‘We fit your bike!’ is our gebioMized claim. But did we think it through or does it just sound good while only being partly true?

We aim at the perfect rider-bike combination, which in our view is a requirement – or the basis – for enduring riding pleasure. Optimizing the equipment and fine-tuning the seating position are at the heart of all bikefitting processes. However, neither the perfect geometry, nor changing the components or final millimeter-wise adjustments guarantee the ‘perfect’ position on the bike.

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One of my fitter colleagues is an ambitioned hobby rider and is – in line with his job – optimally positioned on the bike. However, in courses and presentations he servers as a good example of a rider with – let’s say – ‘inhibited hip mobility’. Using a provocatively stretched seating position this is a great live demonstration of a ‘football-humping monkey’.

Different hip mobility (left inhibited, right mobile)

A perfect example for the beginning bikefitter: generating a shorter reach and a smaller saddle-to-handlebar-drop by turning the stem angle. Ergonomically correct but a mild-catastrophe for the material- and/or geometry-fetishists amongst us. And now the above-mentioned colleague joins one of our courses as fitting model, ready to demonstrate what inhibited hip mobility looks like. And then: Neither the flexibility tests nor a video analysis of his back line show the desired football-humping-monkey-effect. What happened?

My colleague only did what hundreds of bike fitters preach their clients every day and has worked on his mobility. Using a so-called foam roller, class “fascia massaging tool”, generation today.

The original aim was to reduce the travel-induced back problems and to try out the new toy from the US.

Source: http://www.tptherapy.com/

The foam roller has become an important accessory in our daily fitting practice.

What makes this tool so special the physiotherapists and athletes amongst you may ask – and rightly so, as Black Rolls are hardly new and of course mobility improves if you train your mobility. What is special about this case: My colleague was only back for four weeks and the results were impressive.

What’s behind these famous fasciae and fascia tools? And why do I think – one year later – that a foam roller is a must-have for all cyclists and those working with cyclists?

“New possibilities to analyze tissue structures and their results, presented at the very successful first International Fascia Research Congress at the Harvard Medical School in 2007 and a positive article published shortly thereafter in an renowned science journal caused the current global pioneer spirit in fascia research” according to Dr. Robert Schleip, experienced practitioner and renowned fascia researcher at Ulm University.

Especially the important hip-torso link makes the auto-mobilization – i.e. the self-treatment of the fascia – so interesting for cyclists. Turning an ergonomically optimal seating position into a perfect one is only possible with good mobility. Mobility depends on many factors: disposition, injuries, training, nutrition etc. And even those with a hyper-mobile disposition can well develop sport-specific inhibitions – as I can tell from my own experience. Furthermore, most athletes understandably neither have the time, nor the money or the patience to visit their physiotherapist, alternative practitioner or osteopath several times a week. So: Do it yourself!

Dr. Schleip confirms that the improvement of the mobility through foam roller self-treatment has additional proven positive side effects. Newer studies have shown that a foam roller treatment significantly activates the metabolism in the treated areas. The increased release of a specific semiochemical in the treated areas is especially surprising: nitric oxide (NO). This signaling molecule increases the elasticity of the vessels and is generally regarded as beneficial for the blood circulation. According to Schleip one could say that a foam roller treatment functions like Viagra for the treated muscles and fascia. (Viagra is a local nitric oxide source for the male genital area). This would explain why athletes experience a significantly improved regeneration capacity and training adaptation.

Foam roller and fascia treatment thus are not only a further tool of the fashion movement ‘functional fitness and what can be bought for it’ but are more akin to a physiotherapist allowed to prescribe Viagra.

And we see in our lab that doing it yourself works. This cost-efficient orange tool helps turning the monkey into a road bike rider with the potential to even reach a good time trial position. Not within a week but also not needing years and investing many hours a week, that should rather be spend on the bike

Our claim ‘We fit your bike’ misses the important human aspect of the human-machine symbiosis. But we make up for this shortcoming by extensively using the possibilities offered by fascia-training.

Author: Lotte Kraus

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