When a Bike Fit is Optimal

1.   You should be COMFORTABLE on your bike - don’t wait to the point of pain before seeking help!

2.   You should feel like you have about 30-40% of your weight on your hands while you are in your brake hoods and 60-75% of your weight on the saddle (if you measured weight distribution it would be 45% hands /  55% saddle or so).

3.   You should feel like 60-75% of the weight on your saddle is on the bony part of your pelvis (ischial tub / rami) with minimal weight on your ‘soft tissues’.

4.   Your elbows should be relaxed, bent slightly (about 20-30 degrees) and not locked, with your neck relaxed.

5.   Your back should be almost flat, not hunched over.

6.   Your knees should move in a plane parallel to the bike frame. They should not move closer or farther away from the top tube on the way up and down through the pedal rotation.

7.   Your hips should not rock more than ½ - 1 inch side to side.

Some of the above requirements are affected by the body’s flexibility, core stability, and an understanding of good cycling mechanics.

For a decent starting position (a quick guesstimate):

Seat

·     Height: knee fully extended with HEEL on pedal at maximum reach WITHOUT hips dropping, or .87 x inseam measured from top of saddle along seat tube to center of bottom bracket.

·     Fore / aft of saddle: knee over pedal spindle with foot flat and crank arm horizontal. You’ll need help here.

·     Angle: about horizontal so that you’re not sliding forward and the saddle is not tipped up into you.

Cleats  

·     Rotation of cleat: should allow your feet to stay in their current anatomical neutral position. Knees should not be forced to twist in an unnatural position. Note that this is not always symmetrical.

·     Fore / aft: the back of ball of your foot is over the pedal spindle (center of pedal).

·     In / out (Q angle): move cleat relative to the shoe to make a straight line from your upper leg through your lower leg and 2^nd toe.

Bar position

·     Reach set-up so that you are COMFORTABLE on brake hoods / shifters with a functional length stem (8-12 cm long with a slight up angle).

·     Drop depends entirely on flexibility, strength, and goals. Generally the top of the hoods should be 1 -2 inches above the saddle for fair flexibility / core stability and 1-2 inches below for excellent flexibility / core stability.

All of the above are generic recommendations which can vary drastically between people depending on one’s goals, flexibility, strength, core stability, past medical history and many other factors.  Please consult your fitter or medical professional before implementing. Also, ALWAYS mark and measure your current position BEFORE moving anything.

By: Curtis Cramblett, PT, CSCS, CFMT, Chair; Medicine of Cycling Bike Fit Task Force & Dave Hopkins, Retul, Specialized Fit Certified

Contact Revolutions In Fitness to Optimize Your Position Today! 

Palo Alto - San Francisco - San Jose | (650)260-4743 | Office@RevolutionsInFitness.com | www.RevolutionsInFitness.com

TIBCO Pro Team's Physiotherapy & Bike Fit

In February, TIBCO Professional Cycling visited Revolutions in Fitness for a day of Cycling Analysis and Physical Therapy.

TIBCO Pro Cycling with Curtis Cramblett, Jeanette Krogstad, and Jennifer Sheppard from Revolutions in Fitness

Curtis assessing Emma Grant's cycling position.

Jen checking Emma's pedaling dynamics.

Curtis measures Sara Clafferty.

Jeanette checking pelvic stability and flexibility

Physiotherapy is an integral part of bike fit.

The Revolutions in Fitness physiotherapy and fit team.

Bike Fit for Kids: At-Home and Professional

Does your kid need a bicycle fitting, or cycling position optimization?
Probably not. 
If your child is under 13 years old and only riding around the block or possibly back and forth to school, then a professional fitting is certainly not necessary. However, some basics can help your child be more efficient and comfortable and stay healthy on the bike.
When the saddle position is correct, your child will pedal more efficiently with more ease and comfort.
A good estimate for seat height (A in the diagram to the right) is approximately ½ inch less than your kid’s

·       A good estimate for seat height (A) is approximately 
½ inch less than your kid’s inseam.

·       Next, put the nose of the saddle approximately 1 ½ to 
3 inches behind the center of the bottom bracket (B).

·       Once the saddle is in the right position, get the 
handlebars about level with the saddle (D = 0), and 
adjust the reach (C) so that when your kid grabs the 
handlebars, he or she is not locking out his or her 
elbows.

inseam.  You can measure inseam length yourself, or you might already know it from the child’s pant length size. Seat height is measured from the center of the bottom bracket (the axle where the crank arms go through) to the top of the saddle in line with the frame of the bike.
Next put the nose of the saddle approximately 1 ½ to 3 inches behind the center of the bottom bracket (B). You can use a plumb line going straight down from the nose of the saddle to measure this distance accurately.
Proper handlebar position will minimize strain for your son or daughter's neck, upper back, and shoulders.
Once the saddle is in the right position, set the handlebars up by adjusting the stem so your child does not have to reach too far or down. Get the handlebars about level with the saddle (D = 0), and adjust the reach (C) so that when your kid grabs the handlebars, he or she is not locking out his or her elbows.
These basics will keep most kids comfortable and efficient on their bikes. If your child is riding a bit more intensively, consider bringing him or her in for a professional bike fit. Many of the kids we work with for cycling position optimization are 13 years or older and are riding more than 7 to 10 hours per week. These kids can be riding for fun or even considering racing. A professional bike fit will help keep your child efficient, comfortable, and injury-free throughout a lifetime of dedicated cycling.

Revolutions in Fitness provides cycling position optimization for dedicated
junior riders, like these members of the San Jose Bicycle Club.

In case you decide that a professional cycling position optimization is right for a child you know, we are offering a 50% DISCOUNT on bike fit for children now through the end of the year. Great for last minute stocking stuffers! Email or call to order: office@revolutionsinfitness.com / (650) 260-4743

My Aching Body

By Curtis Cramblett, P.T., CSCS, Expert Level Cycling Coach

If you sat at your computer in a poor ergonomic position for six hours straight, bending and straightening your elbows 300,000 times or more, you’d expect a repetitive strain injury, right? 

Cycling is similar in that it too is a poor ergonomic position with repetitive motions. In a six-hour ride your knees, hips and ankles will bend and straightening approximately 300,000 times. Your neck and back will be in a constant forward position. So if you want to prevent or get rid of aches follow Coach Curtis’s “5 F’s of Training”

1. Bike Fit: Andy Pruitt once said changing the seat height by a mere inch changes the mechanics and muscle actions of every joint in the lower extremity. I find that changing it by 1/16th of an inch can cause or alive pain! For example, if you decrease the seat height you increase the forces on the front of the knee, but if your saddle is too high, forces increase in your hamstrings, low back and hands.

WHAT TO DO: 

Educate yourself on bike fits and make the appropriate changes. If you are doing rides longer than 2 hours or multiple days then I recommend getting a professional bike fit. 

2./3. Fatigue ability (endurance/strength) and Flexibility 

Think Yin and Yang of muscles and joints

Muscles need to be both strong and flexible to allow proper movement and support of the joints in your body. As mentioned above, this is especially important for cyclists because our joints are either stuck in a static position as with the upper extremity or in repetitive motion as in the lower extremity. 

If joints are not flexible AND strong then you’re asking for trouble. What’s more, muscles on either side of the joint need to be balanced. For example, many cyclists have very strong quadriceps muscles (front of the thigh) and relatively weaker hamstring muscles (back of the thigh). This is similar to the unequal guide wires on a tent causing the tent to tip. 

WHAT TO DO:

- Static positions need to be reversed. This means occasionally backward bending when you get off your bike.

- Strengthening and stretching both sides of the body joints. Incorporate pulling and pushing exercises to strengthen the upper body, and hamstring and quadriceps exercises for the lower body. --Use proper pedal mechanics (discussed below).

4. Fitness Progression - Proper progressive training

You might expect an injury if, in one week, you increased weights in the gym by 60%. However, many people think nothing of increasing their longest ride from a 40 mile ride to a 65 mile in one week, the same 60 percent increase. Once our bodies have reached their fitness limits they can only tolerate gradual increases of no greater than 5-10 percent per week of mileage or time increases. Frequent high-intensity rides or long rides with greater than moderate intensity will also lead to injury. 

WHAT TO DO:

- Intense rides (greater than 75 percent of max heart rate) should be limited to one to 2-3 days a week. 

- Gradually progress time spent on the bike and/or mileage in 5 to 10 percent increments per week.

- Every 3-6 weeks decrease your training time by 40-60% to allow your body to regenerate and adapt to training. 

5. Cycling Form - How you pedal counts

Pushing hard gears is analogous to walking up a flight of stairs two or three steps at a time, when you only need to take them one at a time. By selecting easier gears you break up the same amount of work over more pedal strokes, taking a great deal of stress off of your knees. 

WHAT TO DO: 

- You should aim for a cadence (pedal revolutions per minute) of 85 to 95 on a flat road and no less than 70 on a hill. You can achieve this by selecting the proper gear for your ability. However, on a significant hill, this can present a challenge without a triple chain ring on your front gears. 

- Improper pedal form will also cause pain: not pushing and pulling on the pedal. Or if knees are not staying in a straight line when you pedal then your form needs some work. If you notice your knees bowing out or in relative to the top tube of your bike, ouch, this is you. 

- Use all your muscles to propel yourself forward. With proper pedal strokes, both your quadriceps and hamstrings play a part. Imagine your pedal going through a full circle; as your foot moves to the bottom position of the stroke, imagine scraping bubble gum off the bottom of your shoe. Then, pull your knees toward your handlebars as you bring your foot to the top of the stroke. This will take pressure off of the front of your knee and give those tired quadriceps a rest.

- Focus on keeping your knees going straight up and down. This problem is frequently a bike fit issue however. 

6. Fuel and Hydration - Nutrition

Proper fuel, water, and electrolytes will fuel those muscular engines. With out it they will seize up, cramp and sputter. Imagine trying to run an unleaded car on leaded gas. This is what happens when we do not fill a body with what it needs to carry out those long rides.

WHAT TO DO:

- Research suggests 55 to 65 percent of our fuels should be in the form of carbohydrates, mostly complex. Fifteen to thirty percent of our foods should be fats and 10 to 20 percent protein.

- Drink between two and four liters of water a day depending upon your workout intensities. Watch your urine; it should be a light yellow color. Check your weight before and after a ride, it should not change by more than 1 pound if it does replace it with the water you have lost!

For recommended readings and more in depth articles on the subjects mentioned in this article, please visit my website at RevolutionsinFitness.com

Curtis@RevolutionsInFitness.com

www.RevolutionsInFitness.com

w:(408)676-7430 

Licensed Physical Therapist

Personal Trainer

Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist

USCF, USA Expert Level Cycling Coach

Certified Spinning Instructor

DOES CRANK LENGTH MATTER?

Does crank arm length matter in a time trial position?
A letter of observation from Curtis Cramblett, PT, CFMT, CSCS, Level II Cycling Coach; after returning from Garmin Team Camp, December 2010. 

I just came back from the Garmin professional cycling team camp in Grand Cayman Islands where some great discussions happened regarding crank length. Research is starting to suggest that changing crank lengths by 2.5-5mm does not change power for endurance athletes. This has also been true in my experience. Athletes, without trying, increase their cadence, making up for the slight loss in leverage. The benefits of shortening up your crank length on a time trial bike, is that as your knee and your hip come over the top of the pedal stroke, your hip and your knee have to bend less. Keeping the angles closer to what they are on your road position, and making it easier to keep the momentum over the top of the stroke. That’s a very good thing if you consider your hip has to bend so much more in a time trial position, while your torso angle comes down, in order to get very aerodynamic. When this drop in torso closes up the hip angle, basically you increase hip bend and the amount of stretch to your hip muscles in the back, including your hamstrings. Additionally this puts the muscles in the front of the hip, the hip flexors, at a much more shortened position and when muscles gets very short, they have a harder time contracting.  

David Zabriski, Curtis Cramblett

Curtis Cramblett, Christian's Van De Velde

In summary, as crank length goes down, we are still trying to figure out how much is still efficient for most people. As crank length goes down the decreased hip and knee bend at the top makes it easier to clear the top of pedal stroke, and thus allows less bumping of your knees into your chest. For most cyclists, a feeling of easier breathing comes with that, keeping them appropriately positioned over the top of the pedal. For those triathletes out there, it also seems to make it easier to then hop off the bike and transition into your run. So there's not enough good research yet, however the cutting edge thought these days, is to consider having 2 different crank lengths; one for your road bike and one for your time trial bike - where the time trial bike is shorter. 

Many will suggest that getting used to one and then switching over to the other is detrimental, because you’re use to a certain pedal circle. However my experience, and other avid cyclists experience, suggests that it’s a lot easier to get used to a smaller circle than it is to get used to a more bent hip angle, closed hip angle and it’s easier to keep your power levels higher with a more open hip angle where you’re fighting this pedal at the top of the stroke. Gives us something to think about, and I would suggest you checkout Slowtwitch.com, look up crank length, there are some nice discussions going on there, and I think you will see a lot more cyclists and triathletes; when in time trial positions, choosing to shorten up their cranks in the next couple years.
— Curtis Cramblett, PT, CFMT, CSCS, Level II Cycling Coach. Revolutions In Fitness.

Introduction to Revolutionizing your Bike Fit

As most avid cyclists already know, riding a bicycle represents fun, fitness, companionship with fellow riders. Unfortunately, most cyclists at some point in their lives have learned their bicycles can also be a source of aches, pains and overuse injuries. There is hope, however. Ongoing developments in bike fit technology, greater biomechanical understanding relative to cyclists’ needs and sophisticated bike fitting techniques have resulted in a comprehensive bike fit solution capable of addressing the underlying causes of physical complaints, and returning the affected rider to comfort on the bike.

What Should A Comprehensive Bike Fit Include?

Since the above suggests the prospect of a bike fit as a source of ‘pain relief,’ it is important to note that not all bike fit providers are created equal. Instead, the achy rider would do well to ensure his bike fit solution of choice marries physical therapy/biomechanics evaluation and treatment, and appropriate technology with traditional evaluation and adjustments to the bike itself. Only then is a bike fit solution truly comprehensive and able to:

• Accurately evaluate the patient’s physical dysfunction/source of pain on the bike, rather than simply guessing at the problem
• Effectively translate on-table evaluation and treatment, into on-bike changes in patient biomechanics
• Determine a short-term bike position that accommodates and facilitates healing by reducing stress on injured/recovering tissues.

Lucas Euser of Garmin Slipstream 

As a minimum the following bike fit-related contact point dimensions should be checked (and adjusted, if appropriate):

• Cleat position – Fore/aft, rotation and medial/lateral
• Seat height – Fore/aft, seat angle (this dimension is best determined via motion capture technology such as Retül, a goniometer can be substituted not available)
• Handlebar position – Determined by handlebar stem length/angle
• Handlebar dimensions – Width, reach and drop (road bike)/brake lever position

The above dimensions have ‘neutral/efficient positions’ for the average healthy cyclist; however, they can also be altered to reduce tissue stress if disorders such as hamstring tendonitis, cervical disc injury, and Achilles tendon injuries are present. The bike fitter must know which dimension must be adjusted in light of the patient’s biomechanics. In addition, the fitter must understand which components might need to be replaced or added to the patient’s bike as part of the bike fit process, e.g., addition of forefoot or rear foot shims to patient’s clipless pedal system to address foot tilt, or changing out improperly sized handlebars to achieve appropriate width. 

At Revolutions In Fitness, a long-time provider of physical therapy comprehensive bike fits, such adjustments, along with physical therapy evaluation/treatment and advanced biomechanical tools such as Retül (motion capture) and Spin Scan (pedal mechanics), have often eliminated patient pain with a single bike fitting session! 

For an in-depth article on comprehensive bike fitting, visit  www.revolutionsinfitness.com/articles.html.

Revolutions In Fitness – Who We Are:

Revolutions In Fitness Inc. is a physical therapist-owned outpatient orthopedic cash practice providing a range of services and products to enhance human performance including comprehensive bike fitting, physical therapy, cycling coaching, personal training, cycling efficiency analysis, power/heart rate zone testing and custom orthotics. Founded by Curtis Cramblett, LPT, CFMT, CSCS in 2003, the Revolutions In Fitness team has since helped people from all walks of life, from mainstream patients seeking recovery from aches, pains and injuries, to the pro-level athlete vying for a podium position at the season’s A-level races. Recent successes include:

• Designated physical therapy/bike fit provider, Garmin Transition Pro Cycling Team (Gerona, Spain) – Provide of on-site team member evaluation on/off bike, implement related bicycle adjustments, and summarize for Garmin Transitions medical staff biomechanical dysfunctions associated with each team member requiring treatment in order to improve rider efficiency.
• Bike fit provider of choice – Chris Lieto (2nd place finisher, Ironman Kona 2009) and 2004/2008 Olympians

A number of aspects make Revolutions In Fitness different from other comprehensive bike fit providers:

• Comprehensive bike fits incorporating physical therapy evaluation/treatment and use of advanced biomechanical tools such as Retül (motion capture) and Spin Scan (pedal mechanics)
• Highly qualified and educated staff with advanced Manual Therapy Certifications
• In-depth knowledge of athletes and their performance needs and goals
• Revolutions In Fitness has two locations in San Jose and Menlo Park, and employs two licensed physical therapists and one ATC, a recent finisher of Revolutions In Fitness’ bike fit fellowship program.