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Symbiosis

02/21/03 by Russell Stapleton

Let me cut to the chase about Jim Baldesare and the Wobble-Naught system. Jim will make you faster.

The first thing you need to do is look at the Wobble-Naught Web site (www.wobblenaught.com). It's not glamorous, but the web site contains the basis of what Jim sells. You don't have spend hours picking it apart, just get the jist of it. If you're really into it, read Journal of Sports Science, 1997, 15, 359-402 and Journal of Biomechanics, 1989, 22, 1151-1161.

I'm a skeptic. Unfortunately this skepticism can translate into over confidence in one's actual knowledge. Real wisdom is knowing what you don't know. This was my failing until I met Jim and his service. I took a step back and accepted my foolish behavior of thinking that I knew what my best fit was. Not without safety in mind, I could always change my seat-bar position back to its original position if I didn't like it.

For me, the fit consisted of lowering my seat post by 12-13 mm and slight change in the saddle horizontal position. The bar placement was set back 20 mm. Further more, the pedal cleats were adjusted all the way forward.

I'm a smaller rider, 52cm seat tube length, so a 12-13mm drop in my saddle height was a lot. But what a difference! Before the fit, my hips were not sitting properly on the saddle. I was too far forward on the saddle, not allowing me to fully utilize the saddle to distribute my weight. Also, with the saddle being too high, it extended my legs too much. I was unable to recruit my muscles properly. I believe this to be the root of my poor pedal stroke (lower power output) at high cadences (speeds).

As George points out in the previous article (2.11.03), the fit is SOLID'. Yes, that is the general sensation of a properly fit bike. But let me explain why my fit felt so. Balance, as Jim explained to me, is what I lacked. Take for example when you walk or run, your opposite leg and arm move in synchrony. Try running for an hour with your arms restricted, NO WAY, so why do it on a bike. In my case, because my stem was too long, my center of gravity (w.r.t. my body) was too far forward. This caused me to be out of balance', forcing my upper body to do a lot more work to counter act the forces of my legs. Jim proved this to me by adjusting the stem to a 20mm longer extension (my old stem length), where upon I suddenly felt my body expending a lot more energy.

You all know that in racing energy output is the name of the game. I need not bore you with the obvious facts about having a properly fit bike means you're expending less energy. But let me give you some quantitative evidence. Before the fit, I did a 1-hour constant load workout with long high cadence intervals at my aerobic threshold minus about 5 beats (AT-5). I did the same workout after the fit with the same setup. The results are below.

When I saw the numbers, I considered getting myself drug tested!!! This is an astonishing result. I now have less saddle discomfort. One thing I worried about was allowing my body time to adjust to the new saddle position. This is apparently not a problem, because I truly feel comfortable. My pedal strokes at high cadences are a lot smoother, not noticing any jumps (irregular leg movements). I really feel like part of the machine now.

So now you're thinking that I'm a novice rider or some hack with little actual knowledge of fitting a bike. I'm sorry to tell you that I've worked for years in a bike shop fitting bikes-pedals and have been road racing for many years. And I'm not ashamed to tell you that I didn't understand a bike fit until I had experienced Jim and the Wobble-Naught system.

As a competitive cyclist, if you really want to help yourself, get your bike fit properly. Don't mess around with supplements or super expensive carbon fiber toys, instead focus on what your body really needs, harmony of body and machine. This will make you faster.

Russell Stapleton

Let the journey be your destination.

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