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TECH NEWS

Video: Santos Bike fit Pt 1

Riding the jig at MSG bikes getting set up for a Santos Trekking Lite

Ever had a professional bike fit? No, me neither and blissful in my ignorance I was, well apart from the odd twinge here and there. So when Santos offered us first dibs on their new Trekking Lite with a Rohloff Speed hub and a Gates Belt Drive with a full custom fitting service as part of the deal we weren't really that bothered about the last bit we only had eyes for the belt and the hub… and that swanky orange frame.

More fool us, Santos are very big on their custom service, especially when it comes to bike fitting and they sent us down to MSG bikes in West Sussex where Alexander Scadding has spent the last 20 years developing his ergonomic bike fitting system - he fitted James Bowthorpe out with a bike for his round the world record attempt.

As you can see from the video, we learned a thing or two, including that I'm not as fit as I think I am (hey riding a jig is hard) and that I've got some other bad bike position habits… those wrinkly wrists need sorting, I might not be alone there.

It turns out I'm almost freakishly symmetrical when it comes to arm and leg length and that I need to get weight off my back (tricky that one cos there's no way my laptop is going in a pannier) on the other hand my back is pretty straight so maybe things aren't too bad on the load-lugging score.

In part two of we will be heading down to MSG in a few weeks time for a final fit on the new bike.

road.cc's founder and first editor, nowadays to be found riding a spreadsheet. Tony's journey in cycling media started in 1997 as production editor and then deputy editor of Total Bike, acting editor of Total Mountain Bike and then seven years as editor of Cycling Plus. He launched his first cycling website - the Cycling Plus Forum at the turn of the century. In 2006 he left C+ to head up the launch team for Bike Radar which he edited until 2008, when he co-launched the multi-award winning road.cc - finally handing on the reins in 2021 to Jack Sexty. His favourite ride is his ‘commute’ - which he does most days inc weekends and he’s been cycle-commuting since 1994. His favourite bikes are titanium and have disc brakes, though he'd like to own a carbon bike one day.

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