Bike Fit 2nd Edition by Phil Burt

The second edition of Bike Fit by former Team Sky and British Cycling physiotherapist Phil Burt is a comprehensive, well-written and fascinating guide to one of the most important and often-overlooked subjects in cycling: getting the human body and this peculiar machine with a wheel at each end to best work together.

In 10 chapters over 200 pages, Burt covers the main topics and issues of bike fit in clear prose and with plenty of illustrations. Whether you're thinking about getting a bike fit, looking to fine-tune your position yourself or help out riding buddies, it'll give you a decent grounding in the way bike fitters think and work; 20 quid well spent.

History

Burt kicks off this edition with a bit of history, both his own, and the history of bike positioning. Since version one he's opened up his own bike fit studio in Manchester and that's brought him into contact with a much greater range of cyclists than the elite athletes he worked with at British Cycling. 'I've got a far wider experience and deeper understanding of cyclists across multiple disciplines, aspirations and backgrounds,' he writes.

In a brief section on more general history Burt discusses the influence of top riders of the past on the development of riding position, from Fausto Coppi and Jacques Anquetil through constant tinkerer Eddy Merckx to Bradley Wiggins; he points out that bike fit nostrums like 'saddle height = inseam times 0.883' don't work for everyone; and introduces the ideas of dynamic fit (tailoring the bike to a rider who's actually moving) and the bike fit window – the range of adjustments in which the rider will be able to ride comfortably and efficiently.

The bike fit window

Chapter three explores the bike fit window in a lot more detail and is full of useful advice that you can use yourself to tune your bike fit and riding position, covering topics from saddle height and angle to handlebar position and, perhaps most surprisingly, crank length.

For years average male riders have almost all used cranks that are 170-175mm long. Burt reckons we should be running 165mm cranks, and makes some compelling arguments based on scientific studies that show no significant difference in power output for cranks from 80mm to 320mm long. But shorter cranks have benefits in aerodynamics and comfort, he says, especially for riders with knee problems, but also for, well, everyone. Food for thought.

In chapter four, Burt discusses what he calls the three pillars of bike fit: aerodynamics, comfort and sustainability, and power. You'll prioritise these differently depending on the type of riding you're doing which is why the answer to 'Can you get my bike position right?' is 'For what?'.

For a track pursuit rider, aerodynamics and power are the priority and comfort takes a distant back seat; when you're chasing outright speed, being uncomfortable for four minutes is no big deal. At the other end of the scale, Burt says comfort is more important than power or aerodynamics for commuting cyclists. I'd say that depends where you're riding: comfy cruising is fine here in Cambridge, but if I'm doing the manic sprints between traffic lights that characterise London commuting, I'd likely optimise for power.

Nevertheless, this is a really useful point of view, and Burt emphasises the need to change position gradually to allow your body to adapt so you can achieve the goals you're aiming for.

Aches, pains and injuries

Chapter five deals with the aches, pains and injuries that can arise from poor fit, starting at your feet with shoe and pedal-position issues and working up to the neck and shoulders and forward to your hands. In effect this is a comprehensive checklist of things that can go wrong because of your riding position, and how to go about fixing them. Well, mostly anyway. One alarming anecdote Burt tells is of a rider who permanently damaged the nerves in his hands because a poor bike fit placed too much weight on them and who carried on riding an end-to-end thinking pain was just part of long-distance riding. The moral of the story: don't ignore pain, it's a signal something is awry.

If your focus is on all-out speed then you're probably racing time trials or triathlons and chapter six is for you. Burt stresses that aerodynamics is crucial to speed against the clock and rider position is crucial to aerodynamics. Eighty per cent of aerodynamic drag comes from the rider and only 20 per cent from the bike, so before you swap 50mm-deep wheels for 80mm jobs, you need to get your position right.

There's a lot of information in here that you can use to tune your time trial position, even if you can't afford wind tunnel time. This emphasis on practicality threads right through the book, but is perhaps most noticeable here because rider position is so vital for time trialling. If your position's a bit less than perfect for a sportive or club run, you can still have a good day out, but if you're chasing a 10-mile personal best, it needs to be as aerodynamic as you can achieve.

Staying indoors

Burt recommends using a turbo trainer to tune your time trial position, and performing mobility exercises to help you achieve and maintain it. In chapters seven and eight he deals with indoor training and off-the-bike exercises respectively.

As well as recommending a selection of stretches that'll help you achieve an efficient and comfortable position, he takes a few hundred words to fairly comprehensively debunk the notion of 'core strength', beloved of all sorts of fitness gurus. 'Apples have cores, cyclists don't,' he writes, adding that if you're already a frequent bike rider 'you're probably already able to ride your bike for multiple hours and perform the day-to-day tasks and movements that your non-cycling life involved. If this is the case, then the exercises that are typically prescribed for core strengthening will have little relevance or benefit to you.'

The case studies in chapter nine are worth a close read as you may well find a problem you've experienced here, and a possible solution. Burt deals here with numb hands, genital numbness, saddle soreness, adjusting to a time trial position and knee pain, among other things.

One that particularly resonates for me is the rider experiencing Achilles tendon pain after tackling some iconic French climbs. Been there, done that, to the point where I could hardly walk after several days in the Dolomites.

'Next time, build up longer sustained hill climbing before tackling such a big increase in loading,' Burt writes. Quite.

Finally, Burt takes you through the process of recording your bike setup so you can easily copy your position from one bike to another, which will be handy if you're buying a new bike or setting up a borrowed or hired bike.

If you're at all interested in the interface between bike and rider, this is a book that you should buy. Twenty quid is a bargain for what amounts to a brain dump from one of the UK's most knowledgeable people when it comes to the bike/rider interface.

Caveat

I'm not 100 per cent convinced you can do a bike fit entirely on your own. CycleFit's Phil Cavell once told me: 'You need a referee and that's our role.'

> Should you get a bike fit? The 9 pitfalls to avoid

To be fair, Burt doesn't quite claim a top-quality DIY bike fit is possible either. 'My goal with this book is to give all riders the knowledge to begin their own bike fit journey to evolve their position to support their cycling needs,' he writes in the introduction.

The key word there is 'begin'.

Approach it sensibly and what you will be able to get from this book is enough knowledge to know if your bike fit issues can be easily fettled or if you need a professional bike fit.

Who should buy this book?

Anyone who's considering getting a professional bike fit, or trying to set their bike up for improved performance – whatever 'performance' means to you. You may want to be faster against the clock, you may just want to to squash some niggling ache so you can ride for longer in comfort, you may be aiming to be quicker in rush-hour traffic.

If there's a bike setup solution for you, it's probably here and even if you don't execute it yourself, reading this book will arm you with very useful knowledge if you then decide to get a professional bike fit.

Verdict

A must-read for anyone interested in fettling their bike position to improve performance – however you define it