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LeMaster of the V-Locus

The Apostle LeMond: Patron Saint of the V-Locus

Finding The V-Locus is something of an extension of the Goldilocks Principle; bars set somewhere between Sit Up and Beg and a face-plant, saddle height somewhere between speed skater and Baryshnikov, and reach somewhere between a unicycle and the Batpod. This is art more than it is science, a process of iteration and refinement. And everyone knows “iteration and refinement” is the formal way of saying “we’re making this up as we go along.”

We are in the midst of a Sit Up and Beg Epidemic, and with that comes an emphasis on the rare rider who looks completely natural on their machine. There is a sense of ease that belies the power the rider generates; the position must allow for balance between opposing forces experienced while riding on two wheels, not to mention the sophisticated coordination required to coax a system of muscles that can only push or pull into generating power through a perfectly circular pedal stroke.

Cyrille Guimard is known to be a kind of grand master of il posizione, having been responsible for developing all three of the dominant Grand Tour riders of the late seventies and eighties. These three riders – Bernard Hinault, Laurent Fignon, and Greg LeMond – shared a common theme: their positions on the bike was so beautiful it has been scientifically proven to have cured infertility in women who watched them race, indirectly accounting for the baby boom in the 70’s and 80’s.

Of the three, LeMond stood out as being the most perfect, pioneering the use of the wind tunnel to refine his position to maximize the balance between physiology and aerodynamics in order to wring the most V from himself and his machine. He had the advantage of living in an era when frames were tailor-made like a suit on Savile Row but he used it to great effect, tweaking seat tube angles to maximize use of his long thighs and stretching his top tube to account for his long reach reach. In America at least, it’s easy to pick out riders who took a page out of his book on positioning, riding long and stretched out positions and mashing gears heels-down at 60rpm while gently rocking their shoulders. It brings a tear of joy to my eyes whenever I see it.

In our day of cookie-cutter carbon frames, we’re often left to refine our position through stem length and seatpost setback, but that’s no excuse for allowing us not to Look Fantastic and natural on the bike. Take heed of the Apostle LeMond and don’t stop tweaking until you have found your V-Locus.

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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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cyclebrarian says:

Nov 20 2013 at 12:55 pm

@PeakInTwoYears
I'm a tall dude (6'2), so I think I was too cramped on the bike with the shorter stem - the longer stem allows me to stretch a little more. No neck, shoulder, or back pain. I am planning to make some changes soon, so I'm sure I'll have to keep tweaking - I think it's a continuing process.

@Optimiste

@PeakInTwoYears

@sthilzy

@Optimiste

@PeakInTwoYears

Back on topic, this summer my life changed forever when I simply started rotating my pelvis forward on the saddle a bit.

I had the same revelation this year. Pure enlightenment.

Hey guys, me too. How'd you go holding pelvis forward? At the moment it's all conscious. You do exercises for the core?

I just started focusing on it until it was sort of habitual. It's still not completely drilled in, and spending more time on That Fucking Mountain Bike this season of year, it's probably not getting any more habitual at the moment. But I did a half-dozen days this summer of around 160km, and my whole back feels much better and I can be lower in the drops for longer if I keep that pelvic girdle rotated forward a bit.

With my history of back issues (compression fracture, ruptured disk) I should be doing regular core work, but I don't.

I was fighting severe neck and should pain on any ride over 1 hour. At first I thought I was too stretched out and needed a shorter stem, but I have a longish torso and had been fit by a custom frame builder, so that didn't seem like the right remedy. Daily stretching helped, but I was still nowhere near The V-Locus. Somewhere during my interneting I read or saw something about rotating the pelvis forward.

I gave it a try and, for me at least, all the cosmic tumblers fell into place. I could reach my hoods easily, my arms had a proper bend, my head lifted up, my back flattened (although certainly not LeMan flat). I was able to push my saddle back 10mm and drop my stem 10mm.

Core strengthening helps (when I actually do it), but the rotation became habitual because the alternative is useless pain. Anytime I feel the slightest twinge in my neck and shoulder, or I realize my arms are straight while on the hoods, it's a good bet I need to rotate the pelvis a bit.
PeakInTwoYears says:

Nov 20 2013 at 1:05 pm

@cyclebrarian I'm the other thing, what was that, oh yes, short. Really very short. But bike fit seems so complicated. I really keep meaning to get a professional fitting, even though I'm feeling okay after longish rides. It can only get better.
DerHoggz says:

Nov 20 2013 at 1:12 pm

When will fizik actually release their components? I need a longer stem as well.
cyclebrarian says:

Nov 20 2013 at 1:33 pm

@PeakInTwoYears I've heard pros and cons about getting a fit at a bike shop - guess it depends on the shop and how much you're willing to shell out. For me, I figured I would go with the cheapest available fix and go from there - in my case, the stem. I used to go on a few of the road cycling message boards (now I stick to this site) and people on there would post themselves on their bikes (usually on a trainer) for people to critique - note: if you do that, you will get 50 different responses, which will then result in people yelling at each other (at the end of which, you might not be any closer to an answer or options than when you first posted).
DCR says:

Nov 20 2013 at 1:35 pm

@PeakInTwoYears

@cyclebrarian I'm the other thing, what was that, oh yes, short. Really very short. But bike fit seems so complicated. I really keep meaning to get a professional fitting, even though I'm feeling okay after longish rides. It can only get better.

This is something I plan on doing this winter. A proper bike fit. What does everyone recommend? I have a lot of shops that offer bike fits and they vary in technique and equipment.
Mikael Liddy says:

Nov 20 2013 at 1:49 pm

@DCR

@PeakInTwoYears

@cyclebrarian I'm the other thing, what was that, oh yes, short. Really very short. But bike fit seems so complicated. I really keep meaning to get a professional fitting, even though I'm feeling okay after longish rides. It can only get better.

This is something I plan on doing this winter. A proper bike fit. What does everyone recommend? I have a lot of shops that offer bike fits and they vary in technique and equipment.

If you can find one, seek out a physio guided bike fit. What it means is you'll get someone who'll look to set you up in a position that takes any physiological issues you may have in to account, as well as looking for what's ideal riding wise...
PeakInTwoYears says:

Nov 20 2013 at 4:29 pm

@DCR I am, if not the last person you want to ask, certainly close to the worst choice.

Is there a system/technology that is superior to the others? And that is available to the average rider?
Weldertron says:

Nov 20 2013 at 4:59 pm

@DerHoggz

When will fi'zi:k actually release their components? I need a longer stem as well.

Awwww Yea.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ca/en/fizik-cyrano-r1-stem/rp-prod113648
Weldertron says:

Nov 20 2013 at 5:01 pm

Frank is going to be happy. 20 degree stem!
Nate says:

Nov 20 2013 at 5:04 pm

@PeakInTwoYears

@DCR I am, if not the last person you want to ask, certainly close to the worst choice.

Is there a system/technology that is superior to the others? And that is available to the average rider?

The best "technology" is experience. The technologies like Retul are simply tools and only as good as the person using them.