Moser: All legs, no body. Photo by Photosport Int
“It’s Francesco Moser, with his distinctive style, his still, aerodynamic position on the bicycle is an imposing sight of almost effortless rotary action.”
Whoever the narrator in A Sunday In Hell is*, he got that little nugget spot on. If you want to know how to pedal a bicycle, you can do no better than to study Lo Sceriffo. All legs, no body.
Movement, that is. Cycling is a leg sport, which is why most proper Cyclists (i.e not us) possess upper bodies that are required to serve little more purpose than to lift a fork with a couple of strands of spaghetti on for a few dozen reps, a couple sets a day. Not that they are weak, (and guys like Moser certainly couldn’t be described as weedy) but any unwanted motion is considered wasted energy that could be channeled straight to the pistons rather than used for waving one’s head around outside the sunroof.
There’s no need to break down this most obvious of techniques into bullet points, it’s elementary: just move the legs, keep everything else still**. Class begins at 1:12:30.
*Turns out he’s David Saunders, and you can find out about him here…
**Don’t even try to emulate that back flatness. We take no responsibility nor compensate for damages.
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No doubt Moser look the Bizness on the bike. But, as a counterpoint, didn't LeMan move around a bunch? Two ways to skin a cat maybe?
Wow, Dwars VV on right now, GREAT Belgian racing conditions, dudes sliding out on narrow corners, motos going down, Bel-fosi pulling bikes off the course...
Upper body stillness is one of the surest signs of a proper cyclist. You don't need it to have a proper spin, but it sure highlights it and makes you stand out.
@Ron yep LaMan moved a lot on climbs, mostly 'cause he was too busy crushing souls in a monster gear to really care. They had less gears then anyway.
Ccos - I forgot to factor in the Soul Crushing quotient. Good point!
Regarding gears - my riding pal has both DA 11-s and Super Record 11-s equipped bikes. He just pulled down his mid-80s Pinarello and gotten it up and running. It's a 6-s and he said it's like he's riding a fixed-gear.
Damn, what a photo of Moser. Baddest looking cyclist ever? Discuss.
Besides his awesome position, his freewheel must be a 11-15. I can barely see any cogs. Or maybe it's a 11, 11, 12, 12, 13, 13. So after he wears one 13 out he can use another.
@Gianni
Ha! Awesome!
@Gianni
And the Tricolore just makes him look even baddasser...
@brett
Plus, nothing is more pro than riding a bike with your own name on the downtube. See also Eddy Merckx.
@Gianni
Indeed! Moser personifies pro there. The Italian champs jersey, own brand of bike. I think it's 81 or 82 (He was Italian champ 3 times: 75, 79 and 81) Rode chis entire career in superbly designed jerseys. His Giro win in 84 against Fignon was a wee bit dopdgy though . . .
Here's the mystery though. His shorts say Campagnolo, but that rear derailleur sure doesn't look like it. I seem to remember he started using Shimano Dura Ace at one point and in Italy, that was considered sacriligious!
@Ccos
Another rider who moved a lot was Merckx. And it seems many many more move on climbs or when crushing fools on account of all the counter-balancing the arms have to do when stomping the pedals. Which is why its so amazing when you see someone who can crush it while sitting still; it is a sign of a very Magnificent Stroke that it is already balancing itself out without the aide of the arms.
@Gianni