CycleFit.de News
The myth of changing your position before a big event
We're in the middle of the competition season now and we get many people asking us if it's bad to change a position in the middle of the season or before a big competition.. there are a few ways to look at this question certainly but hopefully I can help you make your decision.
The basic theory that if you change your position you will affect how muscles will function is correct, but if you are sitting in a position that doesn't help you or causes you discomfort, then you can ask yourself, "why not change it?"
A position specific to triathlon is focused on not only helping with improved efficiency and power output but also on making the run more comfortable.
Another way to look at it. If you train on the bike less than 15hours per week...your adaptation to a new and proper position will happen fast. Even if you are training more than this, your adaptation time is not significantly longer and think of the benefits you get also from being in a better mechanical position to run after.
We were at the new Tristar Germany event in Worms this weekend and watching the people on the bike, there is a very big percentage of the starters could use some position changes... not only to ride stronger but also run easier!
More to come on this soon!
Lloyd:)
ISM Saddles have arrived!
The boss himself uses one and a growing number of athletes in road racing and triathlon are finding out why!
In just four short years, ISM has been the saddle of choice for Olympians, Ironman Triathlon Athletes, Professional European Bike Racers, and Weekend Warriors. ISM has won countless events with our athletes and will continue to bring the best product and customer service to our customers. The patented saddles are unisex and remove pressure off the pudendal nerve and arteries in both male and female riders for un-paralleled comfort.
Mathias Hecht 2nd at Ironman South Africa!
After an uncertainty of getting to the start line at Ironman South Africa, Mathias Hecht of the Commerbank Triathlon team put the hammer down on the bike for the fastest bike split of the day and fought a tough battle in the run to finish 2nd but secure his spot in Hawaii already in 2010.
Keep up with Mathias on his website at www.mathiashecht.ch and if you're interested in getting faster, stronger and more comfortable on the bike before your next event. Just contact us and let us help!
Did you know that Mathias is a Computrainer user too?
Osymetric Chainrings to make your ride smooth!
We've been testing the Osymetric Chainrings at CycleFit.de and have come up with a few conclusions that are shared from a few sources.
The ellipse of the chainring really helps to minimize the deadspot on the the pedal and certainly creates less load on the muscles after a long day in the saddle.
On our computrainer, I noticed at similar heartrates a nice increase in power with the Osymetric rings compared to normal round chainrings. One thing that did occur was that my natural cadence did drop a couple rpm as I ended up using bigger gears more frequently.
Hard to put a real number on the tests we conducted but I could certainly say a range depending on fitness and pedal style of 3 to 5 % increase in power and what we did notice was the distinct change in fatigue levels after multiple hard days in the saddle.
For triathlon and time trial, probably a good option for your bike. For road racing? Well, just ask Marcel Sieberg or Andre Greipel :) Seems to work for them! Not to mention the numerous other pros that use them daily at 'work'.
Just ask us about how soon you can get your bike optimized with Osymetric!
Mallorca is over but we're planning next year!
It's already planning time for our training camp schedule for next year and we'd love you to be a part of our camps.
We are going to be offering road and triathlon specific training camps for next year and while it is a little way off, we plan to offer a pro tour style road camp in the early season and following this, we will offer a triathlon specific training camp.
Yes, we plan on having everything the professionals receive... and a little bit more.
We are picking locations for our camp now and we would like you, the people vote on your favourite locations from our list.
Look back here shortly and we will have a request form online as we start our planning where you pick your favourite locations and make comments on what you would like to see at a training camp!
March - April 2011, Port d`Alcudia - Buchen Sie jetzt
Sie erreichen uns dort unter +49 176 615 54057 oder unter
Triathlon Magazine
Look for us here also and hope this helps you find your way to a good position for your next events in the new year.
CycleFit.de in Procycling
Check us out in Procycling working with the new athletes at Team HTC - Columbia at Varese, Italy after the World Championships 2009 in Mendrisio Switzerland. Look out next year for this team again!
CycleFit.de with Team Columbia to get the 2010 Season Started
Columbia-HTC is in full swing of preparing for the 2010 season. This week, the squad has convened at the Club La Santa in Lanzarote, Canary islands, Spain, for the team's first training camp with the full 2010 rider roster of 28 men. The outfit will spend ten days in planning, fittings, bike set-up, insoles, testing and training on the windy volcanic island off the Moroccan coast.
Team manager Rolf Aldag was excited about the camp, as well as about the new season prospects. "It's really great to have all of the guys together for the first time," he said. "We have eleven new riders on the roster and it's a good chance for them all to get to know each other and for the new guys to learn how we do things on this team. All of our individual meetings are going well and I have a really good feeling about 2010."
Together with the riders, Aldag enjoyed the warm weather conditions of Lanzarote. "The Island is perfect for training at any time of year," he dded. "We can train in short sleeves and we have the support of Club La Santa and the local government here so we feel very welcome."
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/columbia-trains-on-lanzarote
Official Partner of Team Columbia-HTC
The number one team in professional cycling with 130 wins in the 2009 season!
The team is highly motivated seeking out the most technically equipped partners in cycling and why we are proud that Team HTC - Columbia selected us to work with them for the 2010 season as their exclusive bike fit and insole provider.
We started with them officially at the 2009 World Championships in Mendrisio, Switzerland for the first team camp with the new signings.
We provide the team with the best bike fit data available using Retul 3D motion capture technology and we also provide every team member with our motion logic technology driven insoles. We seek out only the best materials for the team for any given condition to deliver them to the finish line the only way they know how... at the front.
Look more for CycleFit.de with Team HTC - Columbia as our partnership grows into the future.
http://www.highroadsports.com/home
CycleFit.de working with AnPost - Sean Kelly in 2010!
CycleFit.de is excited to officially announce that we will be working with the An Post Sean Kelly Cycling Team in 2010 as the official fit centre and supplier of the best designed cycling insoles on the market from motionlogic Insoles. With motionlogic Cycling Insoles, we can perfectly control each athletes foot into it's most efficient neutral position and help to improve power and performance at the same time. We have the ability with motionlogic to fine tune the characteristics of each insole to the individual needs and requirements of each athlete on the team.
Utilizing the best measurement system available, Retul 3D Motion Capture will give us the best information possible to get the most performance out of each individual athlete. Using the Zin tool with Retul will also allow the team mechanics to perfectly duplicate the positions on the team's multiple bikes in use at any time during the season.
Eurobike 2009 !
CycleFit.de is excited to head to Eurobike 2009 this week and looks forward to announcing some very cool working projects during the week for 2010. Check us out on Twitter at @cyclefitde for our Eurobike updates.
Tour of Ireland!
The Tour of Ireland of course was a great trip and met up with some super people there. Of course, seeing Lance Armstrong and the attention he draws is always incredible but what was also very impressive was the passion of the people that follow cycling in Ireland. The crowds were always deep and rowdy loud and the icing on the cake, the crowds didn't shrink in the rain like in some places...seems like they actually grew! Already excited about next year and being a part of it again.
Lothar Leder in the house
Lothar was in for a visit to help correct a few long term fit issues he has had on the bike over the past years, to see what we could do to get him performing again at the top level. We had a very good fit session and had some very good success with getting his feet into a very good location on the pedals and also taking into account some biomechanical adjustments to get him pedalling with a much bigger pedalling platform. In the days after, he said, "he has never felt so balanced and powerful on the pedals and riding on training roads that he has ridden for many years, he has never been able to push so hard with positive effect in these locations!" Magic is how he described it.
On top of all of this, he had some big cramping and muscle tightness issues going into the run which we addressed and no longer are these sensations there.
The following weekend immediately after adjustments, he won an Olympic distance event.
Excited to hear more on Lothar's rebirth and new excitement on the bike!
Ain Alar Juhanson already feeling the improvements!
We spend the day with Ain-Alar from the morning 2 hour, 28km run at 32°C... a super way to prepare for the Roth Challenge on July 12 in Roth, Germany. Ain's goal for Roth is to ride himself hard on the bike and break the bike course record and use the event as preparation leading to his ultimate goal of being the fastest he can be going into Hawaii.
We had a super start looking at his flexibility and foot function. We made some good changes with his shoes and got him into a position on the pedals where he could pedal and relax his calves much more while putting out more power and even torque through a larger part of the pedal stroke. How do we know this? We use some state of the art software and hardware from the USA to help us measure torque and power output independantly from the left and right pedal. We could also see from this information that Ain was much more efficient using a shorter crank in an aero position and down low. Look for Ain to get even faster leading to Hawaii!
By the way, training at the Roth course, he was putting out 380Watts average for the last 70km of the 180km loop of the Roth Challenge bike course during his last hard training ride before the big event. That's a big number!
I have a feeling there is going to be a big turbulance as he passes a few other of the faster swimmers going into the bike!
Ain Alar Juhanson on the way to CycleFit.de
Arguably one of the fastest and strongest cyclists in long distance triathlon competition; Ain Alar Juhanson is on his way to CycleFit to dial in his already super position to give him an even bigger advantage coming off the bike and into the run.
A guy this size at 98kg and 195cm needs the extra time on the bike to continue being at the top in the overall.
If the fastest guy on a bike already looks for benefits for going faster and being more comfortable, then you should too! Everybody has room for improvement!
CycleFit.de off to Belgium
April 23, 2009 - We'll be off to Belgium next month as we will be helping out Sean Kelly's An Post Continental Team with their positions as they go into the second half of their long cycling season.
CycleFit.de on SISU Training
April 3, 2009 - See Mario Schmidt's Blog at www.sisutraining.com
CycleFit.de is now also Retül's Germany
February 20, 2009 - Watch back here for more information on how you can become a Retül certified fit center. CycleFit.de is the official distributor for Retül in Germany.
