The main article in this issue highlights the big differences between bike racers and triathletes and why triathletes get short shrift in bike shops. I also outline how we want to bridge this gap and provide more and better information for you regardless of your cycling event. Finally, we are ramping up the BikeTech Help Desk which is replacing the Q&A section in this Ezine as well as our campaign to find the questions you want answered.

Our BikeTech Help Desk has two questions. The first deals optimum saddle height and the second discusses the positioning of cleats on your shoes.

Don’t forget to visit our blog as new stuff is posted there almost daily. It is easy to subscribe to the blog so you can get updates sent to you.

Thanks again for letting me share with you a little about cycling. I respect your time and will strive to continue to make it worth it.

Our Custom Bicycle Consulting trips to Dallas are now demand based. I am also adding Houston and Austin so if you need help, I will get to you somehow. If you want me to come to your city and do custom bike fit consultations for you and your colleagues, contact me and we can arrange it. To make it cost effective for you, I need to be able to work with a group of people so let’s talk.

Other events that I will be attending to either participate or take Facebook photos of you will start showing up here too. Don’t forget to send me invitations if you want me to come to your event. I am able to put together a very nice talk, clinic or even a custom bicycle event.

I always knew triathletes didn’t feel welcome in many bike shops. I don’t feel welcome in many bike shops. That topic has been discussed to death and I am learning what the focus is with triathletes, triathlon coaches and triathlon stores. Huge gaps in expertise and knowledge from the stores to the coaches to the athletes exist. It appears that when triathletes start down this path, most know how to run, many have to learn to swim to keep from drowning and almost all generally relegate the bike to third place regarding focus. If I were entering the triathlon sport, I would have to learn to run and to swim, and I know how to ride a road bike and a time trial bike, so that priority would work pretty well for me, but does it really serve most of the triathletes?

The current state of the bicycle industry is as follows: Bike fitting, women cyclists and triathletes are the hot ticket this year. Because of this, everybody claims to be the best fitter in the world, the best at helping women and of course the perfect purveyor of triathlon bikes. Two years ago these were young bike racers working in bike shops selling racing bikes and now they are experts in three other fields. Can this be true in practice? Of course not. They are no more expert than they were, but they are marketing themselves as such and the consumer who doesn’t know what real expertise is compared to marketing hype is the loser.

I have been studying bike fit for over 25 years and have seen the evolution of road bikes, time trial bikes, and bicycle technology for decades. Since I decided to refocus KGS Bikes to better serve triathletes this year, I took my trusty camera out of the studio and started going to triathlons for a couple of reasons. One, I needed to meet a lot more triathletes! Two, I wanted to go out and see for myself what triathletes look like on their bikes when actually racing. (The position is similar to bike racing’s time trial position but the effort is different which drives the position difference). The third benefit is, I have been able to share these pictures on Facebook and Flickr which is good for the triathletes and fun for me, a true win-win.

The results of my assessment of triathlon with respect to the bike is a little embarrassing for the bicycle industry, as I have seen more people with horrible setups than I could have imagined. Granted, I now know that there are some quite good triathlon focused bike shops that do a great job for many folks but the percentage of people who are relying on so called expert’s information and struggling with the bike on top of the challenges of triathlon racing in general was way too high for my liking. The biggest problem is a breakdown of communication between the two. Triathletes typically don’t know as much as the “experts” in bike shops, who look down their noses at triathletes. Triathletes don’t know what to ask and bike racers are notorious for withholding information from others.

Now that the problem has been identified, what is the solution? Well, from KGS Bikes’ perspective, more and better information is going to be made available to triathletes of all levels. When I started KGS Bikes, I wanted to be the best in the country in three things: finding the best position for a rider regardless of size, age strength, fitness or event, then designing a custom bicycle that can take advantage of the information developed in the fitting process. The third thing I wanted to be the best at was helping people improve their technique, competence and confidence. I knew that the rest of the things that a normal bike shop does would be left to the other guys and that is ok. It is saving the world, one person at a time, but I think there is room in the marketplace for me and for traditional retailers as well. Fortunately, the marketplace has proven this to be a good premise.

Most bicyclists and triathletes are  still not interested, not able to buy, or do not have a custom bike high enough on the priority list to be a client of KGS Bikes. I will still find the best retailers to whom I can refer Bfolks, so I know they are getting the best care they can get no matter what their place is on the continuum of bicycling. The relatively few who want something a little different or a lot better than the mainstream has a resource and since my capacity is less than the big shops, everybody wins.

Everybody also benefits from our goal to improve the body of knowledge for cyclists and triathletes from beginner to professional, however. Starting this week, the “Q&A with Kevin” feature is renamed, “BikeTech Help Desk.” We will be soliciting questions from Facebook users, on twitter. Of course we get questions all the time in person and through emails and phone. KGS Bikes’ growing knowledge base will become the “Missing Link” for cyclists in general, triathletes in particular, who yearn to improve their skills, safety and speed on the bike and to shorten the learning curve as much as possible.

In time, more and more of you will become comfortable asking questions that you previously didn’t feel comfortable asking. You will be helping your colleagues as well because they have the same questions but you beat them to the punch. This will spawn more questions and I will work hard to find the answers for you. Go ahead, ask! Get it off your chest. The only rules are, all questions are fair game, I won’t judge you for having a question and of course, I will shoot you straight. The goal will be to de-mystify so much of the things relating to the bike and to provide sound logic so when you get conflicting advice you will have a much better perspective about what will work for you.

Until next time,

Kevin
President
KGS Bikes

This question comes from Nathan  on Facebook: Saddle height – does the heel on pedal (with shoes on) produce an accurate guide to this. Miffed. And always fiddling.

Hi Nathan, great question. If power is your goal and minimizing knee strain, the saddle needs to be as high as possible, without being too high. That said, your ankle position makes a huge difference in what actual dimension works best for you. There is an ongoing debate about “heels down,” “flat” or “toe down” pedaling. While it feels “easier” to drop your heel when starting the downstroke, the energy created by your quads and glutes is being reabsorbed by your calf muscles. Unlike a spring, the energy is not stored, but lost.

Almost all pro cyclists adopt a toe down position. Many amateurs have the opposite pedaling style. It was the common prescription back in the day and many “old school” advocates still support it. In the end, if you want a powerful pedaling stroke the saddle height becomes a hyper-critical dimension. Getting it high enough without being too high takes awareness and knowledge.

Finding the optimum saddle height is not that easy and I am not surprised that you are continually fiddling with it. I have to sneak up on it and watch the power meter, and have a few tricks up my sleeve that I use during a fit consult that will confirm what the real saddle height is. The rule of thumb is, pain in the front of the knee, under your kneecap, at the top of the pedal stroke, saddle too low. Pain in Achilles tendon or back of the knee at the bottom of the pedal stroke, saddle too high.

I can’t promise that you will find your perfect saddle height without professional help but at least we can point you in the right direction. Thanks for asking.

Kevin

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A follow on question to the  one above was posed by Mark on Facebook: There’s also the pedal position discussion; from the pro perspective there is some evidence that putting the pedal midfoot, rather than on the ball, produces more power… how does that then apply given what you said above? It’s a non-option for most of us since we don’t have the ability to drill and reposition the cleat to midfoot.

Hi Mark,

I agree with the evidence that supports aft cleat positioning. You are also correct that the hyper aft or mid foot position is moot because of the limitations on most shoes. I have ordered custom shoes with cleats quite far back and it does improve power by reducing power loss in the ankle. One thing to note, however; the further back the cleats are mounted, the more critical the saddle height will become. Our BalancePoint system gives me the ability to nail saddle height exactly so this becomes the moot issue! The thing we find about bicycle fitting is the fact that one change affects other parameters and as such the whole process is a lot more difficult than anybody wishes it was. The Holy Grail of bike fit is a system that works all the time, is repeatable and is effective in the hands of young, poorly paid bike shop staff. Oh. It has to be quick too.

My BalancePoint fitting system is repeatable, is very accurate, but is not easy at all and takes as much as 3 hours in some cases. Like Winston Churchill said about Democracy, it is “The worst system in the world, except for all the others!”

Kevin

Kevin Recommends

We only recommend products,  services or companies that we have actually tried or worked with personally. A recommendation, like a reputation, is very important and we do not take this responsibility lightly. The following links are to our friends at the Cooper Aerobics Center in Dallas. Dr. Kenneth Cooper is considered “The Father of Aerobics” and has put together a group of world class companies that have a direct impact on us as cyclists and as professional people:

Cooper Complete – We have arranged for 10% off anything you buy from Cooper Complete if you put “KGS” in the coupon link and then “recalculate”.

Cooper Clinic - The world renowned Cooper Clinic is starting to create medical exams and services aimed at professional adults who ride bicycles.

Cooper Fitness Center – The Cooper Fitness Center has a special strength training introductory program for cyclists.

These links are to our frame builders and other providers that make KGS Bikes the premiere fitting studio and cycling boutique in the world:

Co-Motion Cycles – We’ve long enjoyed a reputation for building tandems that simply handle better.

Guru Bikes – Our approach is based on combining the best of both worlds: cutting edge technology delivered by hand and with an old school attention-to-detail.

Kirklee Bicycles – KirkLee is an up and coming great framebuilder from Austin.

Parlee Cycles – Simply put, PARLEE frames are the best built and best riding carbon fiber frames available today, at any price. They are functional works of art.

Red Licorice Events – The “Sweet and Twisted” team that promotes Austin’s best athletic events. KGS Bikes is an ongoing sponsor of triathlons produced by our friends Erin and Leilani and we are thrilled with the relationship.

Sem Custom Paint – Dave Sem is the best extreme detail painter in the world.

Serotta – Only Serottas have the extensive engineering of our proprietary Colorado Concept tubing design. It’s the foundation behind the unique ride of each and every Serotta.

Source Endurance – They are teaming with us to provide physiological testing, data analysis, training consultation and long-term coaching. They have two state-of-the art labs, one in Austin and one in San Marcus. We are proud to recommend them and invite you to check them out.

Storck Bicycles – Numerous innovations in frame and component design that are standard in the industry today were developed, patented, and introduced by Storck Bicycle.

Tacx – Home of the Fortius Virtual Reality trainer. This is the trainer component of our “Ultimate Spin Bike”. Tacx also makes many other fine products. KGS Bikes is an Authorized Tacx Testing Center.

Topolino Technology – Our wheels embody this ethic: A fundamental redesign of wheel construction to take advantage of extraordinary materials with amazing properties, yielding a wheelset that performs like no other.

Zinn Cycles – For more than a quarter of a century, Zinn Cycles have been working to make cycling more enjoyable for customers, and that commitment remains at the heart of everything they do.

About KGS Bikes and Kevin

KGS Bikes is known around the world as the premiere bicycle fitting studio and cycling boutique. Kevin Saunders, President, has over 25 years experience in bicycle fitting and high-end bicycles. He also has a broad knowledge of anatomy, structural engineering and industrial design. In addition to fitting services, KGS Bikes sells bicycles from Parlee, Serotta, Zinn, Co-Motion, Storck and Guru. They also feature Lew wheels, custom shoes by Rocket7 and the best available components from around the world. Visit kgsbikes.com for more information, including beautiful photography of the bikes carefully created for their owners.

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KGS Bikes – 16611 Huebner Rd. – San Antonio, TX 78248 – 210-849-2501