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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"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"²s and 80"²s."
Blows. The. Fucking. Mind. Yeah, its not news to any fan of the beautiful sport, but it is always amazing to see what that one man produced. And what these three icons did on a bike.
Great article. Lesson? Never stop tweaking (as opposed to twerking).
The Z-Peugeot and Look-La Vie Claire kits? Awesome.It helps you to go fast when you look fantastic.
Picture #7 is my favorite. Mind you, in all of them LeMan's positions look as comfy as an old pair of slippers.
Question. What kind of brakes is GL using in the main picture? The rest of the Campag gruppo is silver, but the brakes are black and I didn't know Campag did black anodizing back then. Oli?
Cool article @frank. I especially enjoyed the first paragraph. I have to wonder, however, if someone secretly swapped your inhaler for a vaporizer.
Also, there is no need to be nostalgic about the bespoke frame. Even in this day and age of molded carbon there are many small builders who can make a fantastic bespoke frame. A metal frame might weigh a bit more than a carbon one (although there even are bespoke carbon builders) but the small tweaks that can be made to put the contact points in the right places and wheels properly positioned relative to the rider's center of gravity are well worth it.
@wiscot
Possibly the brakes just appear black because they are in a shadow.
I find tweaking the bike to be one of the best parts of riding. Learning how each individual change effects our personal geometry. It's also a great excuse to go for a ride. "But I just changed my stem and seat post positions honey, I need to test it out."
The position thing is such a mystery. I've been reading everything I can find on bike fit and trying to figure it out for myself. I started to experience some upper back pain and assumed my bars were too low. I finally had a professional bike fit from a guy in Adelaide. He started from the cleats and worked up from there. To my surprize he took spacers out of the stem, thereby enhancing N1s rule compliance. The overall result: a better position, no more back pain and a slammed stem (actually he ended up leaving a 5mm spacer in to account for different stem stack heights if I ever want to change stems).
It occurs to me that many of the riders I think of as having a centered V-locus are from an era when riders were bigger, not as wafey. The three you mention, RdV's sublime flat back. Boonen and Faboo have it though too but they are bigger guys. What is the climber's version of the V-locus? Is it the same or does it have more to do with seeming weightless?
@geoffrey +1. A pro fit is the start to a good position. For us also-rides at least.
It's funny. I will ride my '06 carbon Marinoni with basic race geometry and I might feel a bit of strain somewhere and the spanners come out for an adjustment. I ride the 2013 Cipollini and I forget there is a bike under me. I guess money does buy happiness.
I'm deeply intrigued by the "unicycle" image. It's such a fabulous cross between Dorothea Lange and L. Frank Baum.
Back on topic, this summer my life changed forever when I simply started rotating my pelvis forward on the saddle a bit.
This would be the V-Locus in "face-plant" position....
Love this photo from LeMan's FB page