Tad Opens Up About His Bike Fit Business

Be sure to check out our new video!


What inspired you to start your business?

The desire to offer a “pure” product and to be a truly independent bike fit consultant. I wanted to be a specialist within a specialty void of the pressures to sell high end equipment as most fitters do. My wife Jess was instrumental in believing this could happen and this award really belongs to her.

What sets your company apart from its competitors?

I am completely independent. I sell nothing but service and have no manufacturer’s quotas to live up to. My business model is simple: 100% bike fit. My clients can be comfortable in that our agenda is focused on their personal and unique needs. Not solutions that are based on purchases as in traditional retail settings. I try not to “compete” with other shops by creating an interdependent referral system as I offer a service they generally do not have in house. I have a qualified destination for clients looking to purchase a new bike. After completing their size-bike fitting with me, they return to the shop to make their purchase. Also, more than half of my clients bring in their existing bike with no worries of being upsold. It’s an interdependent relationship; The more people comfortably riding bikes injury free, the more everyone benefits and in a sport that is solely self marketed it’s very important.

What is your favorite part of running your own business?

The freedom to change based on the needs of the client, or to improve the overall product. A close second would be control of your own image/brand. When you are an employee you will always be working under a corporate umbrella.

What lessons did you learn along the way that can help new businesses just starting up?

If you want to make a small fortune, start with a large one. My advice is to have all your information, mission statement, services, prices etc. clearly defined and in place before you take off running. Intuit’s services really helped solidify and consolidate our operations. Keep things simple and try to look at things from the customer’s point of view, work backwards and try to pre-answer as many questions as possible. Once you are up and running it is difficult to go back and change things. Doing so can send mixed messages to your clients. Also if the product is not a commodity or price sensitive, I think it is important for clients/customers to know WHY they are buying from you. They can be your best advocates.

How do you use social media (Twitter, Face book, YouTube, etc.) to promote your business and engage with customers?

We use it as a positive influence to highlight the successes of our clients, promote advocacy and offer help and guidance. Since our business is largely word of mouth it allows candid interactive feedback from the community and information to prospective clients or those simply curious about bike fit.

What’s on the horizon future new of your business?

We’ll soon be offering a custom, moldable foot bed to clients in an effort to solve a common ailment. Looking forward to our partnership with San Diego based Footbalance. Watch soon for their press release. Also look out for video-podcasts, bike fit TV and more. Definitely stay tuned.

Anything else you’d like to share?

Thank you to Jess, all my clients, bike enthusiasts everywhere and especially Intuit for giving small businesses opportunities to compete in a sea of big business.

Thank you again for participating in the Intuit Websites Sites We Love contest, Tad!

Website: www.tadhughescustom.com

Twitter: @MasterBikeFit

Facebook: /MasterBikeFitter

YouTube: /MasterBikeFit

Tri and Tri Again

The cycling state of the union seems to be quite healthy this summer.  One aspect of influence may be the explosive growth of triathletes.   There are now more regional events than I can remember including Texas' most recent achievement at hosting Ironman Texas in The Woodlands this past May with registration for Ironman Texas 2012 rumored to be near full.   Perhaps the personal/individual achievement spirit of a three sport discipline is a draw compared to the perception and atmosphere of competitive cycling. Statistically only 6% of triathletes come from a cycling background, so naturally there’s not a huge emphasis on this middle transition. Whether you’re in that 6% or not, here are 3 tips for any triathlete’s success in cycling.

1. Get a bike fit.

As obvious as bike fit may seem, it is not as simple as bolting on an aero bar. You may think you can do it yourself but just like cutting your own hair, seeking out a professional is always worth the extra cash.  Tri positioning is designed to be aero. Yes you sit more forward on the bike (usually) but how forward and your range of motion are the main parameters in a bike fit.  Factoring in how far and how often you will ride and how competitive you are should determine placement of the 7 points of contact with your body with the main emphasis in determining and maintaining your personal hip angle and best position for your knee.  Seek out a professional in your area to determine your needs. Remember that trial and error yields lots of both. This also leads to the important decision of whether a tri bike is paramount, or if your current bike with a new bar and second seat/seat post combination will satisfy your needs.  It is my professional opinion a properly fit dedicated tri bike can yield high performance gains since the improved aerodynamics coupled with the ability to maintain a forward position is optimum but is not necessarily better for the average aged athlete over a 70 or 110 mile ride.  A modified road bike (preferably something from the performance/endurance class) may be a more desirable suitor as its relaxed nature provides a well rounded platform for long rallies and centuries.

2. Short course vs. long course

Never assume you can ride any distance in the same position.  A bike intended for a 45-minute event will not be comfortable for 50 miles.  Conversely, ultra aggressive bikes with low head tube heights become challenging in making a rider comfortable for long distances and steep seat angles can produce a firm ride making it difficult to place the seat in the optimum location.  An ultra aggressive position is not something you can “work into” nor should you learn to “tolerate it” over longer distances. Your body will not be able to hold proper form over multiple hours and remember… you still have to transition into your run. The knee at four centimeters in front of the pedal axle is considered “neutral” with the maximum for short course being in the seven to nine centimeter range.  For a longer course the knee is usually two centimeters in front or directly over the axle depending on the feedback from your transitions.   The average head weighs approximately 9 lbs. so for every centimeter you move the knee forward, it exponentially makes the head heavier as gravity cantilevers your neck. Thus a long course bike would have a higher bar position to relieve this pressure and to prevent deterioration of the hip angle over multiple hours on the bike.

3. Full-time fanatic or part-time enthusiast?

Decide in earnest if you are diving in or just dipping a toe.  You may not be a candidate for a tri fit if you compete in a few sprint triathlons (12 mile bike) each spring.  Changing your overall position for one or two events will compromise your current fit post competition.  Now if you’re pre-registered for every Olympic (25 mile bike) tri this year and next, make an appointment with a bike fit professional. You might also decide how much you’re willing to invest.  If your budget is $2,000 than aero wheels and an aero helmet would yield a significant improvement to your program over a tri bike at the same price.  My reasoning is that wheels will help keep the bike at speed thus improving your split as well as help you to be more efficient as you will conserve energy (for the run) in keeping the bike at the same speed in lieu of your normal wheels. Remember that lightweight wheels accelerate and decelerate at the same rate and the slight weight penalty is worth the energy savings.  The $2,000 bike will most likely not have aero wheels, would probably be aluminum providing a harsh ride while being possibly heavier than your current bike. See my point? While you don’t have to train in an aero helmet you should definitely race with one regardless of the distance you’re competing in. Many studies show significant improvement in airflow and it stands to reason that since your head is the main culprit in your frontal signature, any reduction or positive manipulation will yield favorable results. With an average cost around $200 it provides the biggest bang for your buck… right after a solid bike fit.   Enjoy the ride. 

Website: www.tadhughescustom.com

Twitter: @MasterBikeFit

Facebook: /MasterBikeFitter

Mid-Foot Cleat Positioning

@FirstHippy asks, "Mid-foot cleat positioning. It would be a massive change, beneficial to my long TT goals but detrimental to climbing/sprinting?" #bikefit

Yes. The best compromise would be a Rotor/Q ring to compensate, but you can’t have your cake and eat it too.  You need a pair of shoes set up exclusively for the TT rig , and midcleat may require a greater amount of change to the fit since you will sit lower on the bike. Your road set can have a placement closer to your 5^th metarsal or even in front of it and the stance may be slightly wider since the sitbones would be wider. Your range of motion between the bikes will be similar, but you will be employing more leverage from the calf on the road shoe which is the only class 1 lever on the body. My suggestion  about cleat placement has to do with how much fluxuation/accelerations your riding will have compounded by time/duration.  Think of it as moving the needle back and forth between steady state and explosive.  Hope this helps.  #bikefit

Website: www.tadhughescustom.com

Twitter: @MasterBikeFit

Facebook: /MasterBikeFitter

Is the Position You Sleep In Sabotaging Your Cycling Performance?

As athletes we try to control what we can in pursuit of our goals, equipment, diet, training, work, friends and family, etc.   If you are a triathlete, road, track or off-road racer there is a universal need for recovery regardless of cycling discipline or fitness level.  Any good coach will attest that quality sleep is key in not only maintaining fitness but also foundational to building your fitness “engine”.   More importantly, what position is your engine (the human body) sleeping in? 

Why would the actual position you sleep in be important? It is estimated you will spend a third of your life in bed. An unsupported skeletal position leads to muscle imbalances, functional leg length discrepancies, unilateral pelvic imbalances and other issues. Take these issues and apply them to a closed kinetic chain such as cycling and you have a root cause or “trigger” for hip, knee and lower back pain.   This may be why after countless visits to medical and non-medical professionals, the issues never seem to completely subside. For years mattress companies have promoted their product as a cure-all for aches and pains, guaranteeing restful sleep and while the right mattress is an important factor, in reality it plays a minor role.  With the majority of society being right handed, it is uncanny when questioned how many non-southpaws seem to sleep on their left side and/or stomach with their left leg prone (bike fitter’s word for straight) and their right leg pulled up with the leg at a 90 degree angle like a flamingo.  Or in technical sleep position terms, a modified free fall position. 

Why is this significant?  Over time, the uneven muscular tension of your back is manipulating your skeletal alignment.  In this modified free fall position the left side of the body is prone, but the right side from shoulder to hip is shorter, thus drawing the hip up.  Our young bodies tend to snap-back within the first few minutes on the bike, but as we age this process takes longer, or may not happen at all depending on the amount or rigidity of your personal muscular structure.  So in essence you are not resting your muscles “evenly”.

What is the solution? Can you simply start sleeping on your back or switch to the other side? Probably not. Habits are hard to break, especially subconscious ones. When I ask clients how they sleep many do not know, probably because they are not conscious of it.  For those who commit to change by trying to sleep on their back, they often report less restful sleep or switch to their old position some time during the night.  Your best recourse (at minimum) is to sleep with a body pillow between your knees or under the elevated leg.  While I am not anti-romantic, the goal is to keep spinal alignment with the pelvis and more importantly reduce the pelvic rotation.  There are specialty pillows on the market ranging from small to full body (preferred) which will aid in your personal alignment without greatly changing what you already know.

And while not a scientific product, I often recommend investing in an inversion table to assist in physical maintenance, balance restoration (albeit temporary) and muscular tension. I find that in reoccurring sessions with long distance clients (Ironman, RAAM) that sleep correction coupled with inversion yielded less “deflection” in their position under duress or the limits of exertion with more even muscle recovery. The reduction of muscular tension yields a more neutral position with more manageable pelvic angles versus a position that was uncorrected or catered to a pelvis off axis. 

So in essence a body that is foundationally sound at rest will be foundationally functional and adaptive in motion. A body compensating for structural deflection in a closed kinetic loop is forced to provide added rigidity even prior to motion.  Enjoy the ride.

Website: www.tadhughescustom.com

Twitter: @MasterBikeFit

Facebook: /MasterBikeFitter

Your Bike Can Talk. Listen to it.

Your equipment and clothing has a story to tell, but what are they trying to say? Notice one side of the chamois becomes unstitched on every pair of shorts you own?  One side of the bar tape always seems to push away or a gel pocket on only one glove seems pummeled?  Only one side of something seems to be continually sore?

Cycling is a closed kinetic chain with only 5 points of contact for the normal rider and 7 contact points for a triathlete in which to distribute the body’s entire weight on the bike, all while moving.  Now consider the body’s weight distributed over those points but with a skeletal twist or a hip rotated forward. Would all the points continue to evenly bear the weight? In most cases, no, as the body will simply adapt; we’ve given it no other option. Take this concept into consideration in regard to time and intensity on the bicycle. Minor asymmetries typically show less bearing in shorter slower rides but can be debilitating over multiple hours or high intensity. 

While the causes can be various and far greater than my short list, here are a couple of things to look for, and fix, to get a little more comfortable on the bike.

1.       Saddle:

View from the back and side to ensure one side has not collapsed or is lower than the other, or that there is a bent seat rail and/or seat post issue. When viewing overhead is the saddle straight with the bike? Is the saddle straight but the nose twisted? Is there material worn or missing from one side?   Focus on wear patterns when looking overhead. Are there clues such as divots and if so are they even side to side?

2.       Pedals/Cleats:

If you can’t recall the last time you changed your cleats, it’s been too long, especially if you are a Look Delta/Keo user.  Always clearly mark the outline of your cleat by tracing them with a pen.  Start your cleat inspection by making sure the cleat is intact noticing any differences left vs. right.  It is normal to find accelerated wear on your dominant foot but too much will cause a change in the pedal gait of that leg since the material interface and proper engagement angle have changed.  Inspect the body of the pedal next, looking for gouges, irregular wear or any missing material. Don’t overlook bearing wear and bent axles.  Either of these two items can cause many problems if chronically neglected.

3.       Handlebar/Shifters:

I coupled these two pieces of equipment since they each contribute to different yet simultaneous issues.  First and foremost check to see that the wheel is straight with the frame. You will often notice it more while riding rather than standing over the bar. Overly worn bar tape on one side, calluses on the hand that do not match or worn rubber on the shifter are tell-tale signs that too much force is being exerted, or at least at the wrong angle. This is not limited to just the top of the bar but uneven, dirty or wear marks on the drops tell a story as well. It is best to use a wind-trainer or a repair stand to ensure your hoods are level.  Use a traditional level or measure each side from the tip of the saddle to the center of the horn of the hood.

Regular visual or measured inspection can be the best preventive maintenance for the health of your position and alleviate nagging or painful scenarios while riding.  By putting the pieces of the puzzle together based on these common signs, you can better understand the needs of what your body is trying to tell you on the bike. Enjoy the ride. 

Website: www.tadhughescustom.com

Twitter: @MasterBikeFit

Facebook: /MasterBikeFitter

Ergonomics: The industry has it all wrong.

Last week I was contacted by a potential client looking for a cleat fitting on their new pair of uber expensive French pedals utilizing the company’s “cleat adjustment apparatus”.  I described my fit process, including the large portion of time allocated towards cleat adjustment, all while explaining one’s closed kinetic chain being the reason I do not do partial fittings.   As anticipated, I was questioned why a professional full-time bike fitter did not use various pedal companies alignment systems.  They were surprised to hear me say, “It simply doesn’t matter.”  The client had inadvertently stumbled on to a huge issue in the cycling industry EVERY pedal and shoe manufacturer (with the exception of one) doesn’t tell you. There is no camber adjustment built in to either the shoe or pedal, and the interface between the two is flat; your foot is not.  If you have ever owned a car that pulled to one side it was not because the wheels were not parallel, but that the toe-in or camber was causing the car to pull to one side. The old wives tales of adjusting the cleat in a flat plane where rotation is needed is exactly that, an old wives tale.  Yet you still see intricate markings on the bottoms of expensive cycling shoes.  Why?

Manufacturers aren’t conspiring, but do turn a blind eye because ergonomics are not sexy and ugly doesn’t sell.   Each year, I spend thousands of dollars on wedges, shims, spacers, washers, etc. to correct hip, knee and foot angles on clients.  While most comment on their improved efficiency and comfort, if the distributor stamped “15 watts!” or “Wedge-Strong” on each of them, the line for demand would be around the block.  The truth is that manufacturers approach this issue like a Junior High dance; everyone is milling around waiting for someone else to make the first move.

In my opinion it is the end user and not the manufacturer that needs to vote with their dollars. I have installed hundreds of horrible “ergo” bars over the years at the public’s request and the manufacturers were forced to follow suit.  Wherever consumer’s value ergonomics, the industry will be forced to follow.  This also extends to bike fitting but the order needs to be reversed.  Most clients rank handlebars, saddles and shoes/pedals in respective order of importance but in actuality it should be reversed since the shoe/pedal and saddle combination is far more impacting than a handlebar.   I am often asked, “How do the pros do it?”  When I comment that most have regular professional fittings, use custom foot beds and/or shoes, almost all have some form of wedging or shimming and wide padded saddles the reply is, “No, I meant how stiff and light are their bikes?” 

Enjoy the ride.

Website: www.tadhughescustom.com

Twitter: @MasterBikeFit

Facebook: /MasterBikeFitter

Frogs, Weenie Dogs and Apes

Last month we visited the issues of availability in the quest for the right bike. Agree with the concept or not, the chances of purchasing your next bike or frame based solely on the size and geometry of the model are high.  Both can be based on the dimensions of your current bike or ones established between you and your fitter.  This month we will look at my clients’ number one question, “What is my size?”

Most cyclists can ride two different sizes of the same model, comparable to a car available in a coupe or sedan.  While basically the same on a bicycle their characteristics or personalities are slightly different due to the wheelbase of the two models affected by the different proportions based on rider weight.  So how much you lean over impacts the weight distribution and ride quality of the bike.

Matching the basic geometric shapes of the rider and bike are of utmost desire as a fundamentally more sound marriage is achieved.  In order to do this you need to look at your body as a basic geometric shape, the lean angles, or type of riding you do. Now think of the bike frame as similar but proportionally growing from size to size, but in what shape?  Is it solely accountable for the range of which the saddle and handlebar can be placed?  Is it square or a rectangle? 

In looking at the human body its vast array of differences boil down to basics: 

Frogs: Legs longer than the torso, both male and female.

Purchasing a bike solely on stand over height/inseam often produces a bike too large. Top tube, head-tube and seat tube angles should be top considerations in the decision process. Males should consider their arms' wingspan in consideration of size, as long arms need a home and that home is usually the next size up. Due to the shorter torso a shorter cockpit can be obtained, but you need to be honest about your flexibility as the short cockpit often produces a low cockpit. Female riders will no doubt gravitate towards women’s specific models which in most cases are a vertical rectangle. The challenge is that most women’s models have steep seat tube angles, putting your knees too far forward due to longer femurs. Clients uncomfortable in this situation, where they need to be further back but want a higher and shorter position, need an upside down triangle. This typically eliminates many women’s models from consideration.

Weenie Dogs: Long torso, short inseam. 

Often many in this proportion, having previously purchased based on stand over height, have been on a bike too small for years. And while cliché, it affects about 50% of males.  Since the majority of most bikes are proportionally square it stands to reason that historically long stems (or yoga) were needed.   If you were to go a size up for the longer top tube it was often at the expense of stand over height and your voice a few octaves higher than normal. Here a horizontal rectangle is in order to accommodate the extra length of the longer back.   Flexibility will still come into play in regard to head-tube length as the majority of these models with the long top tubes are low “race” models. In recent years many modern sloping models have offered the best of both worlds with variable front end heights and ample stand-over to accommodate this shape and the fleeting flexibility of an ever graying peloton.

Apes: Short inseam, long torso and long arms. Rare and beloved.

In this case all aspects of the horizontal rectangle are needed, but typically with longer stems due to the need to house the increased length of the arms.  This type is a high custom candidate as bikes available with extra long top tubes are rare, much less one that would ride properly with a long stem.

Matching the right shapes between rider and bike based on flexibility and riding style is the first step in producing a perfect fit foundation to your perfect ride.   Next month we will look at how geometry  affects the personality of the bike and how identical geometries with different materials and construction methods can produce vastly different ride qualities and handling. Enjoy the ride.

Website: www.tadhughescustom.com

Twitter: @MasterBikeFit

Facebook: /MasterBikeFitter