
Say normally I ride at 200 watts and somewhere between 135-145 HR and that feels fairly easy. After a few days of hard training, I go out to ride and I can ride at 200 watts, but my HR is 125 and I feel like I'm going much harder than normal - that's a barn-burning sign it's time for some rest.
 
The main point, and the simplest of all is the basic fact that you have to be honest with yourself - how do you feel? Do you feel tired, like you've been run over by a train, does your spouse avoid you? Is going for a training ride fun or a chore?
 
Balance fun with hard work.  When the work becomes a bog and the fun vanishes it is usually time to roll off the throttle a little bit.  Remember, training should be fun and enjoyable!

Properly Fitting Your Bicycle: A Simple Four Step Approach for Comfort and Control

Whether you are riding for exercise or training for a race or event, having a proper bike fit where you are comfortable and in control of your bicycle can make all the difference in the world. 

There are as many different methods of bike fit as there are brands of bikes and each claims to be the best.  Using just science or just feel or common sense alone does not work.  We need to combine and balance the two.  Science will measure out what the dimensions should be and common sense tells us how it feels. Mix science and common sense together to obtain a proper, comfortable and safe fit

There are four main areas to look at when fitting your bike.  These are saddle height, saddle setback, handlebar reach and handlebar drop.

Tools you will need:
Level
Allen Wrenches
Plum bob
Tape Measure
Assistant

Saddle Height

The first thing you will need to do is check your saddle and make sure it is level.  Remember to also observe the flooring you are working on and make sure it is level, too.

Next we need to define what you are actually measuring.  Saddle height is measured from the center of the bottom bracket (or center of crank arm bolt) to the top of the sitting part of the saddle.  Most saddles have a natural bow shape curve, although some may be very slight.  The low part of this curve is where you actually sit and where you would want the top part of the measurement to end.

Here you can see the natural bow in the saddle.  Be sure to measure to this point as it is where you will be sitting. 

Now, to find a starting range, there are a few places to begin.  Using a value termed the “Lemond Factor,” made popular by Greg Lemond, you can apply this to your inseam.  Multiply 0.883 by your inseam.  Although this method rarely gives you a spot on position it is a good starting point nonetheless.  Typically, this saddle height tends to be 1-2 centimeters low and this is where common sense and feel enters the equation.

Using a level can help you find the natural bow in your saddle when you measure seat height.

What you want to look for or feel for is a flat forefoot and have your heel slightly up at the bottom of the pedal stroke.  Beware of rocking your hips or over-extending your knees. The main idea is to set your saddle up at a comfortable height that still allows you to apply pressure throughout the downward motion of the pedal stroke.  If your saddle is too low you will notice that you drop your heel to extend the pedal stroke. Likewise, if your saddle is too high you will be extending your heel and “reaching” to finish the pedal stroke.

Saddle Setback

Now, you have your saddle level and the saddle height within a comfortable range.

Let’s look at your saddle setback.  Saddle setback is the relationship of the nose of your saddle to the center of your bottom bracket.

There are a couple of ways to measure saddle setback.  The most convenient and still effective way is to run a plum bob from the nose of your saddle and let it hang down past the chainstay.  Mark this point on your chainstay. Now you can measure from the center of the bottom bracket to this mark. {Keep this value as a reference point}

Drop the Plum bob from the nose of the saddle.

To properly obtain this next measurement you will need some help.

Wearing your cycling shoes, climb onto your bike and have your assistant drop the plumb bob from just below your knee cap to your cranks.  Your crankarm will need to be forward at the 9 o’clock position.  Your foot should be in a position where your foot is level and your heel is slightly up.

 What are you looking for?

The plumb line should bisect your pedal’s axle.

This will be a good starting point for you to fine-tune your position based on feel and comfort.  Different body types, events, riding styles, etc. open the door for cyclists to be more forward or backward of this point.  The main objective is to get to this point then fine tune it with comfort to obtain your position.

Keep this measurement as a reference point.

Handlebar Reach

Unlike the saddle height and saddle setback, handlebar reach does not require tools or multiplication tables. Rather, it relies almost solely on feel.  What feels comfortable and effective? How do you want you bike to handle? 

For reference, handle bar reach is measured from the nose of your saddle to the center of your handle bars in a straight horizontal position.

What are you looking for?  Like the other steps, you want to find a starting point in getting your bike set up.  With your hands on the brake

hoods, you want your torso to be in a 90 degree bent-over position when your upper leg is at 6 o’clock position.  Additionally, you will want your upper arms and torso to create a 90 degree angle.

This should get you to a starting point.  From here you can make adjustments based on how you drive your bike, how aero you want your position to be, and how you ride most of the time (drops, hoods, tops, etc.)  Play around and find what is comfortable without compromising power output and bike handling.

Handlebar Drop

Handlebar drop is the distance between the top of your saddle and the center of your handlebars.

As with setting your handlebar reach, when setting your handlebar drop the main point of focus is balancing comfort with riding style.  If you like a more aerodynamic position, then you will set your drop as low as comfortable without compromising power output or breathing ability.  If racking up miles in a comfortable position is most important to you, then your drop will not be very severe.

A lot of racers will set their handlebar drop anywhere from 3 to 5 inches.  Recreational riders may set their drop less than that in a more upright position.

Of the four main points when sizing your bike, handlebar drop leaves the most room for riders to base the measurement on feel alone. 

When you are done with your handlebar drop placement you will want to make sure that you are comfortable, your drop is not so much that your knees hit your chest, and that you can still safely handle your bicycle.

There are many different measurements that are factored into properly fitting a person on his/her bicycle.  By implementing these measurements into your fit and balancing them with common sense and feel, you will have a great starting point to obtain a great fit.

Keep track of these measurements.  When you switch bikes or parts (cranks, seat, stem, etc) you will always have these measurements as a reference point.

Note: These steps are assuming your cleats and shoes are properly positioned.  Cleat and pedal set up is a whole article within itself.

Finished Product

Here you can see that my position does not necessarily coincide with a “text book fit".  I am within a biomechanical range of desired fit but more importantly I can move around on my bike, I am comfortable and I can handle my bicycle.  If riding easy, I can sit up straighter and be comfortable or when going hard I can bend over and fit my bike under me like a Moto GP racer.  Likewise, if I am climbing I can slide back a little bit on my saddle or if going hard on the flats I can slide forward on the nose.  The key is to not be in such a static state that you can not move around on your bike.

Also, while working to get your bike dialed in, it is important to go ride hard.  Your body will find a spot where it becomes comfortable and efficient while under stress.