Having made good progress on my swim and run in recent weeks, I decided to get started on addressing my biggest weakness the bike leg. So I packed up my two thousand something aluminum frame, Masi Vincere, triple chainring, road bike that I purchased used last summer and headed for West Bicycles in Knoxville for a bike fit.
There I met Kelly, the bike mechanic/fitter, and we began the process of tweaking my bike to better fit my large, fat and imaginatively proportioned body. I have trouble find clothes that fit. Apparently my particular combination of long torso and short limbs never occurred to clothing makers as a possibility. As it goes with apparel so it goes with bicycles. It turns out that I have long femurs and stubby tibias. He did not say a word about my misshapen head. Discretion is important in a bike fitter.
This is my second bike fit and it remains to me a mysterious process. You show up with your bike, bike shoes and shorts. The bike goes on a raised platform where it is locked into a trainer. The bike fitter looks at you, looks at the bike, looks at you, looks at the bike. He has you get on the bike and pedal for a minute or two. I have no idea what goes through a bike fitter’s mind when confronted by a big guy like me and a less than state-of-the-art bike like the Masi. It has to be something like that immortal quote by Scotty from Star Trek, “I can’t change the laws of physics man!” Thankfully Kelly remained stoic, munched his apple, measured, adjusted and soldiered on. Dedication is important in a bike fitter.
The good news was that I did actually have the correct frame size, 56 cm. Score one for me: it’s hard to fix that without buying another bike. Next he moved the seat higher. Then he leveled the seat. Then he moved the seat higher. In total the seat rose about 3.5 cm. Yeah, I had the seat a tiny bit low. I’m kind of glad that I did move it up 1 cm last month. That’s the difference between a new bike owner’s guesswork and a bike fitter’s assessment. Precision is important in a bike fitter.
The change in seat position necessitated changes to the handlebar. Same as it ever was. This mirrored my first bike fit experience with my old, steel-frame Trek 470. It boiled down to either moving the shifters or getting a new handlebar. After some coaching, I went with a FSA Wing Pro alloy compact road bike handlebar wrapped with white Lizard Skins DSP 2.5mm bar tape. The handlebar’s two key selling points for me were it’s shallow drops and Aero-Ergo flat top. I rounded out my upgrades with new Shimano SH-R191 road bike shoes and replaced my old SPD pedals with Shimano 105 road pedals. A quick spin in the parking lot confirmed that I could actually clip in and ride reasonably well.
Real World Road Test
Inspired by my new bike fit and bent on to justify the expense of my new purchases I set off last weekend on my first real road ride of the season. The weather forecast called for a high of 60 and partly cloudy conditions. I try not to quibble with the weather folks but partly cloudy means that some point you actually see the sun. Didn’t happen. And yes they still owe me 10 degrees Fahrenheit as well. So off into the cool, gray day I ride dodging puddles, muddy patches and what looks like cow poo. Apparently cows commute. Guess I should have known, probably crossing the road with chickens who as we know historically commute. We just aren’t sure why. The route was Rader’s Sidetrack just outside Greeneville. It’s a 16.5 mile combination loop and out-and-back route with significant climbs in the middle. I believe this is sometimes referred to as a lollipop route.
http://greenevillehikingclub.com/files/Raders%20Sidetrack%20Map.pdf
As anyone who has made major changes to their bike setup will tell you it’s like coming home after a business trip to find the living room furniture rearranged. Everything is familiar just not where you left it. It will take weeks of riding to discover the benefits of my bike fit and upgrades. So far I love the new handlebar and bar tape. The shallow drops and Aero-Ergo flat top completely rock. I am more comfortable in any hand position: hoods, drops or tops. It’s like a Barcalounger for my hands. The new shoes and pedals are going to take some adjustment. I’m finding clipping in a little tricky but expected this. I have so far avoided the classic stop, and drop because I forgot to or was unable to clip out. Imagine laughing cows if this does occur. I was expecting the higher seat height to make me feel a bit tippy but so far not so much. My man parts are becoming reacquainted with my bike seat. It’s an uncomfortable but familiar occurrence.
As for my performance, I was a little disappointed by my slow speed and poor climbing ability. I had spent a lot of time this winter on a stationary bike doing intervals in the hopes of carrying over what little bike fitness I developed last season. Such is life one bike ride does not a season make. (At least I hope not because if it does I’m sunk lower than James Cameron exploring the Mariana Trench.) So this off season I’ve set the stage for a better tri season, now it’s just a matter of commitment and brainpower. I’ve got to find someone with commitment and brainpower.