For most I think performance is often measured in speed or distance but for me, underpinning those factors are comfort, something I’m confident I’ve now achieved after my Bike Fit with Scott @ Fit My Bike at the end of last year.
It was only in March when I got round to making the adjustments to my gravel bike to match the outcomes of my fit and the results have been really good. Less fatigue, less soreness in my hip flexors, a positive outcome to an experience I was originally pretty skeptical of. Plus 3.5 hours on The Peaky Finder, the longest ride I’d done on it, was a real test too.
Fast forward a couple more months and apart from my turbo bike, I’ve almost exclusively ridden my gravel bike because it has been the only one of my three bikes I’ve adjusted and I can confidently say the fit and the comfort it’s given me still prevails.
However, with some sunshine and warm days recently I have been out on a couple of rides on my road bike which, if anything, only reinforced the fact I needed to make the adjustments to it too. Initially the ride was a bit harsher and a bit more snappy than my gravel bike, something to be expected but on each ride, after a bit of climbing or pushing a heavier gear, after an hour my back became quite sore, particularly noticeable when I dismounted at the end of the ride. Not a great feeling for someone that’s had quite a lot of back problems so I took the plunge last week and ordered the narrower bars, shorter stem and new bar tape I needed for my road bike and my other gravel bike. All Deda Zero kit because I love their RHM bars
To recap, the main differences in my old and new position are narrower bars (42 cm to 40cm), a shorter stem (100m to 80mm) and a slightly lower saddle (5mm)
Today was the first ride on my road bike with the new setup. It’s a little bit lower at the front than my gravel bikes due to the type of bike it is but I rode it 90 mins to our Birmingham store and back and the difference was quite stark. No stretched feeling, just a nice comfortable position with out any undue pressure on my hands, wrists or arms and when I finished, I dismounted with ease with no discomfort in my lower back.
It’s such a refreshing change and I’m convinced it’s easily given me some extra miles because I don’t have to deal with the pain or stress of fidgeting on the bike to stretch my back out.
It’s my next Gravelton Event on Sunday, The Winchcombe Wanderer and I’m taking my other gravel bike to try that one too. The route is pretty heavy on the climbing so I’m looking forward to giving the new position a run out on that one and confirm once and for all, the bike fit, was one of the best performance gains I’ve ever made.
