The TdF Bikes...Interesting Thoughts on Fit, Design and Marketing

[RedRider]

This was posted by Happy Freedman. He is a NYC based bicycle fitter, coach and former racer. He does not sell bicycles... Your thoughts???

The Tour de France is over withdrawal starts tomorrow. Time for the recap. Great racing amazing performances and tons of crashes. While the crashes I have a theory. When I first started racing all the pros had bike built for them. Basically everyone got a custom frame or two or three or four. Bicycles were built for specific tasks some for Hillclimb's some for long road stages and others for time trials. It was built out of steel and later titanium teams and special workshops just to provide the pros they sponsored special bikes. Today's bikes are carbon fiber basically the same bike in the shop has the same geometry is the pros Road in tour. This means the Pro bike racer is not getting the ideal fit but the marketing department is getting the ideal bike we don't very seat angles or top tube lengths to compensate for different torsos and flexibility . the only fit tools you have making the rider comfortable and efficient on the bike are by changing stem length , stack height and a bar width and drop seatpost and saddles as well as . Gone are the days when we built the bike around the body and riding style of the cyclist.
Today's pros are highly skilled .I think we should provide them with the best possible equipment to conduct races safely. A poorly fitting bike does not help the bike handling skills of the Cyclist riding it. Here I go again pontificating about bikefit.
But I am a bike fitter

[tv_vt]

Well,... I think that could use some editing so it would make more sense, for starters.

But general thesis being that store-bought frames don't work for the pros? Not sure about that. But some aspects could be playing a role. Such as trail and how quick the frames steer. (I wonder if slower steering frames would be better.)

What about braking with carbon rims, especially in wet conditions?

And is it really fact that there are more crashes now? Would like to see some hard data to back that up. One Tour is not enough to draw any conclusions. And it's only one race in the season.

[chengher87]

I know Sagan's Cannondale is custom fitted to his body. I believe his frame is fairly asymmetric (even by Cannondale standards and from what I've read not mass produced). I assume the "stars" get theirs and the rest make do.

[sante pollastri]

Very stupid article written by a nostalgic of the steel era.

[OtayBW]

Originally Posted by RedRider

A poorly fitting bike does not help the bike handling skills of the Cyclist riding it.[/I]

Fit may be optimized by a custom build, but lack of a custom build certainly does not equate to a 'poorly fitting' bike - especially at the pro team level.

[enr1co]

With his introductory sentences, is he correlating the increased level of crashes with inferior bike fit? To this, my thoughts are that most pros are highly skilled handlers and that they would would not consider the fitment on their bike (whether factory stock or custom) being a factor with crashes.

With regards to general fit, perhaps his thoughts, concerns could be best addressed with discussion with the guys who fit the pros on the sponsors bikes.

[fiamme red]

Question about his assumption: are there actually more crashes now than 20 or 30 years ago?

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by RedRider

This was posted by Happy Freedman. He is a NYC based bicycle fitter, coach and former racer. He does not sell bicycles... Your thoughts???

The Tour de France is over withdrawal starts tomorrow. Time for the recap. Great racing amazing performances and tons of crashes. While the crashes I have a theory. When I first started racing all the pros had bike built for them. Basically everyone got a custom frame or two or three or four. Bicycles were built for specific tasks some for Hillclimb's some for long road stages and others for time trials. It was built out of steel and later titanium teams and special workshops just to provide the pros they sponsored special bikes. Today's bikes are carbon fiber basically the same bike in the shop has the same geometry is the pros Road in tour. This means the Pro bike racer is not getting the ideal fit but the marketing department is getting the ideal bike we don't very seat angles or top tube lengths to compensate for different torsos and flexibility . the only fit tools you have making the rider comfortable and efficient on the bike are by changing stem length , stack height and a bar width and drop seatpost and saddles as well as . Gone are the days when we built the bike around the body and riding style of the cyclist.
Today's pros are highly skilled .I think we should provide them with the best possible equipment to conduct races safely. A poorly fitting bike does not help the bike handling skills of the Cyclist riding it. Here I go again pontificating about bikefit.
But I am a bike fitter

In my experience selling bikes, only a very small percentage of the cyclists needed a custom frame. To imply the majority of 'pros' are forced to ride ill fitting bikes, I think is poppycock. Riding 4-6 hours per day for 3 weeks, I'd say most fit pretty good.

If anything, real pros, being younger, very fit and very flexible, I'd say it was easier, not harder, to get a good fit.

[Elefantino]

That strikes me as retro-grouchiness bordering on nonsense.

[MattTuck]

Originally Posted by tv_vt

Well,... I think that could use some editing so it would make more sense, for starters.

But general thesis being that store-bought frames don't work for the pros? Not sure about that. But some aspects could be playing a role. Such as trail and how quick the frames steer. (I wonder if slower steering frames would be better.)

What about braking with carbon rims, especially in wet conditions?

And is it really fact that there are more crashes now? Would like to see some hard data to back that up. One Tour is not enough to draw any conclusions. And it's only one race in the season.

+1. Carbon rims in the rain are an actual problem. But as a bike fitter, he doesn't have much to say about that. So he has to talk his own book.

Also, don't forget that Nibali rode Hautacam slower than Armstrong and Riis, and many others from previous tours. Further evidence that their climbing positions were more dialed in than Nibali's.

[crownjewelwl]

he doesnt sell bikes BUT he sells fittings!

[pavel]

That guy is not a great writer.

[Md3000]

He doesn't come across as very happy

[rnhood]

He is a good example of why companies don't show much interest in hiring older people. Tunnel vision and unable to change.

Its like whining about surgeons using the laparoscopic procedure instead of the long incision where you can admire the skill in slicing the patient open.

[shovelhd]

Carbon tubulars in the rain are not a problem. I prefer them over aluminum. Both have to shed water for the first revolution of two. The alumninum can be grabby where the carbon is more predictable.