La Chronique Rosa — Fitting

Your bike fit is a
compromise. Here's
the one you made.

There's no perfect position on a bike. There are positions tailored to a goal, built from what your body can do today. This is the job of bike fitting, and it's more precise than most cyclists imagine.

Hervé is a kinesiologist at Maglia Rosa. What he sees happening always looks, with a few variations, like the same thing: cyclists convinced they need new components, when often, the position of the peripherals is just as important as the choice of components themselves, and a simple adjustment is enough to solve the problem.

The saddle is probably poorly adjusted.

This is the most frequent case, and the source of most discomfort and pain. Biomechanics research is consistent: a knee flexion angle greater than 40 degrees at the bottom of the pedal stroke significantly increases compressive forces on the joint. Bringing this angle between 30 and 35 degrees measurably reduces pain in less than two weeks. Most cyclists ride outside this zone without knowing it, because they have adjusted their saddle based on popular and simplistic methods

Knee angle

The back, it's often the handlebars.

What Hervé regularly observes is that people don't naturally go into the hoods because the handlebars are too far. They don't make the connection between this habit and the bike's geometry. When the reach is too long, the lower back rounds and fatigues. A position that is too upright, which is thought to be protective, can worsen things: the glutes are underworked, and the lumbar muscles compensate. Adjustments to the reach and handlebar height can reduce back pain by up to 42% according to scientific literature.

Comfort or performance: it's the same slider.

When someone comes in with a specific goal, Hervé works from there. An aggressive position is possible, with a few fewer spacers and an adjusted reach, while preserving enough comfort for the body to maintain it over time. It's not a compromise on performance, it's the opposite: a position that is too demanding generates early fatigue, and early fatigue costs more watts than the aerodynamic gain produces.

Mobility further complicates the picture. Two people with the same morphology will not have the same fitting, because physical condition dictates the adjustments. Hervé never tells someone that they will get used to discomfort. Adaptation is not a fitting result.

What changes afterwards.

Rarely a revelation. Often a phrase: I've ridden so many kilometers and haven't had any pain anywhere. The most impactful adjustments are almost always the most discreet. The saddle height. Insoles with adapted arch support, which change the force transmission all the way to the hips. Things that aren't visible on the bike but are felt after a hundred kilometers.

The honest question to ask is whether the current position has already been checked. A new saddle, a new stem, or a simple adjustment could be the answer.

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Barry Lawson — Montreal