I had a triathlon bike fit and wish I’d had one earlier

A triathlon bike fit can make you more comfortable, efficient and aerodynamic: is there a better multisport investment you can make?

Back in 2010, a study showed that overuse injuries in cycling, caused by repeated,  biomechanically imperfect movements, are rife. Forty-five per cent of riders surveyed suffered lower-back problems and another 23% had sore knees. 

A 2022 study into long-distance triathlon injuries revealed similar: that  overuse injuries are much more common than acute  injuries, like crashing. 

Of these overuse problems,  again lower back and knee pain were most prevalent.  And one of the causes of persistent spells on the sidelines? 

A bike set-up that works against the body rather than with.  

All of this is why I’m heading to The Bike Tailor in Stanmer near Brighton for a triathlon bike fit with master bike-fitting craftsman Stephen Roche. 

Roche has been analysing and manipulating triathletes and road cyclists for years, helping them to race stronger, in more aerodynamic fashion, all the while reducing the chances of injury. 

If you’re a completer not a competer, he also has access to the wind-tunnel at Silverstone. Via his educated eye and state-of-the-art analytical technology, he’ll ease me into my most  proficient set-up for road bike, road bike with clip-ons and triathlon bike. 

Let’s see if he can transform this Fiat into a Ferrari… 

Assessing the rider 

The fitting process starts with a series of questions whereby Stephen looks beneath my performance and physiological lids. 

What type of rider I am? Weekly hours? Cycling strengths? Goals? Heart problems?  Neck? Shoulders? Any discomfort at all on the bike? 

“Yes,” I retort with a confessional tone. “I have hot foot.” Well, a clawing, hot foot to be precise. The right  one. I’ve had it for a couple years now. 

Whenever I’ve been riding for over 90 minutes or in the heat or up stiff hills, the top of my right foot grows ever-more excruciating. 

It reached its pinnacle of pain a couple years back when I completed L’Etape du Tour, fuelled on carbs and painkillers. Numbness ensued for a month. 

Larger cycling shoes

“Hmm, let’s have a look at your shoes,” Roche enquires. “They’re tatty. And you can see indentations in them, suggesting they’re over-tightened. When you  put them on, they should feel like slippers.” 

“You have three contact points – the saddle, the pedals and the bars – and the aim is to distribute your  weight evenly,” Roche adds. 

“Fail to do that and you’ll ensure too much pressure in one area. And that pressure can lead to pain.” With that, Roche suggests a pair of Lake cycling shoes, half a size up to cope with hot and expanding feet. 

“Now stand up barefooted. Let’s look at your arches. Your right one’s clearly higher than your left. So, I’d  recommend a plastic wedge to level things out.” 

While he’s down there, he sets the cleat position far back. 

 “This isn’t really necessary for the road bike, but I’d recommend it for triathlon. It relieves pressure on your calf muscles, so you should avoid that jelly-legged  feeling on the run.”. 

Roche then slides over an in-seam measurer that I nestle into my groin.

 “We’re looking at around 91.1cm,” says Roche. “With that we can start painting a picture of your set-up, especially saddle height.” 

Shoulder to handlebar width

The next bike fit measurement Roche looks at his handlebar width. 

“Right, let’s measure your shoulders. “We’re looking at around 40cm, so I’ll recommend a set of 40cm bars or even 38cm bars. 

“It’ll keep your arms and wrists aligned with your shoulders  when on the hoods and so be more comfortable and cut the chances of injury.” 

The majority of bikes come fitted with 42cm bars, so this would be a simple, first change. And one that’d certainly apply to many pure cyclists. 

For many wider-shouldered multisporters, especially for those for whom swimming was their first sport, 42cm bars might do the job. 

Roche wanders over to his computer, types and then starts playing around with the road bike Argon-18’s kindly loaned us for the day. 

“We’ll set your saddle height at a height that’s around in-seam multiplied by 0.8. 

“You have new shoes on and cleats further back. This is the starting point.” 

High-tech assessment: stickers, sensors and software

That’s the relatively rudimentary part, based on master craftsman Roche’s keen eye and years of experience.  

The high-tech cranks up as I mount the Argon-18 that’s connected to a Wahoo Kickr Rollr. This neat contraption sees your rear wheel sit on a rolling platform while the front’s clamped still. 

I’m then plastered with myriad stickers, before Roche takes his “wand” and places it on key parts of the frame.

Sensors each side of the bike ensure pinpoint calculations and feed back the geometry into his bike-fitting software. 

On Roche’s back wall sits a huge television screen that projects my figure, followed by my figure with a stickman form projected upon it. 

I then pedal. A lot. Roche watches. He looks pensive.  I sweat. A lot. Purple and green lines appear on the  screen, which are the ideal pathway and reality of my  pedal stroke. 

Knee alignment 

“They’re [knees and feet] not too far apart but we ideally want them on top of each other. That means you’re  pedalling in a nice, proficient linear fashion, rather than your knees splaying, which can cause injury.”  

And, so begins a bike-fitting game of cat-and-mouse with Roche, via his observations, the empirical evidence of the data and the subjective – my input –  making a series of iterations until I reach “best fit”.  

These include saddle height, which is played around until it feels both comfortable and the knee-flex angle’s in the range 140 to 145°. 

Reach is tweaked, too, Roche nudging my saddle forward so my hands fall more naturally into the hoods.

“Because we’ve raised your saddle, you’ve moved further away from the bars. Naturally, we then slide you forward so you’re not over-reaching.” 

Roche is a perfectionist but after much “core engagement” (more to follow), we’re there. 

I’m comfortable and ready to ride. Which I should do for a  month without changing a thing. “If you need anything tinkered after then, you can come back for a free 30-minute reassessment,” says Roche. 

This is a boon as while you might feel great in the studio, the acid test is out on the open roads. But all the signs are that the shoes, wedge and refined position will improve my road riding. 

What I learnt from having a triathlon bike fit

I then follow a similar template aboard  the same Argon-18 road bike but with clip-on bars fitted before rerunning the run. But this time aboard an all-singing, all-dancing Argon-18 E119 triathlon bike. 

I learnt the following things about triathlon bike fit from Roche. 

Get a bike that fits you 

A bike that fits you, your geometry and is tuned to your  experience – more upright for newcomers; more aggressive for experienced, flexible athletes –  will result in more comfortable, faster riding. 

It’ll also mean you hit the run fresher than times gone by. And all of that means you’ll lower your triathlon PB. 

Roche helps to optimise your position on whatever bike you ride. However, if you’re in the market for a new bike, he suggests having a bike fit before, rather than after, you’ve spent your hard-earned money.

 “The number of times I speak to customers and they say they’re thinking of buying a bike, and I say well come in and we’ll put you on the rig,” says Roche.  

“Then they’ll say, I’ll get the bike first. You’re then compromising as they’ve been sold the wrong bike for them. 

“They’ll then be, why do I need to change my seatpost? Why do I need different bars and stem? Spend a few hundred pounds on a bike fit before and you can then take these dimensions to ensure you buy the right bike for you.” 

What can you adjust on a road bike?

There are many components on a road bike that  can be adjusted to nail your fit.  We’re talking stem, handlebars and crank length (see below). But arguably the most important  factor is around your buttocks.

 “This not only impacts your  power and comfort down the  seat-tube line, but your comfort at the cockpit,” says Roche.

“We usually find that  the reach for most people who come in for a bike fit is too short or too long.  

“This is compounded by many  mainstream bikes featuring laid-back seatposts. They’re my pet hate. It’s one of the first things we change, replacing it with an inline  seatpost. 

“When you have a rider laid-back on a road bike, you’re pushing the rider back, which completely changes the pedalling position. 

“It extends the reach, which can result in neck and shoulder pain.” 

Common injuries you can avoid

While Roche’s clientele often gravitate to his clinic or work with him at the Silverstone wind-tunnel for performance reasons, many of them seek his help on  the path to recovery.

 “A lot of triathletes or cyclists are coming back from injury. Common problems, in this order, are lower back, knee, shoulders, neck and then hands, with all caused by too much pressure. 

“One reason is a jump in mileage, which  exacerbates any problems they might have from a poor set-up.

 “Poor weight distribution is also a factor behind many injuries. 

“You find,  for instance, that those who struggle with lower-back problems have their saddle too low, meaning they’re hunched over, which applies pressure to the lumbar spine. 

“When it comes to pain in the neck and shoulder, that’s  commonly down to reaching too far forward [for the bars].” 

As well as a good bike-fit, Roche also suggests stretching and yoga will optimise your position and make you more streamlined. You should also focus on engaging your core as you pedal. 

“People don’t talk about the core enough. It’s a big thing in sports like golf and martial arts and it should be in cycling, too. It straightens your bike, which’ll result in your body centering on the bike.

“That then makes your pedal action more proficient.  If you become ‘loosey, loosey’, that’s where the problems start.” 

Which is why Roche spent so much time barking “core, core, core” when I was on the road and triathlon bikes! 

Which road bike accessories to choose and why

 The major accessory in our bike-fitting came on fit two, namely the road bike morphed into a triathlon bike via a set of clip-on aerobars. 

“This is highly recommended for triathletes racing on road bikes as we’ve shown in the tunnel that you can save around 31 watts when cycling at 35km/hr.”  

Over a 40km course, that equates to a near-four-minute saving. At 180km iron distance, it’s nearly 18 minutes. 

Before lunch, Roche had me ease down onto a set of extensions so he could cut them down before the afternoon’s session. 

After lunch, he had me ride and played around with pedal position, both longitudinally and laterally until I hit the sweetspot of comfort and streamlining. 

The narrower the better for aero purposes but, again, your position must be sustainable. You can also crank up speed with a bit of a spend, says Roche.

 “We put a chap in a tunnel on his 10-year-old Argon 18. We added a new aero wheel and disc wheel, plus wider tyres for reduced rolling resistance.  

“I worked out that this simple set-up would save him 20 minutes over Ironman distance. That’s a helluva saving.” 

A triathlon-specific saddle is also a recommended purchase as it’s  designed for your more stretched-out position compared to on a road bike. 

 “And although not a bike addition, aerodynamic socks are an easy win, too,” says Roche. 

How a triathlon bike fit differs from a road bike fit

The differences between a road bike and triathlon bike mainly stem from geometry. 

A road bike has a shallower seat-tube angle compared to a  steeper angled tri bike. 

That’s because the tri bike’s designed to push you forward onto those extensions in search of streamlined speed. 

A triathlon bike frame is typically heavier and more aerodynamic than even the best road bikes for triathlon. 

The frame will have thick tubing that’s aerodynamically shaped to be super-fast in a straight line. 

Since most triathlon bike courses are flat, the aero gains from the tubing typically outweigh the weight penalty of having a slightly heavier frame. 

You’ll find wheels are deep-section, again for aerodynamic purposes, while gear range is often narrower because of the often flat parcours.  

They’re wonderful, fast steeds but if you’re new to triathlon, a road bike and then road bike plus the best clip-on aerobars are a better starting point. 

How you can adjust triathlon bike fit

“You’ve got souplesse going on, there,” purred photographer Romilly. 

“I can hear your pedalling well,” added Roche. “The rollers are very quiet. I’ve learnt that you can hear when someone’s position is nailed.” 

After tweak after tweak, run after run, finally I achieved a tri-bike position that is aerodynamic but sustainable. 

And that’s rather brilliant as, says Roche, you’re looking at a 50-watt saving with a triathlon bike, which equates to nearly 30 minutes saved over an iron course. 

To achieve my aero nirvana, Roche tilted the saddle down 3° and forwards to open up the hip angles. 

This reduces strain when one leg’s in the 12 o’clock position and is particularly useful for those like I who are flexibly challenged. 

The aerobar extensions were also  relatively upright, again taking into account my anatomical restrictions! 

“If there’s too much drop on the front end and you’re not really flexible, there’ll be too much  pressure upfront and the position won’t be sustainable,” says Roche. 

Roche also recommended reducing crank length from a pretty standard 172.5mm to 170mm. This is common and, again, opens the hips for more comfort.  

The pads on the Argon-18 were also incredibly comfortable, cradling my outer arm with maternal love. Its position also meant I could push against it to maintain my aerodynamic position. 

An aero bottle either behind the saddle or between the aero extensions would complete my set-up and have me chasing  Patrick Lange in 2025. Possibly…

Bike-fitting sessions at The Bike Tailor (thebiketailor.com)near Brighton start from £300.