Fit & fabulous
Actually, I stole the title. It’s the name of the gay bicycling club in NYC. But it works here.
I just got back from my fit session at Full Moon Vista Bike & Sport. I like doing business there because I like the staff and the owner. But I don’t like going to the shop itself. It’s a great shop—a fantastic shop—don’t get me wrong, but they have, right there in stock two of the three contenders for next bike in my stable.
For the coming spring, I’m undecided between the Bianchi Axis, and Veloce. (I didn’t see a Cross Veloce.) I’m attracted to the Bianchis because they’re the most affordable bikes you can get with Campagnolo drivetrain components. And the trademark greenish color, known as Celeste, sort of signals to other riders that it’s something special.
They also have one of my dream bikes in stock—the Seven Axiom in both the in Axiom SG double-butted titanium version and the Axiom Steel budget-minded one (if $3K–$5K can be considered budget-minded). Not on the showroom floor is my other dream bike, the Seven Tsunami.
I’m attracted to the Sevens because each frame is hand-built, made-to-measure and built specifically to your specifications. The damned order form is 12 or 14 pages long and must be accompanied by a non-refundable $1,000 deposit. Ah, but to see an Axiom SG in the flesh, it’s brushed titanium frame glistening under halogen… Well, it’s the whole reason I don’t like to set foot inside the door of Full Moon Vista.
Anyway, back to my fit appointment. They put my bike on a trainer and had me pedal a few miles while Scott walked around and checked everything out. It was weird pedaling without moving.
Anyway, he decided on the same things I’d been thinking. We moved the seat up 2 cm, back almost 3 cm and lowered the bars by 2 cm. “You look pretty good on that bike,” he concluded. “You’ve got good posture. Many people try to keep their lower back upright then hunch forward with their shoulders. It’s good that you rotate from the pelvis keeping your whole spine straight.”
It’s the first time ever in my life that I’ve been told I have good posture, that my back is straight and that I’m not hunched over in the shoulders. Go figure.
It’s good too that the saddle height didn’t have to go up any further. He confirmed that the 19” frame is a tad too small for me, but conceded that the next size up, 21”, would be disasterous for “the boys”. The result is that I’m a smidge past the minimum insertion point on the seat post. Theoretically, this means the seatpost could bend. Given my weight and riding style, it shouldn’t be a problem.
I told him about how the front end felt too close when I’m climbing, and that I’ve discovered I love climbing and am pretty good at it. He suggested bar-ends. They’re little curved bits that attach to the ends of the bars. It looks like my bike has antlers now.
They give me two more hand positions forward of the standard grips. I can also use them to brace my forearms against so I can lean forward out of the wind. For twenty bucks, I’ll give them a shot.
The only other thing we adjusted were the brake levers. They’re rotated down a bit so my wrists stay straight when braking.
Well, the ride home was just fabulous. A couple of centimeters here and there, and it’s like a whole new bike. I’m going to celebrate with lunch and maybe 20 miles.
