Hanging with the Big Red ‘S’ in Morgan Hill CA

FACT: I am a long time bike nut, enthuiast.  Most years I get 5 new bikes, simply because I love having new bikes, and I also love to try out different brands, types, and purposes.

There is nothing like a new project (triathlon, bike tour, off road bike tour, etc) which requires a new bike, new specialized specific parts.  I have been to several different ware houses, but never to the main nerve center where new bikes born, prototypes destroyed.

As part of my road trip last week I managed to spend 2 days on the Specialized Bicycle Components University.  I loved every second of it.Despite being overcast, I was up, extra early, excited, and there to meet up with Ian to get into my class on Mountain bikes which was the final day of a 3 days SBCU class.

Like a Jedi, Murray materialized from out of no where behind me.  He’s a little harrier than when we were team mates on the right coast, but still looking trim.  Then we are onto class, and damn by the end of the day, I really want an Epic.

One other impressive thing was how quick the feedback loop was.  I idly chatted to an employee about my Trivent shoes as she typed into her crack-berry.  10 minutes later someone is at the door and it’s Josh (a guy I knew from racing) he has designed the shoe, and we talk about possibilities for future generations.  This blew me away – idle comment –to product designer — 10 minutes.  Really Cool.

I ended up going out with a few Specialized employees, we had a great time, I slept on a new friends couch, and showed up not so fresh for…

Day 2:

Ian has managed to pull together some really cool stuff, and some one on one time.

Donnie, who is recently back from fitting the Saxo Bank team runs me through the benefits of Specialized’s Body Geometry shoes and saddles.

shoes:

  • lateral (metatarsal button) and longitudinal (provided in shoe) decrease foot swelling by 10-15%
  • Various wedge puts foot at it’s natural angle to reduce knee strain
  • the insoles which come in your shoes are cycling specific.  Your orthodics are run/ walk specific (not the same)
  • testing showed that after 90minutes of cycling users with Specialized shoes had a heart rate 4 beats lower, and could sustain a max effort sprint 10 seconds longer
  • they are the only shoe which is tested to improve performance.
  • simply you would be silly to be in anything else

**After riding in my specialized trivent for a few weeks last year I went back to my old $300 shoe (shimano) and had numb feet after 2h.  Same roads, same bike, I have NEVER EVER had issues with the Specialized shoe.  That was before I understood why they were helping me.**

With a specialized shoe you will not have to think about your feet.  And that’s a good thing

saddle: I have been riding/ and buying specialized saddles for the past 3 years because they were more comfortable, but didn’t realize the WHY part.

  • like the shoes most other manufacturers aren’t looking at long term rider comfort/ performance when they are designing saddles
  • male cyclist are TWICE as likely to have penile dysfunction than their non-cycling counterparts
  • WHY?  Most saddles have an arched center, or are gel which is pushed from the bony parts to the center, where the nerves & blood flow are.  Essentially it’s coming up like a wood-splitter in a place where no wood-splitter should be.
  • Solution: Firm Flat saddles which support the ischial tuberosities (sit bones)
  • Male and Female SPECIFIC cutouts (really cool watching the skeleton pelvis, and seeing how the cutout on my Specialized saddle exactly aligns with the nerve/ vein/ artery flow area) which remove pressure
  • Specialized uses directional foam, which only collapses down, rather than sideways to the sensitive spots
  • We use the nose of our saddles to stabilize, steer, and the back to change positions for climbing.  This is why those short ‘U’ shaped saddles don’t function well in the real world.
  • again this is just scratching the surface of the topic.  ‘Big S’ has performed many studies

bike fit:

When I first received my transition last season I was fit  by Gears Bike Shop’s BG Fitter Scott Doel. Not that I didn’t trust Scott’s fit, but when I had the chance to be fit by one of the guys who just fit Giro Runner up, and multiple Yellow Jersey wearers, I wasn’t about to turn that up.

The verdict?  At the end of our fitting session he took away some of my cleat shims (which I had added myself) and told me that I needed to work on flexibility, agreed with everything else, and upgraded my insoles.  Scott and Gears were spot on.

video link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLtKTmsy0RA
velo news story http://www.velonews.com/article/86511/finding-the-fit-saxo-bank-embraces-bg-fit

and the best for Last: the Transition

Mr. Cote – Specialized’s Aerodynamics guy who mastermind my all time favorite bike: transition.  I’ve a long list of ‘aero dork’ questions for Mark.  Like why did you do this, why did they do that… etc.  Not only does he answer my questions, but he is able to find a video of a test demonstrating the answer to my question.

To sum up.

  • Specialized’s Transition is a very very fast bicycle.
  • It’s also very important to wear a time trial helmet. ~ 9 watts faster @40km/h
  • the aero benefits of a front wheel are 5x more important than the rear one.
  • On a regular road bike with ‘08 Dura Ace 20% of the bicycles total drag comes from cables!
  • Head on the Transition has 9% less drag than the P3C
  • Narrower is faster (lower too if you can still pedal)
  • Brakes hidden in forks are not faster (because you have to make the fork wider & make room for it behind the fork/ under the down tube).
  • the SL2 the Transition is the 2nd stiffest bike Specialized makes

He hasn’t tested every bike to know if theirs is the fastest, simply because they have a limited budget.  They’d rather make the next generation faster yet, rather than ranking it against someone else’s old bike.

I have ridden other TT bikes, and even though they are slower aerodynamically, they don’t handle half as well.  There is no concrete test for a bikes handling ability, but the ‘08/ ‘09 Transition is VERY fast in corners.  I have dropped every road biker I’ve ridden with in corners railing the transition.  It’s really really quick.

Again a thanks for everyone at Specialized for helping out: Ian, Keith, Mark, Donnie, Sam, Ira, Kevin, Scott, Gears, Action Sports, and Jay for providing a roof in San Jose to sleep under.

If you have any follow up questions – send me a note.  Those I can’t answer, I have contacts for the people who can.

Nat

2 Comments

Nort O'Fori V  on March 21st, 2009

I’ve been using Specialized shoes for the past twenty something years and even the low end ones make me happy!

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