Did My Retül Bike Fit Make Me More "Efficient"?
Saturday, I went to Retül's Boulder Headquarters, and had a 90 minute fitting session with Ivan O'Gorman (cool Irish accent; knows his stuff as well, or at least knows how to drop pro's name's). In the grand scheme, not much was changed. EG, my saddle height and position were not altered, nor were the spacers on my head tube. My elbow pads were moved back a centimeter, the aerobars were separated by an additional centimeter, and the pads were rotated up such that my elbows are about 2.5 centimeters higher.
My goal going into the fitting was to become more "efficient", without knowing what that actually means. I was just feeling that my pedaling was not as effective over the past two years at the same power numbers as it has been in years prior. Ivan opened up my hip angle from 18 deg to 22 deg (his desired range is 20-25). Since my previous Retül fitting (locally in Seattle), I had: shortened my cranks to 165; added an Adamo Attack saddle; lost about an inch in height (!); dropped my front end by about 1.5 centimeters (via spacers changes in the head tube), and had trouble keeping the elbow pads rotated "up".
Since the fitting, I did a five hour ride on Sunday, and RR #1 for IM LP today. I compared my data from today's ride with RR #2 for IM CDA I did a year ago on basically the same route (today I went up two steeper, higher hills instead of a long gradual climb near the end), with the same weather. For one thing, my lower back felt better than usual after today's ride. More to the point, though, I found some striking changes in my numbers. Although I'm using an FTP of 212 compared to 218 last year, my NP this year was 137, compared to 127 last year - 8% higher. And my average HR was 96, compared to 100 last year, 4% LOWER. The distance I traveled, 107.5 was the same each year; the time was six minutes faster, the elevation gain, was about 1000' more. And my runs afterwards were within 20 seconds of each other, with the same HR, again on the same course, same weather.
My *feeling* is that the position changes, in particular the more open hip angle, allowed me to be more effective with the power I have, as reflected in the higher NP and lower HR.
Any comments, thoughts, other experiences with fit changes?
Comments
Previous fit was 2012, with Retul franchisee, who was also a Physical Therapist and cycling coach, so he had a very good perspective. But a lot had changed in me and on my bike since then, as well as a series of disappointing (to me) cycling performances in IMs (even though I qualified twice for Kona during that time.)
Thanks.
I remember watching Apolo Ohno racing kona on the broadcast, and he had those big aerobar widgets for his pads...and in the broadcast, he rode on top of the pads when climbing, but put he put his forearms on the bars (lower) for the downhills / headwind sections...that struck me as a really good idea. Here he is on top of the bars...
Also note I remember following Sami Inkinnen when he went sub-9 at kona with a 4:4x bike and a 3-ish run...and he rode close to 300w all day...and when I saw his fit the first thing I said was that dude isn't aero...then I remembered his split...
I can ride 20w to 30w higher on my road bike for hours, but not on my TT bike...but of course my TT bike is ~ 2mph faster for less watts...
Thoughts?
@ Patrick - the improvement I got from the fit: I was TOO low in my position. Specifically, the angle my back made with my upper thigh when my knee was at its peak position was 18 deg. My fitter, Ivan, said that was more acute than the pro triathletes he has been fitting. He sees them riding between 20 and 25 deg. By raising my armpads (via rotation, mainly) from 15+ cm below my saddle to 11.5 cm below the saddle, my angle changed to 22 deg. He also moved my "sticks" (the aerobars) back a couple of centimeters. So my back ends up being aa bit bowed, instead of totally flat. It's still a fairly aero position, especially with my ability to "turtle" y head between my shoulders.
I did identical rides a few days before and the day after the fit. I noticed I was generating more watts, going a bit faster, but with a significantly lower HR. That indicates to me the position is primarily more efficient - meaning less energy spent doing stuff with my body which doesn't move the bike forward. I am able to ride at an NP closer to the 0.68 IF I want to hit in an IM, without an increased cost to my reserves. And I don't believe I was sacrificing speed - my 6 hour ride was six minutes faster over the same course as last year, which at my age is NOT due to increased fitness - for the sake of more watts and comfort. The sweet spot you mention. Which is what I was paying $$$ for, really.
I;d include a picture, but I can;t figure out how to get it out of the PDF he sent me with all my data. I suppose I could attach it if someone is really interested.
I knew that. Apparently, I'm just to lazy to remember, though: