La Vie Velominatus, Part I: Finding the V-Locus

De Vlaeminck races Belgian-Style in 1975

Arms draped casually over the bars, wrists canted inward, knees tucked in neatly towards the top tube, bottom perched on the saddle’s rivet, chin dropped low to the stem. During maximum effort, all the elements of the rider seem to converge toward one point, an invisible spot on the machine where we may worship at the altar of the Man with the Hammer but elude his hammer’s vicious blow.

To the Velominati, this spot is known as the V-Locus, the sacred point where rider and machine are able to maximally channel The V. Where this point lies precisely differs from machine to machine and rider to rider, and can only be ascertained though careful and lengthy meditation. It is commonly found somewhere along the centerline of the frame, just shy of the head tube.

Take a moment to study this photo of de Vlaemicnk, pictured here having found the V-Locus. As your effort increases and you begin to channel the V, your body will naturally move towards this point. The elbows bend slightly at first. Your hands might slip from the hoods to the drops or from the drops to the hoods, but in either case, your wrists will roll inwards. As the effort further increases, your bottom will slip forward along the saddle until it comes to rest on the rivet. Shoulders arch inward, forcing your elbows down and out, crossing into the your leg’s airspace. To accomodate, your knees tuck inward at the top of each pedal stroke. Your head rolls downward, chin to the bars; you should be mindful to look down the road, though in this state of blurred vision your eyes serve limited purpose.

Locating the V-Locus takes time and mediation. As stated, it differs from bike to bike and from rider to rider, particularly among hand-built machines. After many long hours and kilometers spent in the saddle, you will start to become one with the machine, and the V-Locus will slowly begin to reveal itself to you. You will find that each of your bikes, however similarly built, has a different locus. Perhaps there is one that helps you channel the V more effectively than the others, but the V-Locus is always a fundamental variable of a bike’s personality. Take time to discover and understand it, and the V will grow within you. Vive la Vie Velominatus.

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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View Comments

frank says:

May 31 2011 at 8:21 pm

@Cyclops

Being meticulous in all things Velominat is actually a Win - Win situation. In the instance when a Fred shows up in cotton gardening gloves, a soccer jersey with pockets on the back that his wife sewed on for him and plastic bags duct taped to his feet in lieu of appropriate neoprene booties you can use this as motivation. "There is no way that I'm letting this guy place higher than me." But in the other instance when a Fred shows up and crushes you you can always console yourself with the notion that you're dialed in completely. You could easily fold into a pro peloton and nobody would be none the wiser. Besides, you are Peaking in Two Months.

SPOT.FUCKING.ON.
frank says:

May 31 2011 at 8:27 pm

@Pedale.Forchetta

I was amazed it seemed to me like I made an incredible discovery. Since then I've always searched and found the V-Locus (in Italian 'la posizione') on every bike.

Fantastic. Lexicon amended to include "la posizione". Beautiful.
frank says:

May 31 2011 at 8:28 pm

@Alpin

As i am residing in Grenoble; french speaking and english gargling , i can make you a free and fresh offer I could well be this day of June 8th your Velominatus Reporter for the "Contre la Montre / time Trial" of Grenoble ...

We will be in touch. This sounds fantastic.
frank says:

May 31 2011 at 8:34 pm

@Marko

I love all my bikes but there's a soul and connection with the ALAN I can't describe aptly.

Is that ALAN hand-built? Or is it molded? Seems to me it might be lugged and at least hand-assembled.

@Marko, @il ciclista medio
Those hand-built bikes have a much more prominent V-Locus than mold-built carbon frames. Through the little errors made by the builder, you get a real "character" to the bike. My XLEV2 is like that - there is something very...right about that bike. I just love it. It feels good. Even if it's flexy, it just feels good. The TSX is also hand-built and amazing, but the EV2 has something a little apart. It lies just outside the realm of words.
pakrat says:

May 31 2011 at 9:52 pm

@Cyclops
You have got to snap a sneaky pic of the plastic bags duct taped to his feet. I might even pay to see that. Hilarious!
Roadslave525 says:

May 31 2011 at 11:36 pm

Frank... love the article... I've always admired the cycling position of people like Millar and Wiggins, particularly when they are in time trial mode... their butts right on the edge of the saddle, their backs low and flat... now I know why... they are trying to shift the v-locus further forwards to increase the angular momentum of their hurt and channel it into power. Awesome.
Ron says:

Jun 1 2011 at 10:37 am

As always, a great article here, Frank!

I have three main road bikes and each is a bit different, despite having very similar geometry. Like many Fellow Followers, I've spent hours trying to locate the V-Locus aboard each of them. Even when you locate it, the quest is not over. You can, and must, continue to seek the position, the feel, the V more deeply.

I love how often reading something on here, whether an article or a comment, makes me want to ride my bikes. I'm riding daily, so stoking this desire is saying something.

I be it's been posted at some point, but was watching this yesterday morning and it's awesome:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxXqQqAc2pA&feature=player_embedded
Souleur says:

Jun 2 2011 at 10:43 am

frank..your a son of a bitch man

This article is now imprinted somewhere in the deep sulci of my sick mind, and now it pops up every now and then.

Like this mornings ride...intervals again. 35k hard, (will do easy 35k home becasue i am a pussy.) Except this time, when my time drops and its 'time to hit it', i slide up on the rivet, head down, hands in the drops and now my mind says 'V-loci accomplished knightrider'.

Its a matrix moment I slip into, things go quiet, I zone out to only a momentary buzz of some sludgerock in my ears, the legs burn like hell and of all things I remember the comment someone quoted of Jens 'shut up legs'....and now I am doing the same freaking stupid thing, in the red-zone, so out of cognizantly as I max out in the V-loci I'm hitting holes in the pave', hitting dead animals, just nailing it w/my head down. Sailing.

yeah, your a son of a bitch man. Grazie.