Kevin Saunders

Welcome to “Perfectly Fit,” our newsletter which is designed to help you get the most out of an active, cycling lifestyle. I have a team of pros from all over the world that will help me provide you with great info and a place for you to find out what you want to know. Your feedback is so important and we will make a place for you to be heard.

We are starting off the year with a bang, expanding our ability to work remotely with you. I have created a semi custom remote program that allows us to take your setup and redefine it without the need to come to San Antonio. If you have confidence in your position this is a way you can save time and money and I can work with you very effectively. Send me an email for more info.

Today’s main article discusses the way I see the bike business (and other retail industries) and how they make a living by making you think a certain way about your expertise, their products and how your pocketbook is repeatedly opened! I explain a little more about why we have a different business model and how that helps you.

Our BikeTech Help Desk has a couple of questions from triathletes. The first discussed the tradition of inflating tires before a race and the second talks about the right gear for transitions.

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.

These days I am hard at work designing bikes for cyclists and triathletes wanting to get a jump on the season. This time of year I am staying close to home because people are making the trek to San Antonio. Every positioning session is an event and one which you will find most valuable. Don’t forget lead times in these custom bikes. With six to eight week deliveries, you need to factor that into your purchase plans so your season can be best utilized for success. With our Semi Custom Remote program we can slash lead times so contact us to learn more.

What all retail stores want you to do! Photo: The Messaging Times on Flickr

I performed a positioning analysis this weekend and wanted to share some of his observations after he discovered his true position. I find this happens so often when folks visit me that it is a fascinating phenomenon. Here is the premise: I believe that bicycle design has been driven by marketing departments, taking a sizing model from young, professional racers and overlaying that model on the general population. Add to that, every other fitting system I have seen than my own allows a person working in a bike shop (fit expert) to fit a person to a stock or custom bike with enough success that the customer keeps the bike. From a retail perspective, this is brilliant. The bike is not really right and one continually upgrades saddles, stems, bars, you name it, to improve the bike.

From the consumer’s perspective it is a way to incur lots of hidden or unnoticed expenses without really improving the experience. I see how this works, as my business doesn’t rely on people coming back and upgrading their bike, rather it relies on people being happy enough with the experience that they tell their friends. A dress shop, for example, would go out of business if all they sold were practical items that lasted a long time and were not trendy.

I have designed a business model where I take a bike, which is traditionally an “impulse buy” commodity, and turn it into a durable good with long term value. That sounds simple in theory, but in practice, I find clients have a tough time believing that one store could have a breakthrough in positioning that really does challenge the system. Fifty Million Frenchmen can’t be wrong, right? What I find is that people are conditioned to believe that an entire industry wouldn’t exist if it didn’t ultimately serve the consumer in the best possible manner. Marketing departments rely on this cultivation theory and some bike brands are absolute masters in convincing you that their bike is incredible, desirable and uniquely perfect for you!

False Economy. Photo: robinrimbaud from Flickr

The consumer becomes an expert based on this concept, outlined as the Dunning Kruger effect, and based on advertising and the advice of a magazine or local bike shop employee then sinks a lot of money into a bike. Then the process of justifying that decision takes over.

I don’t know what is more powerful, the need to be right or the inability to recognize that a decision was made that requires the cutting of losses, but a pattern of behavior happens to most folks when they get off my setup bike, thrilled with the fact that their physical issues went away and their power improved. What happens is this: when they see that their current bike can’t really be modified to achieve this position, they have to doubt something. I had mentioned that about 95% of the time, people who come to me end up with this diagnosis for their bikes and almost all of the time it is an excruciating epiphany.

“How could I be so different than the rest of the population?” This question is answered one of two ways. Either you are weird or the population may not fit their bikes any better than you do! I have found the latter is the best explanation.

“If this position that my body chose is right, how could I have been so wrong in choosing my bike in the past?” This is actually pretty easy. I used to fit people in traditional manners as well and in fact experimented with all sorts of positions over the last 25 years. My current thinking is based on continually learning and questioning all methods, even my own, to get better and better. What this means is, you made the best decisions you could at the time, with the best knowledge and resources available.

At the end of the day, I find that my friends come to one of two conclusions. First, they listen to their body and trust its feedback systems. They cut their losses and get a custom bike that is properly designed for them and move on. I have 100% satisfaction from these folks. Second, they may consider the bike that they chose more important than the issues they have riding it, or they may have exhausted their financial resources so they have to live with their decision, good, bad or indifferent, until the bike wears out or is stolen. We are an adaptive species and this is ok too.

I just hope that you make your bike decisions for the right reasons. If you are happy with your bike and how it treats you, bravo. If not, really look at the reasons why and if you need to make a change, it’s ok! Don’t blame the bike or yourself if you find a better way. Enjoy bicycling for what it truly is, which is the Fountain of Youth. Thanks so much for letting me do a small part in helping you enjoy this awesome sport a little more.

Kevin

President

KGS Bikes

Kevin,

A kitty in transition. Photo: Erik van Rosmalen on Flickr

I am doing my first triathlon in a few weeks. I have a new set of race wheels and was told to pump up the air to the max the night before the race, and to not worry about checking them the morning of the race. Is this a good idea?

Meghan

Hi Meghan,

Congratulations on starting out in the sport of triathlon. First, I recommend that you pump up your tires or at least check them on race day. Many people overinflate their tires the night before when they put the bike in the transition zone and they arrive the next day to a blowout. Second, I wrote an answer to a question about optimal tire pressure here and don’t think you should go overboard on inflation. Depending on your weight, you may want to add 10 lbs or so over training pressure, but maxing out the tire pressure won’t give you a faster time. You will have a bumpy ride and be more prone to flats.

Good luck on your first race,

Kevin

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Kevin,

Sharon Sander starting the bike leg. Photo: Kevin G Saunders

I see people struggle with the transition from swim to bike and many look like they are in the wrong gear. Is there a right gear?

Nathan

Hi Nathan,

Great question. There is a “right” gear for the start of the bike leg but it is dependent on the course! Here is what I suggest. Before you put the bike in the transition area, go check out the mount and dismount area. You may see stuff that will impact your transition. For instance, if you see a potential mud pit and you run in your cycling shoes (and maybe have Speedplay pedals) you are asking for trouble as the cleats will pick up mud.

Another problem that you may encounter is thorns or glass if you are planning on leaving the shoes mounted on the bike. The reason I mention this is, how you get on the bike is just as important as the uphill, downhill or flat you may encounter at the start. Do a practice mount and see what gear works best. If you leave less to chance, you will make fewer mistakes and can pass more people!

Good luck,

Kevin

Go ahead! Give them a tri! Photo: Kevin Saunders

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 custom bicycle studio 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. We are very excited about the quality and performance they bring and are proud to offer KirkLee frames as part of our KGS custom bicycle options.

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.

River Place Country Club – This is our Austin address where we can meet in person to define your custom bike. We arranged with the folks at River Place CC to rent space on an as needed basis to offer a quiet focused environment to determine your ultimate bicycle position and then design a custom bike around that position. The New York Times describes cycling as “the new golf” and River Place CC recognizes that they can offer more than golf to the active lifestyle advocate.

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.

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.

KGS Bikes Studio interior view

KGS Bikes is known around the world as the premiere custom bicycle studio. Kevin Saunders, President, has over 25 years experience in bicycle fitting and design of custom bicycles. He also has a broad knowledge of anatomy, structural engineering and industrial design. KGS Bikes creates custom bicycles with the best components available and uses framebuilders such as Co-Motion, Guru, KirkLee, Parlee, Serotta and Zinn. Visit kgsbikes.com for more information, including beautiful photography of the bikes carefully created for their owners. Don’t forget to find us on Facebook, twitter and at your next event to photograph your bike position and post it on Facebook and Flickr for you to share with your friends.

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