P3-SL Fit Session
Location: Tri Shop Plano
Fitter: Trent Nix
Last year, I rode setup my road bike as a "tri" bike. I put on a low end cockpit (PD Ozero/T2+), a forward seatpost, and an ISM saddle. I did my best to get a half-way decent position given the limitations of a road bike, and the Cannondale 1 9/16 steerer (very limited stems to choose from). It worked ok. But, obviously sub-optimal. [[[see thread link]]]
So, this year I wanted to get a Tri bike. Budget is a constraint, so I went the Ebay route. I recently purchased a P3-SL bike frame which is in pristine condition. I built it up into a 1x config--using a mix of new/used parts mostly purchased off Ebay. [[[See thread link]]]
I've read every fit article in slowman's collection. Most of them more than once...and the static bike fit article, I've probably read that 10 times. I used the Diamondback Andean fit calculator to get a guess where my [frame|pad] stack/reach should be and back into what size frames I should be looking for. Couple that with the ST stack-reach database and a long ebay search...I eventually ended up with the 55cm P3-SL.
Fit Session
This was my first triathlon bike fit. And my first bike fit since 2003 on my road bike, which was done at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine.
The session started with a full biomechanical assessment: basic body geometry, flexibility assessment, and hip/knee/ankle movement asssessments. I got "As & Bs" on everything except my hamstrings which have always gotten a D- (on a good day).
From there Trent had me get on the bike and just start riding to get warmed and loosened up. I did most of this on the basebar, but then he had me transition to the aerobars for the last few minutes. After that he had me get off the bike, and he made the first big adjustment of the day. He raised my seat about 4cm!!!
If you followed my build thread, I noted that I bought short cranks: 150mm. I selected that length based on the "your cranks are too long" thread by FindingFreeStyle. he has a table in there that recommends crank-length by heigh/inseam length (cant recall wich). He also recommended going shorter, if in-between sizes. O bought the Origin8 BMX cranks. They are cheap. I figured go-big-or-go-home...I could always buy something longer if they were too short. So, I swung for the fence and bought the 150mm. I made some comments about how short they felt....well, now I know why. My seat was way too low.
After that, Trent had me ride for about 10 minutes in the aero position with the seat up closer to where it should be. Throughout the rest of the session, Trent continued to raise the seat a few milimeters here or there while making other adjustments to the cockpit.
But, the next big adjustment was to push the extensions&pads out 2cm, and rase the stem 1cm. That got my elbows out where they should be. Wow that felt better! contrast that with how I felt upon arrival which was kinda crammed, and pedaling in tiny little circles. Raising the seat really helped with the "clown foot" feeling, and moving the extensions opened up my "chest".
I still had one issue to deal with, I kept sliding forward on the saddle. We did two things to address this: 1) we tilted the cockpit up slightly, and nearly leveled the top of the ISM saddle (its at -3* down, so not level...but close). Those two changes really made it so that I could just "melt" into the arm pads and just pedal.
Finally, he had me just "ride" in aero for about 10 minutes. he stopped me a couple times, and raised the seat a few milimeters, otherwise I just pedalled along. For reference...when I was warming up I noted that I was riding comfortably at 25mph (no load) on the trainer, on the hoods. That speed dropped to 23mph when I moved to the aero position. In the final configuration, compfortable pedaling speed was 28.5 mph in both positions. That feeling of the cranks being "itsy-bitsy" was also gone... everything felt like a normal pedal stroke again.
So, where did I end up?
I have a full Retul report, but here are the basics:
Saddle height: 779mm
Set back: 51mm aft
Eff STA: 77* (ISM saddle)
PadY = 613mm
PadX = 499mm
Pad Drop = 146mm
Back Angle = 18*
Hip angle (closed) = 55*
Hip-Shoulder-Elbow = 80*
Knee Angle = 44* to 109*
Note that the Diamondback calculator put my Pad X/Y at 620/485...versus where we ended up at 613/499. However, when I ran the calculator my seat height was set to 730mm...not the 779mm we ended up at. I assume the 18* back angle pushes my shoulders/elbows out further which would account for the extra 14mm of PadX. Still the calculator got really close, such that I didn't need any new parts as part of the fit session. We just moved things around a little.
It was a fantastic session. Trent was great to work with, and the session was a long conversation of Questions and Answers from topics of comfort level, to riding style, to old injuries, etc. We looked at several videos of my position throghout the session discussing one aspect or another and how to address it.
So, the question is...."Yeah ok. that's great, you had a wonderful fit session. you and trent are good buds now. So what. How does it ride?" Ok, sure...the proof is in the pudding. Here's my long ride data week to week. Same basic course, I just added an extra 5 miles onto the tail end this week.
Last week (pre-fit Geo ): 2:20 hrs / 41 miles AP/NP: 145/163 watts HR: 138 bpm
This Week (post-fit Geo): 2:31 hrs / 46 miles AP/NP: 160/176 watts HR: 144 bpm
I alternated between hoods and aero in both rides. I didn't keep track either time, but I'd guess it was similar. I was WAAAY more tired last week. I could have done another hour, yesterday.
I'll update this with some pictures and maybe some video, when I get a chance.
Location: Tri Shop Plano
Fitter: Trent Nix
Last year, I rode setup my road bike as a "tri" bike. I put on a low end cockpit (PD Ozero/T2+), a forward seatpost, and an ISM saddle. I did my best to get a half-way decent position given the limitations of a road bike, and the Cannondale 1 9/16 steerer (very limited stems to choose from). It worked ok. But, obviously sub-optimal. [[[see thread link]]]
So, this year I wanted to get a Tri bike. Budget is a constraint, so I went the Ebay route. I recently purchased a P3-SL bike frame which is in pristine condition. I built it up into a 1x config--using a mix of new/used parts mostly purchased off Ebay. [[[See thread link]]]
I've read every fit article in slowman's collection. Most of them more than once...and the static bike fit article, I've probably read that 10 times. I used the Diamondback Andean fit calculator to get a guess where my [frame|pad] stack/reach should be and back into what size frames I should be looking for. Couple that with the ST stack-reach database and a long ebay search...I eventually ended up with the 55cm P3-SL.
Fit Session
This was my first triathlon bike fit. And my first bike fit since 2003 on my road bike, which was done at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine.
The session started with a full biomechanical assessment: basic body geometry, flexibility assessment, and hip/knee/ankle movement asssessments. I got "As & Bs" on everything except my hamstrings which have always gotten a D- (on a good day).
From there Trent had me get on the bike and just start riding to get warmed and loosened up. I did most of this on the basebar, but then he had me transition to the aerobars for the last few minutes. After that he had me get off the bike, and he made the first big adjustment of the day. He raised my seat about 4cm!!!
If you followed my build thread, I noted that I bought short cranks: 150mm. I selected that length based on the "your cranks are too long" thread by FindingFreeStyle. he has a table in there that recommends crank-length by heigh/inseam length (cant recall wich). He also recommended going shorter, if in-between sizes. O bought the Origin8 BMX cranks. They are cheap. I figured go-big-or-go-home...I could always buy something longer if they were too short. So, I swung for the fence and bought the 150mm. I made some comments about how short they felt....well, now I know why. My seat was way too low.
After that, Trent had me ride for about 10 minutes in the aero position with the seat up closer to where it should be. Throughout the rest of the session, Trent continued to raise the seat a few milimeters here or there while making other adjustments to the cockpit.
But, the next big adjustment was to push the extensions&pads out 2cm, and rase the stem 1cm. That got my elbows out where they should be. Wow that felt better! contrast that with how I felt upon arrival which was kinda crammed, and pedaling in tiny little circles. Raising the seat really helped with the "clown foot" feeling, and moving the extensions opened up my "chest".
I still had one issue to deal with, I kept sliding forward on the saddle. We did two things to address this: 1) we tilted the cockpit up slightly, and nearly leveled the top of the ISM saddle (its at -3* down, so not level...but close). Those two changes really made it so that I could just "melt" into the arm pads and just pedal.
Finally, he had me just "ride" in aero for about 10 minutes. he stopped me a couple times, and raised the seat a few milimeters, otherwise I just pedalled along. For reference...when I was warming up I noted that I was riding comfortably at 25mph (no load) on the trainer, on the hoods. That speed dropped to 23mph when I moved to the aero position. In the final configuration, compfortable pedaling speed was 28.5 mph in both positions. That feeling of the cranks being "itsy-bitsy" was also gone... everything felt like a normal pedal stroke again.
So, where did I end up?
I have a full Retul report, but here are the basics:
Saddle height: 779mm
Set back: 51mm aft
Eff STA: 77* (ISM saddle)
PadY = 613mm
PadX = 499mm
Pad Drop = 146mm
Back Angle = 18*
Hip angle (closed) = 55*
Hip-Shoulder-Elbow = 80*
Knee Angle = 44* to 109*
Note that the Diamondback calculator put my Pad X/Y at 620/485...versus where we ended up at 613/499. However, when I ran the calculator my seat height was set to 730mm...not the 779mm we ended up at. I assume the 18* back angle pushes my shoulders/elbows out further which would account for the extra 14mm of PadX. Still the calculator got really close, such that I didn't need any new parts as part of the fit session. We just moved things around a little.
It was a fantastic session. Trent was great to work with, and the session was a long conversation of Questions and Answers from topics of comfort level, to riding style, to old injuries, etc. We looked at several videos of my position throghout the session discussing one aspect or another and how to address it.
So, the question is...."Yeah ok. that's great, you had a wonderful fit session. you and trent are good buds now. So what. How does it ride?" Ok, sure...the proof is in the pudding. Here's my long ride data week to week. Same basic course, I just added an extra 5 miles onto the tail end this week.
Last week (pre-fit Geo ): 2:20 hrs / 41 miles AP/NP: 145/163 watts HR: 138 bpm
This Week (post-fit Geo): 2:31 hrs / 46 miles AP/NP: 160/176 watts HR: 144 bpm
I alternated between hoods and aero in both rides. I didn't keep track either time, but I'd guess it was similar. I was WAAAY more tired last week. I could have done another hour, yesterday.
I'll update this with some pictures and maybe some video, when I get a chance.