Ride of your life

Ride of your life

Bike fitters are on hand to provide a customised, personalised experience for you and your bicycle

SOCIAL & LIFESTYLE
Ride of your life
Andrew Gerking and Yannapon Thumapun of Bangkokbikefitter.

For serious cyclists, riding a custom-fitted bicycle is like wearing a perfectly tailored suit. With different bodies, flexibilities and riding styles, each rider needs their own bike set-up for optimal performance. Holding a certificate from Serotta International Cycling Institute (SICI) and Fit Institute Slow Twitch (FIST), seasoned bike fit specialist Andrew Gerking teamed up with personal trainer/triathlete Yannapon Thumapun to found Bangkokbikefitter. The duo make personalised adjustments for each individual rider -- both competitive cyclists and recreational riders -- who come to tri bike retailer Bike Zone.

What do you do when you 'bike fit'?

Andrew: We will take a sheet and write down everything about the bike they are interested in -- how long the stem is, what kind of saddle, components and so forth. After preparing the bike and taking all the notes, we're going to start talking to the rider to know what they'd like to do with the bike; if they want to race or they just like to have fun. Some people ride their bike once a month, while some are everyday riders. There's going to be a difference. The key is to personalise the service so each person gets the bike set-up for what they're going to do with it.

What are the main components you look at?

Andrew: First is to know the rider, know what they want to do with the bike. We start with the shoes and make sure their shoes are a 100% fit. So when they clip into the pedals, their feet are comfortable. We'll move on to how high and where the saddle is. Then, we work on the handlebar position, how high and low it should be, fine-tune all the components here like the brake lever and other in-depth processes. It takes about 90 minutes.

The shoe and pedal interface is the first essential element the two look at. The correct position of the foot on the pedal enhances cycling performance.

Are there a lot of fitters in Thailand?

Andrew: I think there are now. I started here five years ago and then there were one or two other Thai fellows working. But now many bike stores have bike-fitting programmes. We're going to start a workshop. We'll be teaching other bike stores to bike fit also.

How many bikes have you fitted?

Andrew: Almost 1,600 in five years. The first year was pretty slow. We started out with just 84 appointments. Now we do about 400-500 every year. So more than one a day. Over 80% are Thai. That really reflects the real population of who are riding bikes in Thailand.

A goniometer is used to determine an ergonomically accurate angle of the leg extension. When a cyclist sits on the saddle with his or her feet on the pedals at the bottom of the pedal stroke, the proper knee bend averages around 30 degrees.

What advice do you give to a customer from a personal trainer's perspective?

Yannapon: First of all, as Andrew said, we have to understand what the rider needs. For a race or for recreation, the riding positions and the handlebar heights are different. It also depends on the flexibility of each person. A muscle flexibility test will also help. So we can suggest what's good for their bodies.

What do you think of the local cycling scene now?

Yannapon: Cycling has been popular since the opening of the Sky Lane about four or five years ago -- not only road bikes, but also tri bikes. It's mainly because people are becoming more health conscious. It's good for their health. When they train and practise seriously and eat properly, they see incredible results and start to convince their friends to ride too. So the community now is getting bigger.


Andrew Gerking and Yannapon Thumapun Occupation: Bike fittersLocation: Sukhumvit 26

Small changes in each part of the bicycle make a big difference on a rider's performance and comfort. "With the wrong saddle height, it can cause muscle and joint injury," Yannapon said. "On an average cyclist, the revolutions per minute are around 80. In one hour, that's 4,800 revolutions. Repeated motion mistakes can result in knee pain."

Yannapon makes use of his background as a personal trainer to share performance-supporting advice to the customers and tests the flexibility of hamstring and hip flexors of each cyclist.

The bike fitter gives individual attention to observe customers when he or she rides on a bike. "Within the process, we are always looking for feedback from the riders," said Andrew. "They'll tell us what makes them feel good. Does this feel good? Do you like this? Is this uncomfortable? The riders are telling us what they like, but as we go through the process, we keep in mind what their goals are."

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