Bike Fit

Bike Fit

3/25/05

I had tried to get the new bike dialed in before I left, but there really just wasn’t the time to do things right. The old Colnago road like a dream and seemed very dialed in. So, I tried to set things up on the new Orbea (both, were curtasey of Novacyclsprort/ISCorp) with the measurements from the Colnago…hmmm things just didn’t feel right. I guess I would attribute some of this to the different frame geometries etc. I thought I had gotten things pretty close with the help of CarrieAnn, but then I had to go and mess with stuff some more. All this ment was that I would have to make sure I got a bike fit as soon as I could after arrival, and that is what I did. Unfortunately this was after my wonderful lactate test, and after Dr. Dag told me to get my fit straightened out…”was it that obvious??” I thought as I rode home from the test. Both him and Ann just shrugged their shoulders and said the bike just looks to small, and then went on to say that they were no experts on bike fit.
Down to the Bike Fit…It was definitely and interesting experience in itself. The old guru like gentleman seemed to know his stuff. Not to mention it took about three hours of poking, prodding and some dismantling of my bike. I got measurements taken from every angle. Some of the instruments he used were very homemade, but appeared to do their specific job very well, especially the one that measure your inseam, ha! After all, he supposedly had quite a repertoire of pros and those alike that he has fitted successfully.
I must say that I wish I could understand Dutch, seeing as that is all he spoke. Ann did a fair amount of translating, at least the important stuff. I must say, though, that I wish I could have understood the little stuff he was saying. He seemed very knowledgeable, especially when I asked a question. He would answer with about three pages worth of answer, and I would get about one translated. I’m not trying to say that the translation effort by Ann wasn’t good, just that I felt some of the small details were lost. The one thing I could understand was that whenever he dropped something etc. he said “damn it.” So, I figured out one more word/phrase…I think that makes my total about three know.
Right now it is about a week later, and things are starting to feel pretty comfy again, but it took a little getting used to. I must say that the during the race a day or so later I had some weird cramping etc. going on, but I have yet to see anymore. So, we’ll see how things go this weekend.