Pedal Pushers Cycles / Stevehoggbikefitting.Com

Pedal Pushers Cycles / stevehoggbikefitting.com

CycleFit Report for

Name:

Date:

Email:

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Ph. 612 8338 8911

Fx. 612 8338 8922

COMFORT + EFFICIENCY = PERFORMANCE

BACKGROUND

SECTION1. WHAT IS CYCLEFIT?

Cyclefit is process developed by Steve that is based on the idea that optimising neural function precedes biomechanics in importance. Biomechanics is the ‘child’ or neural function. All systems of bike fitting, no matter how sophisticated they may appear are based on biometric (measurement based) or biomechanical models.

Critiquing these approaches one at a time; biometric systems fail because measuring a client’s limb lengths and body proportions is the static quantification of only one aspect of a person engaged in a dynamic activity (cycling) and doesn’t consider the enormous range of functional differences that occur amongst people of similar size and proportions. Functional differences; like degree of flexibility, stability, pedaling technique, functional and neurological asymmetries and so on. I hope there isn’t anyone who still seriously believes that measuring your torso length, arm and leg length and proportions and consulting standard tables for information equals a quality bike fit.

Biomechanical models are much more complex and often use tooling like video or motion capture that have a WOW! factor. But they miss the target in one crucial aspect. That is that neural function isn’t considered. Optimal biomechanical function largely depends on optimal neural function because every action on a bike starts with a signal from the brain or elsewhere in the central nervous system that is at least in part based on a constant flow of proprioceptive feedback from the body. This process needs to be optimised within the functional constraints exhibited by the rider. Optimal neural function is intimately related to good posture and adequate flexibility.

A bicycle is a symmetrical apparatus in a positional sense but humans all function with varying degrees of asymmetry. So it is important that a good position allows the rider to be as functionally symmetrical as their current structural make up allows. Any challenge to the rider’s position from any source, whether it be poor position, inflexibility or lack of proprioceptive awareness from the parts of the body involved in generating force, or issues with the spatial awareness component of vision, or of the vestibular system, will cause the rider to develop a pattern of compensation. All patterns of compensation increase the tendency to asymmetry. So a quality bike fit is mainly concerned with establishing a functionally symmetrical position by identifying and removing as many challenges to the rider’s position as possible. In addition principles of fitting that I have evolved are applied. The nature of these fitting principles means that the detail of their individual application varies as much as people do.

Steve thought of the name CycleFit in September ’96. Since then a number of businesses in the U.K. Germany, Belgium and the U.S. have taken to using the same or a similar name. We have no connection, past or present, with any of these businesses. There are a number of people who imply a connection with me or who claim to use “Steve Hogg methods”. Steve has no connection past or present with any of these people.

The only people that have trained with us and are authorised to say so are those listed below.

ScherritKnoesen
of The Bike Whisperer
185 Pitshanger Lane
Ealing, London
W51RQ
U.K.
Phone: 0208 998 7271
/ Colby Pearce
Of Pearce Coaching
Suite G, 2480 Wilderness Place
Boulder 80301
Colorado
U.S.A
Phone: 303 884 8088

Jerry Gerlich
of Castle Hill Cycles
12th Street and North Lamar
@ Castle Hill Fitness
Austin, Texas 78703
U.S.A.
Phone: 512 478 4567
/ Mark Dwyre
of T.I. Cycle
711 King St East
Gananoque
Ontario K7G1H4
Canada
Phone: 613 382 5144

SECTION 2. WHAT SHOULD I EXPECT AFTER A CYCLEFIT

As an activity, cycling requires the central nervous system to switch muscles on and off in a precise and complex sequence. Repetition ‘embeds’ this motor pattern Your position on the bike has been changed and the motor pattern you have evolved in the past is no longer going to work well, because the physical relationships between the contact points (seat, bars, brake levers and pedals) on your bike are no longer the same.

This means that for a period you may feel a bit strange and lacking in power as you will be firing muscles out of sync with what is required by the changed position. A common experience which can be paraphrased in a variety of ways is “First week: weak and powerless. Second week: weird but comfortable. Third week: getting it together”

My strong advice is to ride as often as possible for the first 3 weeks but at low to moderate intensities only. At heart rates of no higher than 75% of your maximum is ideal. This means, no racing, no hard efforts and stay away from steep hills. Our bodies adapt much more quickly to positional changes at low intensities. At higher intensities we tend to fall back into patterns of motion that we are used to but that won’t work well anymore, because of the altered position. From the fourth week onwards, ride as hard as you feel the need.

If you have any one off niggles or aches, it may not be a concern. BUT, if there is any pattern to any aches or pains you may experience, or if they get worse ride on ride, this is not normal, so PLEASE CONTACT US. Don’t try and ride through pain! The chances of problems of this type occurring are low but if you are in any doubt, contact us.

If you decide to embark on a regime of structural improvement (and most of you will be advised to), then it is a good idea, once you feel you have noticeably improved how your body functions off the bike, to book an hour with us and have the implications checked out.

Remember - Your body adapts far faster and with less discomfort when subjected to moderate loads. Be sensible.

If you have any queries contact us.

Remember - People are not static. They change over time. From time to time you may need a positional ‘tune-up’. When that is necessary, contact us.

Remember – COMFORT + EFFICIENCY = PERFORMANCE

SECTION3.NOTE REGARDING ONGOING ADVICE:

10 – 30 times a week I am called upon to answer emails from people that I have positioned in the past as to whether a bike or frame they may be considering is suitable for them and what the various implications of any particular choice are regarding fit.

While I am happy to help in any individual case, the sheer volume of mail means that this can be extremely time consuming. To answer these mails I have to:

• Open your file
• Open a net browser
• Look at the web sites of the manufacturers of the frames or bikes that you may be looking at
• Find the frame geometry for each option you are looking at;
• Calculate the implications relative to the ideal frame geometry for you
• Write an email recommendation regarding the suitability of each option and explain enough detail so that you can make an informed choice etc.

Occasionally a mail may be in relation to a cycling technical matter. Given the amount of unpaid time that this consumes, I have to establish some ground rules.

1. For a period of 3 months after I position someone I will not charge for this kind of advice. After 3 months has elapsed, you will receive a PayPal invoice for time consuming queries that are outside ‘normal’ bike shop queries. I won’t charge for every query, but I will charge for those that are time consuming to answer.

Effectively the world of cycling is a single market and for a host or reasons, it is often less expensive to buy off shore as many of you have found. I don’t have a problem with that philosophically, but as a result, I need to charge for what we have the greatest demand for - advice.

This step has been necessary for some time but I have been reluctant to institute it. What finally cracked me was a gent who I had fitted sending me a ‘short list’ of 27 frames that he was considering purchasing and wishing to know which was most suitable and what the implications of any particular choice would be. None with links to the manufacturers web sites. 5.5 hours later, he had his answer and I had learneda big lesson.

2. All the info you require to complete a comparison of this nature is inSection9. How To Determine Whether A Frame Fits You

3. After reading Section 9, if you still require advice regarding the suitability of a bike or frame, save me time and yourself money by providing an email link to the frame geometry of the bike or frame that you are considering. Alternately, you can cut and paste the frame geometry into the email that you send me. If you don’t, I will still answer your questions, but it will cost you more.

Thank you for your understanding

SECTION 4.FURTHER READING

You have spent 4 hours here and are probably suffering from information overload. I would rather be guilty of that than the converse. The two articles that follow are an attempt to put whatever you remember back into context. After reading them, if you develop an interest in this sort of thing, there is much, much more on our website.

Bright Speech transcript ( Prior to Alpine Classic 2007)

Steve Hogg copyright 2007

I am going to ask you to make a leap in your thinking about bike position. If you are conditioned to reading the commonly available information, you may need to go over this several times to grasp the concepts.

All modern thinking about how to fit a human to a bike is reductionist in approach. Take a complex system of interactions like a human being, quantify it somehow and fit it to a bike. Because it's a complex system, break down that complexity into bite size pieces by examining aspects of its interaction with the bike in a narrow sense. The approach might be strictly biomechanical, perhaps measurement based, statistical norm based or whatever. It may have a proprietary name; Fit Kit, Bio Racer and Wobblenaught spring to mind, though there are others. That is how the world thinks of a bike fit process. It's a succession of steps of narrow focus but without any overarching idea of holistic intent,; which is what I mean by a reductionist approach. The formula driven methods this type of approach engenders are prevalent throughout the cycling world and don't work optimally for large numbers of people in any way that can be shown or explained. I spend a large part of my working life getting results for the people that the above style of thinking has failed.

The two major forces working against a cyclist are gravity and wind drag. That should be self evident and beyond argument. Our pattern of muscular enlistment changes as we change our relationship to gravity, and wind resistance increases as the square of the increase in speed. It follows that how we relate our bodies to gravity and how we equip ourselves to overcome wind drag are the keys to optimal performance. Another necessity is comfort. I would define comfort as the harmonious interaction of the muscular and cardiovascular system while proprelling the bike with minimum effort required to maintain a position on the bike. Conversely, I would define lack of comfort as muscles being enlisted for purposes they weren't designed for and / or for periods that they can't cope with.

Comfort + Efficiency = Performance.

Brain activity.

Observation 1:" 90% of brain activity is tied up in relating the body to gravity" (quote: Roger Sperry - 1981 Nobel Prize Winner for brain research). To talk more about the implications of this with regard to bike position we need to know:

Posturally or phasically.

Observation 2: Our external musculature works in one of two ways, posturally or phasically. If beset by a challenge, the brain will ALWAYS prioritise the muscles acting posturally as they are the ones that allow us to resist gravity, maintain an erect position and play a major part in breathing. In contrast muscles acting phasically are the muscles that generate power to propel bicycle and rider. Yet the brain gives them a lower priority because there is greater evolutionary value in being able to breathe than there isin being able to move.

The postural / phasic split is a generalisation but an accurate one. Some postural muscles like the hamstrings and gastrocnemius act phasically on a bike because they are relieved of the need to help maintain an erect posture as they do when standing.

Neurological basis to an optimal bike position

Observation 3: Taken together Fact 1 and Fact 2 mean that there is a neurological basis to an optimal bike position. To be most efficient, we need to sit on a bike in such a way as to enlist the minimum amount of postural musculature. If we achieve that, we can devote the greatest effort, both neurologically and physiologically, to switching on and off the muscles acting phasically that generate power, and the minimum effort to controlling the higher priority postural muscles that allow us to hold a position on a bike relative to gravity.

When needlessly enlisted, these postural muscles diminish performance by robbing heart beats, blood flow and oxygen from the muscles that propel the bike.

Minimum effort, maximum gain

Observation 4: The only way this is achievable on a UCI legal bike is to have the seat the minimum distance behind the bottom bracket that allows the rider to cantilever their torso out from their pelvis with no more effort required of the upper body during periods of high intensity than the minimum necessary to steer and control the bike.

Why is this a big deal?

Lungs

Observation 5: There are 20 torso muscles used in respiration. Of those twenty, eighteen have postural implications which mean that they can be used to breathe with, or they can be used to bear weight and to stabilise with. If you want to breathe to fullest capacity, then these muscles need to be able to relax to allow full breathing. This isn't possible if they carry tension because they are being used to bear weight or to resist pedaling forces. Equally, many riders have poor ability to extend their thoracic spines and sit on their bikes with a pronounced curve in their spine as viewed from the side. If you function like this, you are reducing your effective lung capacity as limited ability to extend the spine means a shorter effective torso length, which in turn equals lack of room for the lungs to expand into.

I have to digress here. Many triathletes and TT riders ride much further forward than what I have described above and support significant weight with their arms and shoulder complex while still performing well. How can this be?

My experience is this. I am happy to believe that a rider can trade off comfort for increased aerodynamic efficiency and possible increased performance even at the cost of reducing effective lung capacity to whatever degree, and still ride as fast or faster in TT and Tri situations. But there is no getting away from the fact that riding like this means a lot of weight is supported by the upper body while concurrently, propulsive power is developed by the lower body. Where do the stresses of this approach meet?

In the lumbar and / or thoracic spine.

Some people can ride quite effectively like this at some structural cost over time. But many can't and so it is not for everyone. A substantial proportion of forward position riders develop significant muscle and postural imbalances over time. Some feel the effects quickly and shy away. But many don’t feel the effects for years. When a problem has taken 3 – 10 years to arise, there are no 5 minute solutions. Those who can make radical forward position work are best advised to give structural maintenance and improvement the highest priority in their training; otherwise they can butt up against the limits that their structure and bike position imposes on them more quickly than a position based on the principles I am talking about here.

Structural fitness

Observation 6: The major variable in determining how far back the seat needs to be will not be how the rider is proportioned, though that can't be totally discounted. It will be the level of structural fitness (posture / flexibility / functional stability) of the rider and the techniques that they bring to the task. An optimal bike position is a reflection of the functional abilities of the rider and considers the purpose they want to put their body and bike to for the period they would like to do it.

Cleat position

Observation 7: Cleat position plays a much larger part in the entire picture of rider on bike than is generally realised. Every watt of power you produce is transferred to the bike via your feet on the pedals. This relationship needs to be optimised if the goal is efficient and comfortable performance. The world generally believes that the centre of the ball of the foot ; the 1st MTP (metatarsophalangeal) joint should be over the centre of the pedal axle. As a general recommendation this is rubbish and demonstrably so. Grab a broomstick, cricket bat, baseball bat or other long lever. Hold your lever in both hands with elbows comfortably bent. Stand a friend in front of you at a distance that allows you to place the end of your lever a few inches beyond the side of their shoulder. Exert force and try and move your friend sideways. You won't be very effective.