Yesterday I visited the club sponsors, Cycle Fit.
A few things were on the menu:
- A cardio test
- A cycle fit with custom Sidas footbeds
- Purchasing a new bicycle
The atmosphere there was wonderful with all of the staff being very friendly and approachable. Not only did they really know their stuff (it was very obvious) but they weren’t arrogant about it, and I felt comfortable and at ease… which made it very easy to be honest about the type of cycling I enjoy (nice long distance rides, but nothing that will kill me) and where things nag, and what I hoped to get out of it all.
Cardio Test
The first part of the day was spent on the cardio test conducted by Mark Kirkman. This involved using my existing Cannondale R900 on a turbo trainer, fitting me out with a heart rate monitor and face mask (I asked, it measured oxygen on the inhalation and carbondioxide on the exhalation, volumes of both).
Spin up for 10 minutes or so, and when my heart had reached a nice and steady 110bpm Mark started the test.
The test was computer controlled and increased resistance fractionally every 30 seconds. I was riding up an ever steeper hill! At first the resistance is not noticeable, and I was merrily spinning at 110rpm. Gradually though, the legs warmed up, the breathing got heavier and sweat started dripping. The hill is made a little more difficult, as at no point in the test was I allowed to let go of the handlebars or stand to climb… this was a seated climb only.
I lasted 10 minutes 20 seconds before I gave out.
Going over the results I got to understand a few basics that I’d never really thought of, and was given some perspective about where that placed me in terms of others.
A quick glossary of new terms:
- VO2 = Volume of Oxygen.
- VCO2 = Volume of Carbondioxide.
- VO2 Max = The amount of Oxygen consumed in relation to your body weight.
- Maximum Heart Rate = Er, that one speaks for itself.
- Fat Bump = The point at which you most efficiently use fat as fuel (rather than carbohydrates).
- Anaerobic Threshold = The point at which your body can no longer convert fat in to energy and switches to carbohydrates.
I haven’t yet received back the results of this, but the bottom line I recall quite well: I’m above average fitness, have a max heart rate of 183bpm, and I quit cycling a little earlier than I could’ve… as Mark so aptly said, “Some people are more suited to take the pain.”. I took no offense, I love cycling but won’t kill myself racing up a hill when I can admire the view for a few moments and then resume.
I felt I learnt an enormous amount in a very short space of time with Mark, too much perhaps… as the vast majority of the knowledge acquired I don’t understand what to do with. I guess once I get the statistics back it will be a case of googling around and trying to find a meaningful way in which to construct some half-disciplined training schedule that might would be realistic for my mobile lifestyle. The most valuable thing I take away is simply the underlined knowledge that if I want it, the extra power and energy is there if I just push a bit harder. You never know, I might tap into that one day.
Cycle Fit
Phil did the Cycle Fit, and I must say that this was the highlight of the day. I didn’t know what to expect from the cardio, and I didn’t have a great enough understanding of the results of that for it to be valuable. However, with the Cycle Fit it’s a different thing, I knew where I felt pain, I knew that as I’d never been looked at I probably would have some bad habits, and I knew for sure that the bike I am riding does not fit me correctly.
Phil started me off with some simple and friendly questions about how much I cycle, what kind of cycling I enjoy, what I want to do, what I wanted to get out of the Cycle Fit, aspirations for cycling, etc.
After he had a very good understanding of what I have done and what I do do, and where I would like to be, he proceeded to carry out a physical. Testing the mobility of key joints and muscle groups, giving tips for stretches when I gave comments on how it felt (usually along the lines of, “oooh, that feels like it’s never been worked before”).
He was aghast at the state of my back! One ski accident last year and lower back pain from the two years before has left me bending forward like a hinge, rather than being able to roll my back forward. I think he appreciated immediately how the ski accident has reduced mobility and locked up my upper back.
Then onto dimensions: A Clarks-style set of foot measurements, inseam length, difference between the length of each leg, etc.
Finally, I got to hop onto the Serotta Size Cycle:
The Size Cycle allows for every part of a frame to be modified, and if you’re buying a Serotta they then build the bike to match these measurements… my measurements.
As Phil said, “We start with everything wrong, and go from there.”.
So with gradual tweaks to the top tube, seat tube angle and length, Phil set my knees in the right spot, brought me forward so that I was very comfortable on the bars, and all the while helping with advice and tips on posture and pedalling to get the most out of each stroke and to reduce damage to my back.
In between my hoping on and off of the Size Cycle a set of custom Sidas Footbeds were produced, and Phil one by one fitted Le Wedge’s to my shoes.
The difference that the custom footbeds and Le Wedge’s made was quite simply unbelievable. I felt the fit throughout the pedal stroke, not only was every drop of power now going into the crank, but I could visibly see that my leg was pistoning in a perfect straight line… a few moments before and the left knee had been floating side to side throughout the stroke. If you’re looking to elevate your cycling style, here in the footbeds and Le Wedges’s you’ll find the greatest instant results.
After numerous more miniscule tweaks to the frame geometry and my posture, we were done, and by the end of the whole process I felt like I was floating in a dream position. Next, was to take that dream position and translate it into a bicycle.
Serotta Nove
I’d procrastinated long and hard over the choice of bicycle. My time is split reasonably evenly between London and Gothenburg, and what I want is to be able to cycle and socialise in both cities. So the plan is to send my Cannondale to Gothenburg, go on long rides with Lygnens Venner with a view to get regular miles clocked up whilst in Gothenburg and make new friends in the process. To do this, I need a second bike for London where I’ll be commuting, taking part in charity rides, and frequently attending the Richmond Park Ride and Surrey Hills Ride.
I’m not quite sure how the decision making process ended up on a custom Serotta. It went through a few distinct phases, such as knowing I had some parts, thinking of getting a frame and building around that, and generally attempting to construct a bike that would fit me better than my stock Cannondale.
I considered other stock frames, the Colnago C50 and Pinarello Paris Carbon FP most notably… but, well they would always be stock frames designed for pro-riders. I’m not a pro-rider, I’m someone who has long legs, a bit of hunch, loves long rides, wants road vibrations dampened, yet wants control and agility on descents and cornering.
I sat on the Serotta forum for a while, watching, waiting, soaking up the views of the people there and still procrastinating over the decision… stock or custom… Pinarello or Serotta?
Eventually the decision was an easy one, I visited Sigma Sport and looked at the Pinarello. It hung from the ceiling and was a thing of beauty. But something didn’t feel right. It was a thing of beauty, but someone else’s thing of beauty. It’s hard to explain really, but I guess this is akin to the way I would lust after Scarlet Johansson… she’s very pretty, quite sophisticated… but only on film, she’s not for me in real life, and neither is this Pinarello. Simply, it was made for someone else. Yet on another wall of Sigma hung a Seven, the Seven also wasn’t for me, but what struck me was the workmanship, the beauty of it.
I knew when I saw the Seven that the Serotta had already stolen my heart. Beyond just riding a bike, there is the knowledge that the bike is pure craftmanship. Not just that it is made for you, to fit you, but that skilled hands put the frame together, shaped the materials, and that a Serotta frame is actually as much an arts and craft piece as it is pure riding pleasure. The level of workmanship that Serotta show is vastly superior to anything else I’ve seen, and the Seven reminded me of this, and gave me an appreciation of it right when I was in the middle of making the decision.
So, Cycle Fit completed, and a Serotta in mind… but which one?
The three my budget allowed me to choose from were:
- Serotta Legend Ti (Titanium frame)
- Serotta Legend St (Titanium frame, Carbon stays)
- Serotta Nove (Titanium frame with Carbon stays, top tube and down tube)
I consulted with Phil on the best choice for me, and with all that I told him, anecdotes about rear-end slide, the state of Constitution Hill, long distance rides, etc… he felt that the bike for me is the Nove. He explained how Titanium is a more ‘lively’ material, and Carbon is a very good dampener. The combination of Titanium and Carbon and his experience in designing the geometry would allow him to create the best frame for me given my explanations of what I wanted.
So upon his recommendation, I selected the Serotta Nove:
By far the hardest thing was then to choose the paint job. Serotta have a tool that you can use to try out any of thousands of permutations of colour and style.
I’ve selected a Sizzler GS scheme, with Sapphire Blue forks and front, Arancio stripes… and then everything behind that is brushed satin Titanium or naked Carbon. The decals are white with black trim, except the ones on the chain stays which are matte Titanium.
To compound the decision process, you then get to choose each and every decal and sticker… from the Serotta S on the front (metal badge or decal? what colour for the decal?), down to the “Made in the USA” at the bottom of the seat tube. Absolutely every decal and colour is to be chosen by you.
Julian helped me go through this process, patiently showing examples on other frames of which sticker is where, what it looks like, how the colours look, etc.
From there, the components. I won’t go into the fine detail of choosing this stuff, I’d already set upon Campagnolo Record throughout, making exceptions only for bottom bracket (Royce) and headset (Chris King). The saddle is an Aliante and the bars and stem are Deda Newton.
The most important component is probably the wheels. I didn’t really want to go all bling and have some high profile rim like the Zipp 404’s, they’re really not for me… so being utterly pragmatic I’ve gone for the low profile Campagnolo Neutron’s. A perfect pair of wheels for the riding I do, they are great for distance, comfort and climbing. A fellow dynamate has a pair, and has sworn that in 2 years he’s not had to true them once… which is precisely the type of durability I want.
Tick. Tock.
Now… after having the mild heart-attack over the cost of all of this… I simply have a waiting game. It takes 5 to 8 weeks to custom build a Serotta Nove frame and have it shipped to the UK and built up into a bike. In the meantime I have had the Cannondale R900 adjusted to best fit the results of the Cycle Fit, and preparations to now make for flying the Cannondale to Gothenburg.
The day was fab, it really was. I doubt anyone enthusiastic about cycling could fail to be moved by a custom made bicycle (made just for you! except in this case this one is all me, me, me), let alone the coaching, posture help, cardio-test and absolutely incredible service levels that Cycle Fit offer. I genuinely find it very hard to recommend cycle shops, Sigma don’t do it for me, and neither do Condor… but Cycle Fit was pure heaven. It’s possibly just a shame that my bank balance is now pure hell.
Was it all worth it? I’m sure I’ll let you know in 8 weeks time.
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