Bike Fitter's 10 More Most Hated Products

why my friend James is a bike fitter  with over 20 years of experience in   today's episode we're going to go  through 10 more things that he hates Long Reach handlebars made worse in this case by  abysmal control location nice one Halfords so when   I'm talking about reach we're talking about this  metric here it's the distance between the center   of the handlebar ball and where the controller  is located this particular example is also an   anatomic shape 2001 called it wants its handlebars  back which basically means that you can only put   your hands here or here there isn't really any  in between point the problem with this type of   handlebar in my opinion is it all it adds or can  add quite a lot of unnecessary reach to the front   of the bike meaning that the reach the controls  is made more difficult and typically resulting   in hand issues neck and shoulder issues saddle  issues replace it with something like a data   rhm or a zip short reach or a specialized short  reach and you'll lock off a lot of reach from   the bottom front of the bike negating a lot  of these discomforts bars that might be worth   avoiding or anything that's got an anatomic shape  sorry track but the The vcls Handlebar shape was   actually quite a nice handlebar shape but does  have an incredibly Long Reach most products from   3T it's also worth noting with reach that when you  look at bar geometry on websites I'm not sure that   these manufacturers are are being consistent with  them everything because we've seen handlebars that   are supposedly 75 millimeters in the reach don't  have other measuring them because they come up a   lot longer than the known 75 millimeters of  a data rhm so just be cautious with [Music]   Brooks leather saddles this is potentially an  unpopular one with many of you the concept is   not a new one it was thought up hundreds of  years ago the the hammock design of a brook   cell although very very comfortable doesn't  really offer anything in the way of support   as a result it tends to transfer a lot of that  weight and lack of stability into the front of   the bike most people using Brook's style leather  sorry Brooks leather style cells particularly on a   road bike are typically predisposed to having  neck shower issues hand issues as well it's   worth noting that for short distances and in  some cases on more traditional kind of touring   orientated bikes they might not cause quite so  many issues particularly with the handlebar and   the saddle are more level but certainly in a road  bike scenario I would try and steer clear of them one and a quarter inch steerers although  technically this is better and it's been   it's been adopted by the likes of giant Canyon for  their front ends it does afford you technically   lighter weight and more stability however it  brings with it a Litany of uh incompatibility   issues namely for stems and cockpits so  there there are only two or three brands   that offer one and a quarter inch steroid  stems and furthermore there isn't a great   deal of range in terms of length so it just  frankly it causes problems and the industry   isn't quite there yet it's too soon just stick  with one and eight it works best it works just   fine I question whether you even need to  have it that light and that stiff [Music] this is one of my most hated products because it  it flat out frustrates the hell out of me this   was a bike that was designed for the people it  has all of the makings of the perfect bike it's   light it's stiff it's functional it's easy use  it's got uh external cable routing for instance   rather than having all it having all integrated  inside of the cockpit which I know is very trendy   but it's a mechanical nightmare however the  geometry is exactly the same as a Tarmac sl7   why it's too long and it's too low it doesn't  fit many most consumers and it's just frankly   not fit for purpose it's stupid it's a bike for  the people that doesn't fit the people it fits   Pros who are not normal people the freaks sorry  boys can somebody please just make I mean so so   if they if they take if they use the ethos if  they design the Athos around rube geometry then   it would be literally the perfect consumer bike  because it would be a bike that was light stiff   and fun and agile to ride but also fits well as  well all right and also wasn't you know wasn't   sluggish and heavy because of all the suspension  gadgets and gizmos could somebody please just   make a bite like this this is why I sell so many  custom bikes because we built bikes that are light   agile but they fit as well stop what you're  doing we're interrupting your normal scheduled   programming to tell you about brand new podcast  which we're doing right now the Wild Ones podcast   what's the Wild Ones podcast so in the latest  episode we are talking about Cav going into   retirement why the cycling industry is in  turmoil why pro bikes are a lie and asking   why are we also obsessed with bike weight Pro  Bikes rely well we're about to find out head   over to our YouTube channel there's a podcast  section where it's on there you'll also find us   on Spotify or wherever you normally listen to  podcasts we will be there the one ones podcast [Music]   sorry specialized you're getting it from me again  specialized shoes the bigger problem here is the   non-neutrality of a specialized branded shoe  something this is something that nobody tells   you when they do tell you they make it sound  like it's a good thing so specialized as a   built-in forefoot which this is not a specialized  shoe uh it has a built-in forefoot wedge in the   front of the shoe what that essentially means  is that this is a left shoe the medial side the   right side of it is elevated it counts the foot  like so it's intended to treat what's known as   a virus deformity emphasis on the word deformity  which is what it's known in medical terms in the   cycling industry it's thought of as commonplace  although in in the last 500 bike fits I've said   I've observed two well the fourth of virus  deformity refers to is a skill lethally fixed   elevation of the first line of Bones you know this  is my hand but basically it's your big toe and all   of the bones associated with it up what that means  is that it usually results in that first Ray of uh   bones being elevated and without sufficient  support it results in excessive pronation of   the ankle joint the problem being here that most  people don't possess this it's it's relatively   uncommon so what we tend to find with uh with  a specialized brand of shoes is applying uh   support where it's not warranted not needed what a  typical resulting is supination of the foot or or   just applying additional or excessive pressure  through the ball of the foot cue foot problems   ankle problems knee problems and quite often  saddle issues as well by neutralizing it I.E by   putting a four foot wedge inside the shoe reversed  then a lot of those problems can go away however   that starts to encrypt on the uh the space that's  inside of the shoe what we tend to find ourselves   doing is actually removing the shoe from the  equation altogether and more often than not   the problems disappear uh I'm not saying that  these shoes necessarily cause these problems   there are however correlations between the  use of these shoes and the problems that   we've Associated it's just something to  be aware of that it is a non-neutral shoe the oversimplification of stack and reach so  to be clear stack and reach are two metrics   uh quite often found in Geometry tables on bike  manufacturer websites they refer to the vertical   and horizontal distances of the center of the head  tube to the bottom bracket right essentially they   are the front end coordinates of the bicycle  and they're typically used to dictate Optimum   size of bike it's a bit too simple there's not  enough that it doesn't take into a consideration   a number of other parameters for example the  seat tube angle of a bike will influence the   overall reach of the handlebars the stem length  will also influence the overall reach of the   handlebars as will The Handlebar rotation the  control location let's handlebar type even the   shifters themselves will influence the reach of  a bike so and this is kind of my problem with   the whole stack and reach concept is that it's  a good starting point but it's just it's been   massively radically oversimplified bike fitting  unfortunately is quite complex it's why I have a   job we find stack excessive or insufficient stack  causing less problems than excessive reach stack   can be massively influenced by applying headset  spaces something also worth considering is the   bottom bracket drop I.E if the bottom bracket  is dropped below the line of the wheel axles   you increase the stack without necessarily  increasing head shift length so it's worth   noting that head tube length itself is not a  an exact representation of how high a front   end the front end of a bike is this is kind  of why stuck and reach even exists my gripe   is not with stack and reach my gripe is the the  oversimplification of it and how and how it's used integrated suspension systems in road bikes  this is something that we found from uh the   likes of track and specialized they are using now  using sort of suspension systems in the front end   but also the couplers as well to isolate the  rider from vibrations uh on the road now it's   all well and good using it for power rube the  vast majority of people who are buying these   products aren't riding pair of bay and furthermore  what they typically result in is increased weight   added complexity and what we found come to find  more often than not is this South Creek uh I just   personally don't see the point in these systems  use large Tire volumes run at lower pressures   it's going to offer you loads more compliance  particularly When comparing to an Era where we   only had like 23 millimeter ties that were pumped  up to 130 PSI it's I just don't see a great deal   of need for it and as a result you start you you  will see that these bikes are massively inflated   in their cost everything now is getting more  expensive even more so when you're starting to   introduce unnecessary heavy expensive suspension  systems [Music] the Shimano 2300 shifter recently   reborn as the tourney shifter I thought these had  died but unfortunately that's not the case this is   an eight-speed shifter which has some say a cam  pack like thumb shifter at the top here there's   a difference with cabbage shifter you can use the  thumb shifter on the drops with this one you can't   unless you got films like Edward Scissorhands  they are [ __ ] although these newer ones do   have reach adjustment they aren't functional  when we're in the drop it's just something that   frankly I thought had died it should have died  a long time ago and there are much much better   alternatives to this system the 2300 shifter was  historically replaced by the Claris lever or the   Clara's transmission which is an eight-speed  much more functional and much more ergonomic uh   shifter that draws design cues from the higher end  Transmissions you know namely Jaguar 105 ultegra   and Dura eight it has a functional downshift  button which you can use on the drops still   has the the reach adjustment but fundamentally  it's just a much more functional system this   track this this Clarence transmission can be  found on bikes as cheap as how much is this   Carrera 430 quid for this bike uh with with  this transmission on it and and there are   other Alternatives from non-shimano Brands namely  micro shift again has all the added functionality   from from the drop in this in this case it's it  comes with a rigid brake lever and you've got uh   two two different buttons uh again eight-speed  functionality this one doesn't have any reach   adjustment but frankly reach adjustments less  of a problem if you handlebar width optimized   so there you go there are alternatives to the  crappy morning lever stick with either the micro   shift or if you can push to push your budget  to the Claris go with that one instead in my   opinion that is the better one the Clarice is  the better one [Music] flat bars on a gravel   bike geometrically grave bikes derived from road  bikes as a result they typically place a little   bit more weight through the front of the bicycle  so there are a number of ergonomic complexes sorry   there are a number of ergonomic issues associated  with using a a flat handlebar or on a gravel bike   typically it results in cameras on wrist drop  which leads to typically complications with the   ulnar nerve uh Q numb hands or pins and needles  or even wrist pain but that typically resonates up   through the neck and the shoulders ergonomically  a drop handlebar is simply better now there are   some of you out there who are probably thinking  well flat handlebar offers me more control well   again it's a gravel bike it's not a mountain bike  so if you're using or needing more control I would   suggest you're probably using the wrong bike  flat bar on on a mountain bike makes perfect   sense does offer you more control typically due to  the more Dynamic nature of riding a mountain bike   you know you're going through bulbs and jumps  and routes and rocks from and whatnot whereas   gravel bike is typically designed to be written  on slightly smoother less technical terrain if   you're using if you're needing more control  then I would probably consider the bike usage the misleading nature of sizing structures within  bicycles my great with this is that uh the two   don't seem to correlate like a medium-sized bike  is usually too large for a medium-sized human   being Francis and I are both we're five nine five  ten and we were both right a small size bike 52 53   centimeter and you know logic dictates that if you  know we're both medium-sized people I would say   and so you know if you go and buy a t-shirt in a  shop you probably I would normally buy a medium so   logic dictates that I would buy a medium bicycle  if I look at like a medium basically medium   anything from major bike brands they're talking 55  centimeter top tubes which are just way too long   for me uh so I feel that there needs to be a bit  of a shift in terms of power sizing bikes but I   think mostly consumers need to look at more than  just the size you need to understand how to read   geometry tables particularly I mean look look at  things like stack and reach we talked earlier in   this video about the other simplification of  stack and reach but also look at the top tube   length have a look at the seat tube angle the with  the C2 angle the bigger the number the the shorter   the bike is going to be essentially because the  steeper the seat angle the the bike's going to   be shorter uh there are now some manufacturers  that are namely Canyon and but also we're talking   about tri-band have a component geometry table  on there on their website which gives you an   outline as to handlebot widths and stem lengths  these things usually aren't commonplace on on   bike manufacturer websites like I say there are  some that are doing it thank you Canyon thank you   trivand all of these things will influence and  contribute to your overall Comfort on the bike   pay more attention to other metrics Beyond just  the size of it because the size itself can be   very misleading if you think about pinarello the  way they size their bikes they size their bikes   based on the seat tube length so a 50 centimeter  pinarello which many would say okay well that's   quite really quite a small bike it's got 52 and  a half centimeters top tube which is almost long   enough for me my bike's to all 53s so I I think  there needs to be more attention paid to other   metrics than and jump for table rather than just  small medium large extra large a Rider's layout   will will typically dictate how long the bike  needs to be so if you've got someone who's got   a long torso they're going to need a longer top  tube short torso short stock true this is all the   more reason to have a bike fit before you buy a  bike so that you take out all all you extrapolate   all of the guesswork from the equation and you buy  something that's specifically for you not much the   end of today's video please put any questions  you have in the comment section down below and   I'm sure James will do his best to answer them  if you want to book a fit with James or check   out his shop link is in that description thank  you for watching And subscribe for more [Music] everybody

Channel: Cade Media

Views: 292,233

Keywords: cycling, bike, cyclist, fixie, london, race, bicycle, road, vlog, francis, cade

Id: mcuKxnw6nAk

Length: 15min 38sec (938 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 04 2023