What is bike fitting?
Bike fitting is for both beginners and elite athletes. It aims to optimize performance while ensuring the cyclist’s comfort and injury prevention.
How does a physiotherapy session for bike fitting work?
First, the physiotherapist conducts a musculoskeletal and functional assessment of your condition to analyze your strength, motor control, and flexibility. Then, we move on to the on-bike evaluation, which involves taking numerous measurements of both the bike and the angles of the cyclist’s joints on their personal bike. Based on this analysis, we suggest and make adjustments to meet your goals (comfort, aerodynamics, performance, discomfort relief, or injury prevention). To conclude the session, we provide personalized advice and exercises to address noted deficits and help you achieve your goals.
Where and who to consult for a bike fitting?
Clinique de réadaptation physique Roussillon offers this service with Sophie Thauvette, a physiotherapist who performs bike fittings at our Châteauguay clinic. Sophie has been certified “Bike PT Bronze” since 2019, training received at PhysioVélo clinic by Guillaume Coutu, a renowned physiotherapist in the bike fitting field. As a cyclist and triathlete herself, she rides a road bike in the summer and continues her cycling activities in the winter with a training base or outside with her fat tire bike.
When to consult for a bike fitting?
Cycling is becoming increasingly popular as a sport. People are buying their first bike or upgrading to a newer or better-suited one. Anyone with a new bike would benefit from a physiotherapy assessment to analyze their posture on the bike. You can also consult for:
- Saddle discomfort
- Numbness in hands and/or feet
- Knee pain while cycling
- Improving comfort during long rides
- Enhancing aerodynamics
- Any other discomforts or pain
