I’ve come to thinking about bike fit like trying to draw a perfect circle. There seems to be always room for improvement. Seems like every year I come up with a new tweak that makes me think of all of the wasted time I spent on previously (more) incorrect saddle position. Every year I get to a point where I think I’m really set up well, and then something will suggest or force a change, and I find that position better, sometimes in terms of comfort, sometimes performance.
I spent about 10 years riding various combinations of saddle height/front/back/up/down/stem changes, etc… for triathlons. At points I was comfy and strong, but the next year something changed. Maybe it was strength, or skeletal changes, or I was heavier or lighter that year. Whatever it was, things were not as they always had been.
3 years ago Calfee built me a road bike around 650c wheels, 74 degree seat tube, etc… because I’m a short guy and I already had a bunch of 650 wheels. I rode that bike for training and for Ironmans for 2 seasons, and while I was comfortable, and stronger than on my previous bike, I was never as strong as some of my other training partners, and I KNEW I should have been.
So this year I’ve been riding with roadies, and my oh my is it a whole new world. They do a Wednesday evening 30 mile race/group training ride and I started joining them. I got dropped in 20 minutes the first two times. I am blown away by the fact that I can ride 112 miles, solo, at 20mph, and then run a marathon, but I can’t keep up with these guys for 90 minutes at 22mph through hilly countryside. One of the faster guys turns out to be a high school buddy, and has kind of taken me under his wing. I now make it about an hour, and its been through a combination of new training style and his suggestions on proper road bike fit. My goal for the year is to finish with the pack. No longer am I sitting forward, but very far back (compared to the past 10 years) and WAY WAY lower, and I am finding a level of comfort and power I never dreamed possible. Next year, however, I’ll find something new that makes me think this year’s position sucks.
So I’m still tweaking that damned saddle/bike fit. Stem changes, saddle and seat post adjustments, etc…I’ll probably take another 10 years to get it right.
Is bike fit always a dynamic thing? Is there a perfect circle?
