In the Studio: Linsey Corbin’s First Bike Fitting
What's it like to get properly fit just weeks before Kona?
September 22, 2010
This weekend, Linsey Corbin flew to Boulder, Colo. for her first dedicated tri bike fit aboard her new Scott Plasma 3 Premium. What’d they find? LAVA chats with Corbin and her fitter, Retul’s Mat Steinmetz, about her pre-Kona fit experience.
LAVA: Was the impetus to undergo a bike fit based on getting the new Plasma 3 for Kona, or was it equally in order to just learn where you were in space over your bike?
Linsey Corbin: I have had Retul on my radar the past few years now. I have always been curious as to how I have fit on my time trial bikes. With the arrival of the new Scott Plasma 3, I wanted to do it up right – so I made the visit to Retul. I figured if I was going to be riding the nicest bike on the market with the nicest components, I better be fit to it correctly to make the most out of the fit. With my Kona prep and the arrival of the new bike, the timing was right to make the visit to Boulder.
LAVA: Are you a bit surprised at the fact that it’s been your local fitter who had gotten you dialed to this point?
Corbin: Regarding my previous fits, I have always worked closely with Alex Gallego, the owner of Missoula Bicycle Works. Working with someone local has had its perks – I can always pop by the shop with questions, experiment around with different fits, and I feel Alex knows me and my riding style very well. However, there aren’t many TT bikes in Missoula, so I’ve been curious about getting a second opinion about my TT position. To answer your question, no, I am not surprised that Alex has had me dialed in on my past time trial bikes. I think some people would be surprised about the local resources that are available to them.
LAVA: Have you been pretty particular about your fit, or are you pretty easy about movements a centimeter or two up or down, or forward or back? For example, do you notice it when your saddle slips just a fraction?
Corbin: I am not too particular about my bike measurements, maybe to a fault. I will say I have been stuck in my ways and have not experimented around with many changes regarding my bike fit over the past few years. If there are minor changes to my bike, I generally can’t pick up on them. I have my bike marked with its measurements and not much has changed over the past few years.
LAVA: What’d you think of the process with Mat, not only with regard to the equipment, but also Mat’s knowledge and in involvement in biomechanics from your body movement standpoint?
Corbin: My visit to Retul was super productive and I am really impressed with the services that Mat and Franko (Vaterott) are offering. It was one of the better choices I have made in the past year. While the Retul fit in general was helpful, Mat offered advice, input, and opinions about much more than just how my bike was fitting. We discussed everything from saddle issues, to pedal stroke, to areas of muscular tightness that I have, to cycling shoes and aerobar selection. I could ask Mat anything about my biomechanics and he had knowledgeable and informative answers that brought me a lot of insight. I felt my Retul visit went well beyond my bike fit, it gave me a lot of insight about myself as an athlete as well.
LAVA: What’d you find that may have surprised you?
Corbin: The most surprising thing I learned from my fit was how I am handling the front end of my bike. Mat noticed a lot of tension in my shoulders, forearms, and elbows. He has changed the way I view my aerobars and given me some things to work on in the new few months. The other surprising thing for me was the ISM saddle. While it isn’t the sexiest or sleekest saddle on the market, it was an extremely beneficial change for me.
LAVA: I guess there are a few things you’re considering that you’ll shelve until after Kona?
Corbin: There are a few long-term projects that I would like to work on over the next few months. I was fortunate that I didn’t need any major or drastic changes, so most of my changes are as of a few days ago. If anything, I have a few biomechanical changes I would like to make, and that takes a lot of time and practice, a perfect project for the off-season.
LAVA: How about things that you will employ straight away?
Corbin: Right off the bat changes: I am working with a shorter crank length thanks to SRAM. I am trying out a new saddle to eliminate a lot of the movement I was having between riding on the extreme nose of my saddle or the extreme mid-to-back saddle. I also removed the spacers from my Vision aerobars to allow me to be lower and in turn more relaxed on the front end. We also made a few alterations to my right cycling shoe to compensate for some minor biomechanical issues I was having.
LAVA: Did Mat give you any data about where your fit on the new bike will best benefit you? That is, in terms of aerodynamics (with a better aero position), or in terms of power production (with a better position on the bike)?
Corbin: Retul is a great fit system. You get hooked up with eight sensors at each of your joint angles. You ride a minute or so and all of your angles and motions are three-dimensionally measured in the computer system. Then the power increases and the process repeats itself a few times. Measuring your angles at the different work efforts gives you an idea of how your body position changes as your power output increases. I definitely generate more power the more forward I am on in my saddle – the challenge was finding a way to be comfortable and powerful for five-plus hours. I feel Mat got me dialed into a great new position for this.
LAVA: How different was the new bike from the old one in terms of making that match so you feel like you’re at home on the new ride?
Corbin: Thanks to my local bike fitter, Alex Gallego, I was able to get the Scott Plasma 3 set up as close as possible to my former Scott Plasma. The changes we made at Retul were pretty minor, but I felt really tied together the fit to make me comfortable, fast, and efficient on the new bike.
LAVA: Aside from the fit, I guess you’ve had a few rides on the Plasma 3 Premium now. Any feelings about it?
Corbin: I can tell the Scott Plasma 3 is a significant upgrade from the Scott Plasma 2. The bike handles really well – its super responsive, yet when climbing it’s steady. I also prefer the new fit of the bike, I am able to be lower and more aerodynamic. However, I also feel much more comfortable in the aero position. I have been on two, four to five hour rides on the Plasma 3, and I was able to be more comfortable, all while still generating more power.
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LAVA: Mat, give us a nickel tour of what Linsey came away with from your work with her this weekend.
Mat Steinmetz: The biggest changes I made were the way she postured on the bike. Right now, she’s using Vision straight extensions, which causes her to torque, putting stress on her neck and and upper back and shoulders. The way she was set up, she was putting the extensions in the middle of her forearms and torquing down. Instead of laying across the front end, she was sorta holding herself up. I got her to come more forward and put the pad more under her elbow. I think this would relax her hands and upper body allowing her to basically lay across the front end supporting herself with her skeletal structure vs. leveraging herself on the front end using her erectors.
LAVA: Anything else contribute?
Steinmetz: Changing the sadldle actually helped quite a lot, and I’m looking forward to following up with her on how that ISM saddle is suiting her. She could relax and open her hip angle. And you’ll probably know we’re not a big fan of shimming, but for Linsey, we placed a two degree varus wedge in her right shoe, as she has a bit of pronation, and that little bit of shimming straightened her knee out.
LAVA: What in your mind was a good change, but simply too close to Kona to employ right away?
Steinmetz: One of the changes I’d like to see is a ski bend or relaxed s-bend to just lay across the front end.
LAVA: What’s your take on making changes quite close to Kona?
Steinmetz: The important thing is to listen and work with the athlete. I take a lot of feedback, but am generally cautious since with most triathletes preparing for their big race, they’ve been riding in that position for a while. Sometimes I go with it, and say if there are any doubts and aren’t adapting quickly, we can go back and just work on it in the offi season. But a lot of it depends on the athlete. I just had Mathias Hecht in and changed his position pretty radically, and he’s already racing in that position. Some others, like Mirinda (Carfrae) are slow to adapt. So we have a plan for her, for next year. And again, with Joe Gambles, we made changes a week before Rev3 and he had an awesome bike.
