Frequently Asked Questions

• What should I bring to a fitting session?

  Basically, you will need everything that you normally ride or race with.

  • Bike(s) including any spacer kits that may come with the bike (this is very important for aerodynamic triathlon and time trial bikes with proprietary integrated aerobar/headset/fork systems). 
  • Cycling jersey and shorts or a tri suit.  Form fitting gear will work better than looser clothing.  Also, please do not slather any sunscreen or skin cream on your legs and arms before the fitting.
  • Your helmet, and if you have one, your aero helmet for TT/Triathlon fits.
  • Shoes and any orthotics, insoles, or shoe wedges you may have.

• Why should I get a bike fit?

  Proper bicycle fit is essential for comfort, safety, injury prevention, and peak performance.

  More Comfort: 
  The bike fitter acts as a facilitator, moving the rider through a series of positions, and using feedback from the rider to select the ideal position. In particular, the fitter will spend a considerable amount of time establishing the proper seat and handlebar ("cockpit") position. Video is used to ensure that the selected knee angle will not cause injury, hip angle allows proper breathing, and shoulder angle provides for adequate upper body support. Measurements and adjustments are made to ensure that the rider is comfortable and injury free. An improper fit may be holding you back, and even worse, could lead to injury or chronic pain. Your body contacts a bicycle in three areas; your hands, your pelvis, and your feet, the fitting process can reveal positional changes that can reduce friction and hot spots.

  More Efficiency: 
  Efficiency is about getting more for less. In cycling, this means more speed for less work. If you have an aggressive position for generating more power, is this costing you more or less energy? Does it demand a higher heart rate? And what about aerodynamics? At higher cycling speeds on a flat road, 87% of a cyclist’s power is spent overcoming aerodynamic drag. For those cyclists seeking improvements in performance, it is critical that the fitter understands the importance of good aerodynamics. The Bike Energy Lab process considers power, energy demand (heart rate), and aerodynamics in finding an optimal and efficient fit solution. For performance-oriented cyclists, video is used to align the client’s position to those of elite athletes, positions that are empirically known to produce fast results.

• How long will it take?

  A typical fitting at the Bike Energy Lab includes a static fitting where we get anthropometric data (i.e. we measure you), some biomechanical assessments, a cleat fitting, and a full 3D dynamic motion capture fitting.  This usually takes 2 to 3 hours.

  Most of the variability in the time it takes stems from the bike itself, the number of changes required, and whether or not those changes require some re-routing of cables.  This can be particularly time consuming for an aero bike with hidden cabling. Other unexpected items can also add to the time required, for instance, having to remove rusty cleat bolts from bike shoes by drilling out the bolts and rebuilding the shoe.

  We are fully equipped to make detailed repairs on even the most complex and advanced bikes, and have more tooling than the average bike shop in Hong Kong.  We can also rebuild and repair bike shoes! However, these things can add significantly to the time required to complete the fitting. In some rare exceptional cases, fittings may have to be interrupted so we have the time to make the necessary repairs.  These repairs may be at an additional cost to the fitting.  Better to do things right than do them rushed!

• Should I get a tri bike or a road bike?

  Each bicycle type has a specific focus. What makes a triathlon bike different from a typical road bike is that the geometry and the design is made for flat, fast, straight, fast riding. The tri bike frame geometry sets the rider at a much steeper seat tube angle (typically in the range 75 to 81°) so he or she is more aerodynamic, while maintaining a proper torso, hip, and leg relationship for effective pedaling. The tri-specific (or time trial) geometry is the most comfortable, aerodynamic and efficient position for long timed races since the rider’s upper body is low, but the weight is supported by elbows that are resting on cushioned pads.
  
  On a road bike, the upper body is propped up by your shoulders, which are held up by the back, arms, and hands. A road bike is more manoeuvrable than a tri bike due the rider’s centre of gravity being further back. Also, the road bike geometry is more upright. It is easier to see where you are going, you have more options for hand positions, better pelvic weight distribution, more natural breathing, less potential for strain below the neck, and it is much more comfortable on hilly courses.
  
  So, do you need a tri bike to do a triathlon? No! Any road bike can be used and there are often more road bikes entered in the average triathlon event than there are tri or time trial specific bikes.

  Which one should you choose? Here are some questions to ask yourself:

  • Do you want to race triathlons competitively, does every second count? – Tri bike 
  • Are you going to do long-distance triathlons for more than a year? – Tri bike 
  • Are you new to cycling? – Road bike 
  • Commuting, touring, doing century or group rides? – Road bike 
  • Plan to do local club rides or road racing? – Road bike 
  • Riding on hilly terrain? – Road bike

  It should be noted that putting aero bars on a conventional road bike does NOT make it a tri bike! Improperly fitted aero bars on a road bike are more likely to make you less aerodynamic, less powerful, and SLOWER! If simply mounted atop existing road bars, they will make you less aerodynamic, and because they stretch you out and compress your hip angle, the result is less comfort, much less efficient breathing (and in longer events, difficulty digesting!), lower power output, and worst of all, this can lead to severe lower back pain.

  However, there is a proper way to fit aero bars to a road bike. It can be done effectively, but there is much more to it than simply slapping an aerobar and pads on top of a road handlebar. There are also a few road bikes on the market today that are actually designed to accommodate tri/aero bars effectively.

• Can I not get fitted by my existing bike shop?

  Hong Kong bike shops are in a particularly difficult spot as the market is highly competitive and the cost of retail real estate is the highest in the world. They need to move stock, and they do so by selling a lot of bikes. Because of this, unfortunately, they are typically more motivated to achieve a quick sale than to ensure the long term comfort of the rider.

  In fact, very few shops in Hong Kong, and indeed in Asia, have any expertise in bike fitting. Bike fitting is at best seen as a marketing tool and at worst an impediment to a quick sale. Bike fitting capability places a shop in a conflict of interest; the fitter might be under pressure to use the fitting to upsell the customer to more expensive components or possibly a new bike, and that would be a bike that is in stock, as opposed to a bike model sold by a competitor.

  The Bike Energy Lab, our only priority is ensuring that you get the best possible enjoyment out of your bike.

• Why use motion capture?

  

  Some bike fits involve measuring you up and applying basic static equations to dictate your position on the bike. Unfortunately, this method doesn’t take into account your unique biomechanics. The best bike fit uses both static and dynamic tools in the hands of an experienced fitter to come up with an optimal solution. 

  
  

  Although it’s possible to approximate joint angles without motion capture systems, using dynamic video or motion capture analysis is much more precise as we can stop the motion and take measurements throughout your natural pedaling motion, at normal pedaling speeds and loads. Moreover, we can visually record and compare changes in position. Video is also used to provide live feedback during the fit session. You’ll be able to quickly see how the fitting has improved your cycling position!

• Do you do cleat fittings?

  

  Yes! Proper cleat placement the foundation for a great bike fit, as the foot/pedal interface is where the power you produce is transferred to the bike. Poorly positioned cleats have a negative impact on power production, and more importantly, they can be a potent source of overuse injuries.

  Having worked with a number of different positioning systems in the past, many with overly complicated fitting devices, we now use the Bikefit Systems method developed by Paul Swift, eight times US National Cycling Champion and Dr. Robert Mohr, Chief of Podiatric Surgery UCLA medical centre. The protocol is elegant, and we have found that it provides consistently good results on all brands of pedals, with float and without. Cleat position can be adjusted to place the foot where it naturally wants to sit throughout the full pedal stroke, thereby minimising the transmission of stresses up the lower limb and in to the knee.

• What is FIST?

  

  F.I.S.T. (Fit Institute Slow Twitch) is a professional tri bike fitting protocol and accreditation. Its principles are highly regarded in the triathlon and time-trial community. Dan Empfield, the inventor of the modern steep-angled triathlon bicycle and founder of Quintana Roo, developed the F.I.S.T. system after years of studying the science of triathlon bike design and fitting. It is a system designed to help cyclists find the perfect fit, just as a golfer tries to find the perfect swing or a tennis player tries to find the perfect backhand. 

  
  

  Antony Pringle of the Bike Energy Lab was one of the first fit studios to adopt F.I.S.T. principles in Asia.

• What if something does not feel 100% right after the fit? What if I find out from the fitting that my existing bike/stem/seat/aerobar is not the right one for me?

  We don’t hear this often, but it does happen. We try to be upfront and let people know that bike fitting is sometimes an iterative process involving some trial & error. Anyone who tells you differently is simply stretching the truth! For this reason, follow up consultations are offered free of charge, whether via phone, email, or in person.

• Isn't a bike fitting just for pros?

  Quite simply, a new cyclist has much more to gain from a proper bike fitting than an elite rider. The Bike Energy Lab process applies cost-effective tools to help the newer rider avoid the years of pain and discomfort often endured by traditional cyclists who won’t pay for a bike fit. It can also help the new rider save a significant amount of money spent buying various ill-fitting bike parts that would be wasted on trial-and-error fitting.

  
  

  For the newer performance-oriented triathlete, a tri-bike fit ensures the best possible performance considering that athlete’s current fitness level and goals.

• Any more reasons to get a bike fit?!

  There are numerous peer-reviewed studies that show that there are clear benefits to riding bikes that are properly fitted. Here are just three of the more interesting ones:
  Dave Warden, the host of Tri-Talk.com, cites a study published in the New Zealand Journal of Sports Medicine that claims, for a 40k time trial, a well trained cyclist would save:

  • improved aerodynamic position, going from riding on hoods to using aerobars: 5 minutes 
  • going from a good to a great aerodynamic position, fitted by a fitter: an additional 2 minutes.

  A British clinical study known as the Garside Study (Garside and Doran in 2000, Journal of Sports Sciences) demonstrated that 2:34min time savings is possible in the first 5k of the run leg of an Olympic triathlon as a result of having a fitted triathlon bike, in addition to a 1:16 faster bike leg time. It is hypothesed is that a more forward seat position (typical of the F.I.S.T. bike fit) encourages the hamstrings and gluteus muscles to be recruited more readily than a slacker seat angle. This encourages more balanced muscle recruitment during pedaling by taking some dependency off the psoas and quadriceps while riding. This can help preserve these muscles, allowing them to remain fresher for the difficult biomechanical and physiological adjustment period that is inherent in the transition from cycling to running.
  
  A 2006 study from researchers at the University of Texas and Western Michigan University showed that steeper triathlon bike seat tube angles (as are established in the F.I.S.T. protocol) enabled triathletes to maintain power production while significantly reducing muscular activation of the biceps femoris (thigh) muscle.