Basics of successful Cycle Fitting Part 1. Experience

‘FIT’ seems to be a golden word in road cycling at the moment, and a bit like wheel building, carries its own level of mystique. It seems a lot of people are unsure of the workings of the human body, whereas these same people may be amongst some of the best bicycle mechanics you could wish to meet.

As ‘FIT’ is a symphony of the body and bicycle working in unison then it is very important to be fully aware of how the human body was designed to work and how we can adapt the bicycle to suit its needs. To put this into perspective you could be a great mechanic but without the knowledge of the human body, those great adjustments are worthless. Worse still you could end up damaging the most important part of all, the ‘nut that holds the bars’.

Some people will view ‘FIT’ as a one time ‘fixer of all ills’. This view is way wide of the mark. The sport’s top professionals will be fitted as often as things change such as new sponsor, new bike, new FIT, crash, rehab. You don’t need to be a sponsored athlete to appreciate that as the body ages it becomes less flexible and injuries can be picked up necessitating the need for a new FIT to cater for this. ‘FIT’ is changing as much as the rider is.

Some people will think that after the FIT has been done they will be able to climb like lontador, descend like cancallara and that all of the niggling aches and pains that that they had will ‘magically disappear’. 

Well we are not wizards! The idea of a FIT is to allow someone to cycle correctly supported for their needs, yes, but any change that is made will take a time for the body to become accustomed to, even if it is for the better.

Muscles take time to grow, tendons time to stretch. You will not accommodate a new position immediately; it will take time to get the body used to the new position. Following my guidelines will assist the process and any niggles will be minor and should have completely disappeared by the 4^th or 5^th ride (if this is not the case then the ‘FIT’ will need to be re-checked).

If a rider is looking to emulate the position of a professional with a ‘slammed’ stem they may be disappointed. Their body may not be able to tolerate this position, at least not for very long.

So how do we get started? What equipment and documentation do we need? How much experience does it take? How long should we allow? Where should I be conducting this process? So many questions! Let’s get some answers.

For this Blog post (Part 1) I'd like to begin with how much experience it takes. No real easy way to approach this, because you will need to understand a heck of a lot, but everyone must start somewhere.

Experience Matters

If this is the first thing you have read about ‘FIT’ then good. It’s a good place to start, but you’re research must advance beyond these words. I will list some books that are good for you to read, but make the time to back up your reading with qualified physiotherapists. You are a bike mechanic/rider first and foremost, even after months of reading there will still be things that throw curveballs. Something’s cannot be fixed without professional help. These people are you lifelines. Make friends with them.

Get a physical assessment (alignment check) done. A good Pilates class should offer an initial body assessment as should a sports injury clinic. Get one (preferably two) done and learn from them. Pick out similarities; compare them to what you have read. If more than one person is saying the same thing then it helps you gain a clear direction. Understanding your own body will assist you in understanding others.

Get full cycles FIT’s done from experienced outlets. Again, get more than one done. Again look for similarities in the way the FIT is conducted and note these down.

It is preferable to follow this order:-

1.      Formulate – Practice – Record.

2.      Read –Digest.

3.      Physical Assessment (non cycle).

4.      Full FIT (cycle).

5.      FIT classes.

6.      Read –Make notes –Digest.

Got the money? Go for a class. There’s more than one provider offering them, but at present there seems to be no standardisation, so again, go on more than one and seek similarities. I hope that what you learn will bring you full circle to my guidelines that you read here.

      I would recommend that it is wise to do your first few FIT’s on people who you know well. This will overcome any embarrassment you may have when laying hands on people and let you develop a professional manor in these situations.

            I would offer your first few sessions free of charge. The feedback and experience you will gain will be priceless and allow you to be sure you are proceeding in the right direction. Using my guidelines (plus anything else you have learnt) will allow you to keep a consistent record of every rider FIT you do and these are good comparative records, although as mentioned before, no two riders are the same!

For Part 2 of the Basics of successful Cycle Fitting I will be taking you through the Fit Environment, How long it may take you and what Equipment and Documentation you will require.

We all have to start somewhere...

  This month I've had a go at my first road race. 

Following the classic statement "How hard can it be?" I first applied for my racing license with British Cycling becoming a Gold member (schmoke and a pancake?) and obtaining my (fourth cat) racing license to boot.

Category Four (or Fourth Cat) is where wannabe road racers like me start. You then gain points by way of wins or top ten places and progress through 3rd, 2nd and 1st to Elite / Pro. 

 I had read a lot of gumph on the internet about Category 3 and 4 racers and not much of it helped to be honest. 

Having done a series of Sportive rides, a couple of Sprint Triathlons and a Time Trial at Blenheim Palace last year, I knew I was in good shape and a strong rider, I just didn't know how strong.

All the Mountain Biking I have done has blessed me with some decent handling skills, the only thing that I was missing was some real bunch experience, most of the miles I'd put in up until now had been solo - I don't count the Sportives as they seemed to be a bit of a free for all with no real organisation to how the riders were positioning themselves.

So, after a bit of research I decided to join the Leighton Buzzard Road Cycling Club (LBRCC) as they seemed quite open and offered a range of group rides from G3 to G1 (G being Group) with the G1 crew being the quick group.

My first ride was with the G3 group and I found myself waiting for the group regularly and not really getting the workout I wanted, they were a nice bunch but were out for a Coffee and a chat (again nowt wrong with that) whereas I wanted to be chewing my stem and 'feeling the burn'.

The next week I went out with the G1 riders and found the pace much more to my liking. To my surprise I was able to ride with the quicker riders in the group and help to set the pace. Every rider in the group had good bunch manners and experience and it really bouyed my confidence that I could cope with the higher pace of a race in these 'handlebar to handlebar' situations. 

Craig (the owner of a very nice Pinnarello) who was the race team captain and Jack (an amazing hillclimber) were quick to support my decision and said that I would be fine in a race. 

Decision made. Club jersey purchased and race entered. I couldn't race in my replica Saxo Bank team strip due to British Cycling rules (I like to think I would have been mistook for Alberto Contador as to the reason for this) 

The race I had entered was the TMG Horizon road race. This was to take place over seventy five miles using a loop that was local to me.

This was handy because I could ride the circuit as part of my ride home from work and get a feel for where the best places would be to attack and the road surfaces etc.

I was riding well and felt as prepared as I could be. I'd ridden up some stonking climbs in 39 degree heat in Gran Canaria and was riding strongly upping my average speed on most rides to the 20 mph mark. 

A silly little off during a particularly wet club ride made me cross my fingers and toes that it wasn't wet during the race and my confidence in the corners took a bit of building back up on the next couple of rides.

Race Day!

 The Sun was blessing me with its presence but this didn't stop me having a good dose of pre-race nerves. This wasn't helped when I turned up to the event HQ and there were easy ups with people warming up on rollers and getting rub downs and last minute tactic talks.

Oh well, too late now!

I met with our Club Chairman Carl, who was helping to marshall the event. "Any advice" I asked hoping for a last minute pearl of wisdom "Don't go off the front, don't go off the back" came the reply. Simple enough,"aint no way I'll be going off the back" I thought.

We rolled out behind the safety car and the race was 'neutralised' until we got to the circuit proper. The pace was high, but manageable. 

Typically after months of trouble free use I was having difficulty getting my Garmin to do what I wanted and spent most of the neutral part faffing with this where as I should have been concentrating. Then all of a sudden, BAM! The flag dropped and the pace went right up.

I had been told "never overlap a wheel" and I was super aware of this whilst in the bunch. The scary part was that one minute you'd be giving it the beans to stay on the wheel in front / hold your position, the next thing you know there was a wall of bikes coming back at you and you'd have to ease up. You couldn't brake because you'd have someone in the back of you and I found this quite a challenge (stressful Jules - be honest)

I was aware that my nerves were getting me pushed to the back of the group by the more experienced riders so I managed to shuffle my way to the outside of the bunch and when I had clear line of sight up the road  I launched (what I thought was) a Cav style attack around the outside of the bunch to sit up at the front.

Bad move. Not only did this put unwanted lactic into the legs, it also put me on the outside for the next tricky (very fast and loose) left hand corner. I leant in as far and as fast as I dared, but the bunch then strung out one behind another and the pace went up again. Of course no one would let me in so I sprinted on my own to keep up, eventually being caught by the rag-tag bunch at the back who weren't line astern and getting in with them.

I then spent the next few miles yo-yo'ing off the back of the bunch because of the lactic in the legs before dropping off the back altogether on lap two. 

I then had a lonely ride on my own trying to catch others who had blown in the hope that we'd be able to work together to bridge the gap - but to be honest I'd all but fully fluffed it up.

I completed the full Seventy Five miles with a Personal Best of 21.1 mph average speed and I managed to avoid the pile up on lap three, but I can't say I didn't feel a little disappointment. 

What did I learn?

 Well quite a bit! There are some savagely quick riders out there, but if I had worked the bunch a bit more confidently I could have lasted much longer. 

On my solo rides now I try and spin a lot more to keep my average up (I am a bit of a big gear grinder and this is proving a hard habit to shift) this I think will help keep the lactic at bay for a bit longer and lastly, that the strong riders are ONLY PLAYING on the club rides!!!  

I'm planning to do a lot more races and Time Trials this year and I'll keep you all posted as to how I get on!

Please visit LBRCC's webpage:

http://www.lbrcc.co.uk/

Better still, turn up for a ride!

There's nothing like nailing a technical section on the Mountain Bike or Sprinting 'til you (almost) puke on the Road Bike, but sometimes it's great to just kick back and enjoy where you are. Here's my some photo's I've taken while out riding and why they are special to me.

 Ashridge woods. about 10am on a November morning. The trails were dry and it was unseasonably warm. The light dappled through the trees in the still air creating visible rays of sunshine.

Wendover woods (just outside the cafe in the woods) 5.45am. It was chaffing cold! The sun had just started to crest the horizon casting an orange haze which gradually faded through Blue to Violet to the Inky Black of night. That the trees framed these colours made it an unmissable shot

This is what freezing fog looks like. It's far heavier than the air around it so lurks in the hollows and makes islands of the hill tops. This was taken atop Ivinghoe Beacon, yet you could have been in the Scottish Highlands.

Same time, same place. The Sun was like a glowing orb and didn't yet have the strength to give that much warmth. I really like the way that taking the shot directly into the Sun makes an outline of the handlebars of the bike.

The Canal Towpath, just outside Tring in the Autumn. I love the glass like reflection in the water and the yellows and browns of the leaves on the path.

Ashridge agricultural college. an impressive building nestled in the heart of Ashridge grounds. I was on the winter road bike and the weather was changeable but the rain had held. It's the clouds that do it for me in this shot.

Just outside Wendover woods whilst testing the Slash 9.0. The Bluebells had just come out and I had to wade into the undergrowth from the side of a lovely undulating piece of Singletrack to get this shot. The tree wasn't fallen, and had grown this way, making a handy bike stand!

I'm sure this year will be full of loads more for me to share with you and I hope I've inspired you to get some arty shots of your own.

Geek corner: Tyres explained.

In this first Geek Corner Blog entry I'd like to talk about those rubber hoops on your bike that get a tough time and are largely mis-understood - although relatively simple things - the tyres. 

I was inspired to write this with the recent spate of 26" vs 29" vs 650B debates in the hope that I can shed some light on what the numbers mean, the positives and negatives of different sizes and widths and how tyres  (in my eyes) could shape the future of MTB set ups. 

Lets's have a look at the writing on the sidewall of your tyres:

FIGURE 1.

26 x 2.40 | 58/60 - 559 

(MTB)

700C x 23  |  23 - 622 

(Road)

What do these numbers mean and do they have any relation to each other? 

We all have grown to know a MTB by it's wheel size, either 26" or 29" - but if you measure a 26" MTB wheel on it's own, the size just doesn't compute - it's much smaller than that measuring around 22 & 3/4"- so the term 26" wheel can be a bit mis-leading

 To get the 'true' 26" you must add the tyre and tube onto the wheel and measure the diameter of the whole wheel / tyre as one assembly. I say 'true' in inverted commas because nowadays it seldom is true. With the advent of increased width knobblies for DH and trail centre use, tyres up to 2.5" are not uncommon.

Take a look at Picture 1. 

I have drawn a square box around the tyre (shaded at the bottom of the wheel) this shows that the height of the tyre is often the same as the width (give or take a few mm's) giving the tyre a box-like cross section.. The wider the tyre, the higher the tyre will become and it is because of this that you will get confusing measurements when placing a tape across a wheel / tyre, with the wider tyres giving you anything up to 27 / 28" numbers. I've found that tyres of a width of 1.75 - 1.9 give the truest 26" reading.

We'll look at how this can affect set up later on in this article, but the figures gleaned here also help us to determine Gear Inches - a topic I'll be covering on a future Geek Corner.

On a Road Bike we get the designation 700C - a metric measurement given in millimetres as opposed to the MTB's imperial inches - which has become the norm for most modern day road going machines, but if we measure the wheel / tyres diameter (as per the MTB) we will rarely get 700mm and can find measurements as low as 680mm on the high end narrow profile tyre race bikes. What gives? Again the tyre width = tyre height comes into play with a narrower width decreasing the overall diameter of the wheel / tyre.

So what does this 'C' thing mean then?

Well it's derived from an old French lettering system which went from A (narrow) through to C (wide) which is a bit of a joke now with 700C tyres available down to an 18mm width these days.

Which brings me onto the second number 700C x 23. and it's very simple, 23 is the width of the tyre in mm's.

Let's take a look at FIGURE 1. again, this time looking at the second set of numbers starting with the MTB of 58 / 60 - 559. 

The first number is the tyres width in Metric (there or thereabouts on a MTB) but don't assume this is the case for the second number. Take a look at PICTURE 1.again

You can see the 'wheel' size listed to the right of the picture and to the left the ETRTO or BSD measurement which is a smaller length dotted line with the numbers 622 and 559 written at the bottom left. 

This measurement is crucial to the fit of your tyre to the rim and is a diameter measurement from wire bead hook to wire bead hook (Bead Seat Diameter or BSD).Without this measurement finding a tyre to fit a given rim would be a logistical nightmare.

This is so important there is a regulatory body called the European Tyre & Rim Technical Organisation (ETRTO) or you may have heard the ISO (International Standards Organisation) tab mentioned also. Interestingly a 29" wheel BSD is 622...

PICTURE 1.

In PICTURE 1. we see at the top of the wheel the ideal tyre widths shown. In reality a rim can support a tyre up to 1 1/2 times its width but this can cause problems.

Let's look at PICTURE 2.

both tyres in the diagram are the same size, but the top tyre is supported by a wider rim, the bottom tyre a narrower rim. 

I wanted to show the importance of correct tyre support here. By using a rim that is as wide as the tyre is high we can prevent the tyre from 'rolling' under lateral (sideways) loading and make it less prone to pinch punctures because of the wider rim profile. Both deal traits for either a MTB or road bike, although the road bike benefits from a tyre profile that similarly matches that of the rim on narrower tyres meaning a much lower weight penalty and good aerodynamics, whereas a MTB equipped with a wide tyre such as the aforementioned 2.40 will require a correspondingly wide rim which will necessitate a heavier or more costly (if materials such as Carbon Fibre are to be used) rim. 

It is worthwhile giving a mention here to the 'wider tyres are faster' debate. This is true, but only at the same pressure. so if we compare a 700c x 37 and a 700c by 23 and we inflate them both to 60 PSI, the 37 will have roll well whereas the 23 will be under-inflated and roll poorly. 

To explain this further we need to look at tyre volume. A rough equation is that if you 'halve the volume - the pressure doubles' and the reverse is true (to a degree) 'double the volume - the pressure halves' 

This can go some way to explaining why your MTB only needs 40 PSI to feel the same as your road bike does at 100 PSI and why a tractor tyre would feel the same at 10 PSI. This also means that as a wider tyre will 'feel' the same as a narrower one at a lower pressure you will have improved traction and comfort giving improved handling and control.

If this is the case then why aren't Pro Tour riders riding wide tyres? Well a wider tyre has more aerodynamic drag than a narrow one does, and as we have seen earlier a narrower tyre will require a higher pressure than a wider one for ride quality, so a compromise must be reached and we sacrifice comfort for aerodynamics (worth it in the long run!) The key to it all is that the wider tyre rolls better than the narrower one AT THE SAME PRESSURE  - the paradox being that higher volume tyres need less pressure - imagine pumping 100 PSI into the tractor tyre!! 

 PICTURE 2.

Why is it that one manufacturers version of a 2.2" width tyre is anothers' 2.4"? well as illustrated above in PICTURE 2. by lines A and B, some manufacturers measure the 'carcass width' (A) and others the tread width (B) giving another confusing set of measurements.

 PICTURE 3.

So how can we affect the set-up of our MTB by using the above information? Well, what PICTURE 3. is attempting to illustrate is that if we use a wider tyre on the front to that on the rear, we will have effectively put a 'bigger' wheel on the front of the bike and a 'smaller' wheel on the back and in these days of offset shock bushes, adjustable head angle frames and headsets and a general 'slacker is better' attitude, we can use the tyres to further slacken the frame angles and drop the Bottom Bracket height (show in PICTURE 3 by the pink lines) giving enhanced handling on steeper technical DH trails.

The advantage to doing this with a high volume wide profile front tyre as opposed to a bigger wheel diameter (such as 650B or 29") on the front (both paired with a standard volume narrow rear tiye) is that you get all of the advantages listed earlier by way of HV (High Volume) = LP (Low Pressure) (better grip, more contact patch, lower rolling resistance) whereas if you simply ran a bigger wheel diameter with the same profile tyre and tube you would only get the geometry change.

The disadvantages as far as I can see are:

Crown clearance - you'd be in danger of buzzing the tyre with the Fork Crown at full bottom out - this can be deadly - you'd have to take the spring medium out and ensure you had he clearance needed

Weight - of the wider tyre and rim combination plus the extra reinforcement needed at the sidewalls to prevent the tyre from folding over which leads us to:

Sidewall flex - a wider tyre if not supported correctly as listed above will suffer greatly from this impairing the advantages

Limited choice of tyres to choose from

Harder to get up to speed than a narrow width 'standard' volume tyre (although it's probably not something you'd notice unduly)

Looks. Trek 69er anyone???

I believe the above listed is something the Manufacturers are missing a trick on - maybe I should get my Patents ready!

There is still much more to explain about these rubber hoops of loveliness, so watch this space for a future Geek Corner where we shall delve into the specifics of grip and what makes a tyre hard or soft and my ideas on future advancements that can be made 'in the field' so to speak.  For now, enjoy Danny MacAskill and Rachel Atherton visiting the Cotinental tyre factory and learning about how their tyres are made.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06QNIjNzqco

What goes around comes around.

It was back in the late 80's when I got my first Mountain Bike - a Raleigh Montage. It had 18 gears and a Baby Blue paint job - not unlike the sort of Blue you see some Oranges painted these days.

Back then the idea of cycling 'off-road' was frowned upon by the masses, not yet familiar with our two-wheeled ways. The Bridleways were the preserve of the Horse community and if you rode down a footpath and met some walkers you'd be met by a tirade of abuse, red socks and walking sticks.
Fellow Mountain Bikers were few and far between - it was a surprise to see other tread marks in the dirt and you could go a whole day without seeing another rider on the trails.
The early races I entered were predominantly Cyclo Cross events (a few laps of a muddy school field) with a small sub category for this new fangled Mountain Bike thing.  The general attitude was that we were a phase "which won't catch on"
Analogies can be made to how the early Snowboarders were accepted by the Skiing community - in fact the Lurid dress code of neon coloured clothing and whacky hair does was something that crossed our sports in these early days.

Bored with just having myself for company I decided to reach out to any other 'closet' Mountain Bike riders out there by forming a club. "We will meet at the local car park and ride all the good bits of trail I know" I thought. So an advert was placed in a copy of the now defunct Mountain Biker International with a meeting place (Water Meadow car park in Chesham)and a time (10am) Be there or be square.
To my suprise and delight I rode round to the car park to find a cluster of other MTB'ers unpacking bikes from cars or tweaking the odd bolt here and tyre pressure there.
The rides were a success and the club got a name - The Mud Monsters Mountain Bike Club - and we soon established a core of regular riders. A newsletter was produced 'Descent' which contained race reviews and product tests with headlines such as 'Shock Horror!! Jim attempts suicide drop off' and 'Club member tries to trash Raleigh Torus at the Bomb Hole'

We entered races with the Malvern Hills Classic being our equivalent of Glastonbury, did night rides and even did events for charity like fancy dress bicycle hockey on mountain bikes. At it's height we had over fifty riders on the books.
Fashions came and went (remember Bula hats?) 18 gears turned to 21 and tyres got wider. Regretably the rides became less frequent as time went on and eventually the club disbanded - but the riding and racing continued if be it in a more solitary manor.

In the spirit of the title of this post 'What goes around comes around' well, look at what we have now! Dedicated trail centres are the norm, I've lost count of the sub-categories MTB's come in nowadays - XC/DH/4X/AM?, some MTB's have 30 gears and suspension and hydraulics are the norm, but look at what hasn't changed - we still get grief from the red sock brigade, we still ride the same trails from time to time and although MTB fashions have got so much better since the early days I'm still not convinced by the downhill 'pyjama' look.
I'm still in contact with some of the riders from the early days thanks to the wonders of Social Media and I'm still doing a newsletter with product tests - only it's not produced on a typewriter now - it's on line and you're reading it!
Here's to the future, thanks to the past.

On Test: Rotor Q-ring Chainrings

 Elliptical chain rings are not a new invention, Shimano touted their 'Bio-pace' rings in the early 90's and they are still the butt of most cyclists jokes to this day. They were flawed, but the understanding as to why has only come to light in the past few years, thanks to companies like Rotor. Unfortunately Rotor have the unenviable task of trying to convince people that their idea actually works - when they have all heard about how "Oval chain rings don't work because Shimano tried it and if they can't get it right how can a small company from Spain hope to?"

Let's start by looking at the point of an Oval chain ring. To do this you need to understand 'dead spots' in a bicycles' drivetrain. This is a bit of a misnomer as the drivetrain components (chain rings and cassette) are round and as such cannot 'pulse' or produce a dead spot themselves, the dead spot comes from how we power the drivetrain which means looking at the crank arms.
I think 'dead spot' is a bit of an inaccurate term and will use the term 'dead phase' from now on - let me explain. When the crank arms are in the vertical position it is nigh on impossible for you to put any power through the drivetrain, as opposed to the horizontal position where you can put a large amount of force through it (see diagram above)
To overcome this we could do two things, either make the cranks longer at the vertical in an effort to get more leverage (therefore power) into the system (a mechanical nightmare I would think) OR make the chain rings oval to give us the leverage to overcome this 'dead phase' or loss of power production.

So how did Shimano get it so wrong? Well I admire them for trying I really do, but the system was flawed because the ellipse was oriented in the wrong plane with the smallest part of the chain ring being in the horizontal position when the cranks were oriented to the vertical, effectively accentuating the power loss rather than promoting power gain through the dead phase of the cranks. It was also fixed in one position.

 Rotor have addressed the issues that Bio-pace had by switching the largest portion of the 'egg' to coincide with the cranks at the vertical position stretching the chain and giving you the torque to get you through the dead phase, but they didn't stop there, they have also given you the option to either advance or retard the timing at which you reach the power point of the chain rings.
 Feel like you're reaching it to early? Switch it. Feel like your reaching it to late? Switch it again. You have the option to play with five positions, three on one side of the chain ring, two on the other, hence the outer ring runs two chain drop pins. Rotor tag the option to find your ultimate position OCP or Optimum Chainring Position and they advise you ride at least 500km (200km on a MTB) following a four phase adaption process before making changes and formulating opinions.

So what are they like? I was keen to try them and allured by the promises of extra wattage and power (4.1% power and 9.1% less lactate - can you even measure this?!) but was aware that there may be a placebo initially because of the packaging claims. You need to take care to order the correct BCD for the cranks you are running (130mm for my five arm Ultegra).

Fitting was quite easy, you still need the 1-3mm gap to the front mech, you just measure it from the tallest point of the chain ring (about when the crankarms are horizontal - see pic above). One of the most asked questions I get is "Are they both oval?" Yes the inner ring is oval too, but I have heard of people running a standard round ring on the inside.

Once fitted and chain ring bolts torqued, they look the business (in my opinion) I love the way they pulse when you spin the cranks, it gives the bike a real 'pro' look. Rotor now advise that you take your first 500km at a steady pace to allow your mind and body to adapt to the rings, so don't whack them on mid-way into a season and expect good results, in fact you may get just the opposite as these rings will work parts of your leg that round ones don't - smash these poor muscles before they are trained and you'll go backwards quickly and may even injure yourself, IGNORE THIS AT YOUR PERIL!! because I can honestly say that I haven't since a kid had pain in my calf muscles, but after two spins on these chaps I was in bits! I took this as a good thing though, I was using muscles I hadn't before and making my legs stronger.

The weird thing about these rings when you first try them is that they don't feel like they are oval at all, they feel smoother to turn than a set of rounds do!  The finish of the rings is top dollar with some lovely etched logos and they have lasted well - I have now done well over 800km on these rings now and they still look box fresh.  I am still running them in the suggested position three and find this suits my style of riding best.

It's not been all smooth running though, the shifting quality of the rings isn't a patch on a set of Shimano's finest - some of this can be put down to their ovalness - but the pick up and drop-off from small to big just isn't crisp enough and I've had some bad chain drops when under 'full beans'

I also think these rings aren't for everyone. If you have spent years developing the perfect spin - or you spin a high cadence, stick with round rings - these won't help you. But if you want a 'perfect spin' and don't want to spend years perfecting it or you turn a big gear at a low cadence (like I do) I think you'll get on with these rings a treat, buy some! (Rotor give you the option to do a 30 day free trial)

Overall these rings really highlight the dead phase in a set of round rings and I really notice it when switching back to my MTB, but now I know it's there (and you really do with flat pedals) I can adapt my pedaling to suit, something I'd never have thought of prior to the Q-rings. Good stuff.

My Commuting Bike. A story of Love and Hate.

To be told "You're not going to commute in every day on that?!" when you've just shelled out £3500 for a nice shiny lightwieght road bike was a bit of a kick in the balls. A bit like being given a slab of luxury chocolate cake and then being told "Don't eat it all!" is.

Begrudgingly I have to admit they were right. The purchase had been made as spell of warm, dry and sunny conditions graced our shores and the thought of nutsack freezing ice and snow had been firmly put to one side for the year and the argument of carbon fibre vs road salt were not at the forefront of my mind as I was eagerly handing over my Credit Card to the bike shop owner- not to mention the hours of heavy cleaning that come with an expensive bike, the fact that it was Wight just compounded the issue. So with a heavy heart and an empty wallet my search began for a useable steed that could withstand the rigours of riding on our pot holed roadways when the weather turned murky.

I did have an agenda at least. She had to be cheap. She also had to be functional. I wanted a bike that asked for minimal care and upkeep, but was a reliable friend that could be dependable whatever was asked of it - like those big labrador dogs you see looking lovingly through the window of a shop at the owner inside whilst being tied to a lamp post in the pouring rain.

Magazines were thumbed and the Internet browsed for any potential matchmates. Some were pretty but looked 'high maintenance' and as they would lack the depth needed to last the distance, I could see us having a big argument not too far down the line. Others were just out of my (very limited) budget.

I had pretty much given up on my quest as a mission impossible, when buried under a pile of spares strapped to pallet marked 'unwanted' in a dark and musty corner of a warehouse sprang this little lovely.

Ok, so she was missing a few parts, she had a (saddle) nose that would put Barry Manilow to shame and like a fat lass she was two frame sizes too big, but she was going cheap and her looks meant that I wouldn't be bothered about riding her in the inclement conditions or spending hour upon hour cleaning and re-lubing her afterwards. The fact that it had wrap around mudguards sealed the deal. She was mine. That night parts from the spares box were pressed into action, bolts tightened and adjusted, lights fitted and tyres inflated. We were ready for the world!

This seems like many moons ago now. Since then she has seen me safely through two bitterly cold winters (one ride had the Merucury at -14) and has shrugged off the snow, ice, fog and horizontal rain with very little maintenance, just the odd squirt of lube to see off the odd squeek here and there and some 'temporary fixes' that have become more 'permanent' as time goes on.

Admittedly, when the Clocks go forward and the conditions allow her sexy sister to become my main plaything, then she gets a final going over (full strip and rebuild) before being stored in the corner of the garage to build up her Spiderweb collection again for a few months, but every now and again the weather becomes typically 'British' and she shall see service during the Summer months - something she finds odd.

I have lavished some extravagancies on her. XTR pedals may be an odd choice to put onto a road bike like this, but having had my fair share of one legging it out in front of oncoming Cement Mixers because I can't engage the cleat into the single sided road pedals in time plus a rapid trip down the stairs at work because of the solid carbon souls of the road 'disco slippers' has convinced me of the benefits of a dual sider for commuting.

I've also replaced the bar tape (Lurid yellow fits the nature of this bike and gets you seen) a couple of times and am on my second set of (700 x 35) puncture proof tyres - with a set of studded Schwalbe Marathon Winter spikes for the wight stuff. There may have been the odd tube here and there too.

Our relationship has been a happy one and she doesn't mind me seeing her Sister or treating her mean, she's just happy to have me onboard and excited to see what the next ride has to offer!

I'm a happy man!

I feel that before I close this post I must point out that I indeed do know that these are bicycles - not real people and that, yes I do have a Girlfriend thankyou very much - although she does think I'm a bit wierd...

Future primitive?

What will bicycles look like in twenty years time? I ask this because the (now defunct) British Standard applicable to bikes (BS6102 pt 1-3 if you were wondering) was concieved in 1992 and if you take a Mountain Bike from 1992 and compare it to one from 2012, it's a wildly different beast - sprouting hydraulic disc brakes and suspension forks with finely honed geometry born out of the requirements of todays descerning off road riders. Road bikes are not immune to this change either with disc brakes beng touted as 'the next big thing' by a few manufacturers and electronic shifting that has been widely embraced by todays marketplace.

Would we have looked at these technical developments with scorn twenty years ago? I guess yes if you look at peoples perception of suspension back in the early '90's "It'll never work" "It'll be too heavy" I must admit to being sceptical myself, my fully rigid MTB with it's 1.9" tyres was more than enough for the riding I was doing back then, but I can't imagine hitting the trails with anything less than 140mm of suspension and 2.2" tyres nowadays...

These current times I can see this sort of negative backlash garnered to things like the 29" and 650B wheel size on the MTB front and disc brakes on the road scene. "It'll never work" "It'll be too heavy" See the similarity?

Perhaps we are right to be suspicious of change. After all, it isn't always for the best and anything which doesn't work well or is too heavy will be weedled out as unnecessary chaff from the corn of the crop and rightly so, the bicycle is beautiful because of it's simplicity, it's mechanical 'feel' the satisfying thunk of a gear change made by your thumb of forfinger moving a length of cable just enough to snick a higher or lower gear, you feel somehow connected to the machine you are operating, it's an extension of you, reacting to your inputs and movements and going where you decide it to. It's a feeling that I think has been a bit lost in the electronic shifting market where the press of a button actuates a servo driven motor that shifts the gear 'for' you (although the new Campag EPS does seem to have retained some of the feel from it's cable driven ancestors)

I watched a video from Parlee Bicycles who have wirelessly linked Shimanos Di2 electronic system to an I-phone and a basic thought control device to allow you to shift gears just by thinking http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWzdWMapJ-c which is an amazing concept, but does that go against why we ride bicycles? Isn't the pleasure of riding a bicycle that we DON'T think about shifting and braking? Imagine having to think about getting that harder gear in the heat of a sprint - I can only liken it to Clint Eastwood having to think in Russian to get the missiles to fire in the film 'Firefox'

But let's not be too hasty, where would Mountain Biking be if it weren't for Disc Brakes and Suspension? or Road bikes without the advent of Carbon Fibre? As easy as it is to say "If it ain't broke don't fix it" that very attitude may be stemmying the future growth of the bicycle and ideas that may revolutionise your cycling world for the better. So keep the ideas coming I say, I'll make up my own mind if I like it or not, but it's nice to have the options out there to choose from.

On test: Schwalbe Ultremo ZX.

The Ultremo ZX is the top of Schwalbe's Road Race tyre range and is part of their 'Evolution Line' which means that it recieves the latest tech and best materials. and as I was going to these tyres from some pleasing results on a pair of Continental GP4000 S tyres which I found very good on the grip and durability front, I had high expectations for these tyres. To switch to another brand after you get to know what you like requires a bit of a leap of faith. It's like changing your best pair of slippers to some new ones.

The Ultremo ZX is available in a rainbow of different colour options to colour match them to your bike, but I'm not a massive fan of coloured tyres and Schwalbe themselves say that the additives needed for these colours affect the grip level of the tyre and if you want the best levels of adhesion you should go for plain Black. Fine with me!

The tyre size I opted for was 700 x 23, my heart wonders if 700 x 25 would be any quicker given the current findings of wider tyres rolling faster, but I still find it difficult to get my head round this concept and would like to do some more research before hopping up a tyre width (the Ultremo ZX goes up to a 700 x 28)

You can run the tyres from the 85 - 145 PSI range, impressive for a clincher. As I weigh 11 stone I run 100 PSI in both front and rear tyres, dropping 5-10 PSI for wet conditions. They weigh in at a claimed 195g which is 10g lighter than the GP 4000 S and all the more impressive when you consider that they come specced with 'HD Guard' Schwalbes anti puncture liner which uses a High Density woven fibre belt (think Kevlar) as standard.
The yin to Continentals 'Black Chilli' yan is 'Triple Racestar Compound' which claims to offer minimum rolling resistance with maximum tack.


Breaking the folding tyres out of their box and popping them into shape I found they held their shape well and fitted the rim (Mavic Cosmic Carbone) with just the right level of snug, not too tight like the outgoing GP4000 S's were. They seated well under the track pump.

For the first 50 miles these tyres were a bit of a disappointment. I was used to really nailing the bike into the corners and the Ultremo ZX's felt slippery and unconfident. I believe this to be down to the release agent used in production when releasing the tyres from the mould and coats the tyre like a thin layer of talcum powder. I say this because after this initial bed-in period the grip levels started to rocket and I have to say they have surpassed the Conti's!

I have now done well over a thousand KM's on these tyres and they have been faultless. The grip level over all conditions has been confidence inspiring and the HD Guard has seen off some sharpies that would have written off lesser quality tyres. I've tentatively picked out shards of glass at the end of a ride waiting for the 'hissssss' that signifies true penetration, but it never happened. Happy Days!
The tyres are now looking well used and the rear tyre has flattened on the top section and is starting to feel a little 'edgy' leaning her over.

In these tyres I have truly found a 'new pair of comfy slippers' and I'll find it tough going to another brand from these now.

The long push back up...

Pushing your bike back up the hill again isn't going to be as fun as riding it back down again.

An obvious statement maybe, but overlook the push up paths benefits at your peril! I spent a lovely warm, sunny and most importantly dry day last weekend at my local riding spot Aston Hill and felt a lot of negative vibes towards the push back up. I don't want this to come across like I prefer pushing up to riding back down (see opening statement) but hear me out!

The push up path gives me the chance to stop and scope out new lines, reflect on set up changes I could make to the bike, a tweak of rebound here, the lowering of tyre pressure there, I could really do with some offset shock bushings to tackle that bit... and so on.
It gives me the chance to marvel at riders with more skill and speed than I have, or thank the lord I have more skill and speed than others.
Sometimes I'll stop and check out the view, happy to be out on two wheels in such a lovely environment, revelling in the conditions - wet or dry - knowing I'm a better person than the one who chose to sack it off today.
If I'm riding with friends it's the chance to catch up with them on the latest riding gossip or shoot the breeze on how part A performs over part B, or to share stories off a near miss here or a lost front end there and how you WILL clear that section next run...
It's the perfect time to grab an energy bar / drink to get you fuelled for the next run and to stretch those tight muscles from the previous one.

So. There is my case for the push up path. She is a fickle individual and not for everyone, but please don't cuss her down without a second thought, she's better than that!

Enjoy your next run down, I'll find out how it went on the push back up!

Testing the Trek Slash 9

I was really excited about this test. The 160mm travel 'All Mountain' or 'Enduro' bike is what I ride most often and having owned and tweaked a couple of Specialized Enduros I felt I had a good base to compare the Trek to.

Let's start with some stats shall we? It's easy to get bogged down with numbers, these are the ones that - in my opinion - are the ones that you can realistically 'feel'. I shall be using these settings as reference to other bike tests to enable you to build a visual picture of how they ride.

Handlebar width: 750mm (31.8mm stem clamp, 25mm rise, 4 degree upsweep, 9 degree backsweep)
Stem Length: 75mm (quoted 70mm on stem) Zero rise
Crank Length: 175mm
Head Angle: 66 - 66.5 degrees (dependant on Mino Link position)
Wheelbase: 1117mm Bottom Bracket Hieght: 330mm (Static measurement)
Bottom Bracket Centre to Rear Axle: 435mm Fork travel: 160mm Rear Shock Travel: 160mm Rear shock Eye to Eye and Stroke Length: 8.25" x 2.375"

Centre of Seatpost to Centre of Steerer: 550mm

Frame size tested: 18.5" (Virtual) 17.5" (on the tape)

The Slash 9 is the top of the Slash range and as such comes bristling with all the latest technical finery.
Suspension duties are taken care of by a Fox 36 TALAS III FIT RLC DRCV forks with Kashima coated stanchions up front and a Fox DRCV RP-3 with 3 position (Climb-Ride-Descend) Propedal settings, beggining stroke rebound, Kashima coating on the shock shaft and with a Low Compression (Velocity) / Medium Rebound Tune.
Sram XO (Avid) brakes with a 200mm rotor size on the front and a 180mm on the rear is the perfect pairing on paper for this style of bike and the drivetrain duties are taken care of by a Sram XO 2x10 set up running a 38/24T Cahinset up front and a 11/36T Cassette on the rear paired with a Truvativ X-Glide chain device - an XO direct mount front mech - an XO rear mech (Long Cage) and XO Shifters complete the ensemble.
Also from the Sram stable is the superb Reverb dropper post which in this instance comes in 'Stealth' mode with the cabling being hidden inside the seat post.

FSA provides a Semi-Intergrated tapered headset and Keith Bontrager has his last say in the component picks and the stem, handlebars, grips, saddle and wheelset / tyres all come brandishing his 'Rythm' monicker.

Test time!
The Slash 9 is aimed at the up and coming Enduro scene with a biase towards the Downhill sections with the capability to pedal well to the next technical fun bit. To test the Slash I took her to Aston Hill which is the perfect testing ground for this type of bike with an XC loop to test the pedalling and uphill duties and a number of Downhills with which to test her DH credentials.

I was lucky enough to have warm, dry and dusty trails for the duration of the test. I decided to do a full day of DH testing and a full day of XC testing to get a good handle on the bike.

I'll start with the Suspension first.

The track I use as a benchmark test for suspension is the 4-2-3. It has a great mix of rough, rooty, droppy stuff up top with a steep bottom section. Getting spring rate and damping settings just right is the key to a good run here.

The Fox Talas III's were wound out to the 160mm (full) travel setting and on the first run they felt like they were diving to much on the steep turns at the bottom of the track so 10 PSI was added to the air spring bumping it up to 60 PSI (Fox recommend adding pressure in 5 PSI increments) which propped the fork up nicely on the lower slope but robbed the small bmp sensitivity on the upper sections. This wasn't really a problem if you kept the fork working over the medium to big sized bumps, but I really noticed the high frequency small 'stutter' bumps on the flatter sections. Maybe Fox could spec a negative air chamber to allow further fine tuning of the fork in this respect? I would be interested to see if a 36 DRCV fork is on the cards for 2013/14 and if this technology would make a difference here.

The TALAS (Travel Adjust Linear Air Spring) was faultless throughout the test with no change in spring rate between the settings and true 'on the fly' adjustment.

The FIT RLC (Rebound Lockout Compression) damper gave a great showing with a good positive lockout for the climbs. you can adjust the threshold (sensitivity) o the lockout should you need to and it was nice to be able to fine tune the damper action by adding varying degrees of low speed compression damping to prop the front of the bike up when the going got steep.

I didn't really notice the touted benefits of the Kashima coating ride wise, but to say that there was significantly less dust build up on the Stanchions (upper legs) than on standard versions and to the touch they do feel much more slippery and they look the business!

The Rebound damper dial has been nicely beefed up and the 15mm thru-axle suprised me stiffness wise with no discernable difference to a 20mm and the 'Fishbone' style QR levers on the bottom of the lower legs were nice to use although a bit slower than a Maxle.

The O-ring on the valve cap cap for the air spring was a bit of a faff and there wasn't much clearance for the screwing on the shock pump.

The Fox DRCV RP-3 is actuated by the Slash's Evo link which has a floating lower link that attaches to the bottom eyelet of the shock. Trek has taken the time to pick the correct tune for the bikes linkage system which is nice to see. The DRCV looks great with the hardware mounting to the side of the air can and the difinitive 'mushroom' top cap which houses the secondary air chamber.

The shock felt extremely linear through it's stroke and it was hard to tell the difference between this and the High Volume DHX air 4.0 I run on my Enduro, very impressive.

I ran the rebound 3 clicks from full slow which seems to be my base setting for Fox shocks.

The ProPedal lever action was too light for my liking and it was difficult to tell what position you'd put it in with full finger gloves on.

The 142 x 12mm Maxle rear end was stiff as you like, but do it up tight or it can creak.

Drivetrain:

It was my first time on a 2 x 10 and I felt a bit like I was wussing out when using the smallest front chainring (coming from a triple) but as soon as I realised that the small was the equivelant of the middle then I felt a bit better and it really opened up the useable ratios of the 2 x 10 system. The XO shifters are of the usual Sram snappiness, but being a 10 speed at the rear the clicks are much closer together on the shifter and extra care needs to betaken when setting up the rear mech and when pressing the shifter.

The Truvativ XO chain device was superb and the whole drivetrain wa very quiet (this was helped by a well designed rubber chainstay protector with an added lip on the underside of the chainstay closest to the chain device. I really liked the rubber armour on the downtube and am sure this helped with the noise levels too.

Lovely looking carbon cranks!

The front mech was a direct mount affair and looked a bit of a faff to set up but was faultless in operation.

Jagwire provided the cables which were top notch and the internal routing looked great, but I found that there were some annoying rattles coming from them in certain situations.

On the subject of internal cable routing the Reverb Stealth gets top marks with no unsightly and annoying cables to blot the clean looks of the frame. My only concern with this is with the complete removal of the post which I an only assume wold need the full removal of the remote lever and a re-bleed of the system... I also worry about the 'fit and forget' nature of the post. If it's fitted without grease, jetwashed regularly and not moved, could it eventually become siezed?

I loved the range of adjustment the post had, but I did have to play with the initial hieght in the frame so that it didn't feel to high when at full extension, luckily, with the collar bottomed on the clamp I got the right hieght, but I can imagine it beig a pain if you felt that it was overextending and you couldn't drop it any further.

Please be careful with the Reverbs remote lever if you turn the bike upside down as they are quite delicate and can break easily if misstreated.

Grip:

The Bontrager OSB (Offset Spoke Bed) 28h wheels were nice and stiff and remained true throughout the test and had a good with and nice finish. The XR4 tyres were 2.35 in width but came up quite large. I'd reccomend a pressure of 35 PSI for best results.

Brakes:

The Sram / Avid XO brakes were the highlight of the test. Truly Amazing. They had wads of power but didn't deliver it in a snatchy way that some systems can, more in a "I've got all this power, when do you want it? It's here when you do" type of way. I think that the new style HX rotors have something to do with this and they look nicer than the old HH style. Top marks.

Conclusion:

The Slash 9 rode extremely well on the DH stuff. It tracked superbly through the turns and it loved being smashed through the technical stuff. If you want a bike that lets you experience the thrills of a full blown DH rig then this is the one, but that's jus it, to get the best from this bike requires commitment and skill along with a bit of technical set up knowledge to get the set up bang on and unleash the potential of the frame and components.

You alsoneed to be quite 'dynamic' on the bike, really leaning it into turns and getting off the back of the saddle. In return it will reward you with wads of mid-corner grip, pinpoint tracking and superb bump absorbtion over the medium to big hits.

I did find it difficult to get the Slash's balance point, she feels a bit 'nose heavy'. This could be something to do with the 75mm stem, I'd like to change it to a 50mm to find out. Oddly it's a cinch to manual...

On anything other than this type of terrain and riding style though the bike feels, well, it feels bored! ride it along a tow path and you can feel her saying "why are you doing this? yes, I can do it, but why? Give me a downhill!!"

If your idea of 'All Mountain' is one of trail centres and a 50/50 mix of climbing and descending, then you will be much better served by the Remedy or Fuel ranges.

Overall it's the perfect bike for a trip to the Alps and new breed competitions like the Mega or Trans Provance.

MASSIVE Thankyou to Jon, Matt, Gareth, Charlie and Steve at Trek HQ for making this test possible.