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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@minion
Some never find "their saddlemate" because they look in the wrong places. I have friends of both sexes who sit happily on the Specialized Diva and others who like SLRs and Ariones. Specialized did it right - nearly. They went ahead and classified saddles by width, cushioning and features, and then slapped a "Men's/Women's" sticker on it.
Anecdote: My team an open trainer-fest recently where, mid-way, we switched bikes with the one next to us. One not-very-bright fellow had to sit on my girlfriend's Arione, and within seconds of sitting on it commented "Boy, these women's saddles are so plush and comfortable!" - labels are everything.
@tessar Still not getting it. Your stack and reach example takes no consideration of wheelbase or weight distribution, or rake, or bb height, or anything else that changes the way a bike handles and rides. It'd be nice to be able to simplify things to that degree but it just doesn't work.
I don't get the tri bike comparison either - the bikes are made from carbon moulds in the same way as road bikes, and they're made so that they fit a range of heights the same as modern road bikes. Tri bikes are good in a straight line and that's about it. Tri bike fitting is about comfort and power, which you get by matching the physiology of the rider to the bike.
"Given a certain leg, torso and arm length combination, does it matter what reproductive organ said human has (other than saddle preference)?"
Heaps. Given women and men have different proportions in arm, leg and torso length, (Women have longer legs as a proportion of their overall height than men, and shorter arms) it's unlikely that you'll find a man and a woman of the same height with the same proportions. Also, in my limited experience, female riders are a ton more flexible than male riders, and an achieve a flat back position more readily than guys. Also, they won't weigh the same and won't push the same watts - mens skeletons are denser and heavier, and the proportion of muscle men carry as a proportion of their body weight is greater than for women. So even if they did weigh the same, the watts are (assuming all other things are held constant) going to be off.
And to be frank, it does matter that women have a wider pelvis than men when it comes to bike fit. Think about q factor and leg length.
Giant's bikes seem to be comparable to the mens smaller sizes in terms of headtube length, while Speccy's smallest race frame has a 105mm headtube.
Bet your mate thinks women's shoes would be comfy too, for about 5 minutes.
@GreenGiant
You know you're a true hardman and total legend when your victory causes the unblocking of Sean Kelly's previously impenetrable tear ducts. The gear that LeMan pushed that day in Chamberey was phenomenal
A couple of photos from Bloodpipes (http://bloodpipes.tumblr.com/) that you all might enjoy.