Bike fit with Steve, founder and guru at LIOS Bikes Ltd
I’m very excited to be one of the first to receive a LIOS disc equipped Bullet when they are built. In preparation I went to Steve’s studio for my Bio Bike fit that will provide Steve with all the vital details to make the bike fit me like a glove.
As usual, Steve greeted me with a smile and a handshake and immediately made me feel welcome. He showed me to the studio where he has all his equipment set-up to conduct the fit.
It is important to replicate the conditions you actually ride so once I had changed into the appropriate dodgy lycra cycle clothing, Steve started by running through a series of questions and exercises designed to give him a good indication of my current ability and level e.g. flexibility, gait, knee deflection etc. It was then on to the massage couch for some more stretching tests and, for me at least, some questions and manipulation regarding my knackered knee. All this information is collated and used in conjunction with the information I had previously provided via email to provide an overall picture for Steve to work his magic. I quickly realised he had already mentally calculated a good starting point for the Bio Bike which turned out to be pretty accurate. He also measured my shoulders to ensure I had the correct width bars. I tried to help by bringing copies of my previous Retul fitting but it didn’t help as Steve pointed out I had printed two copies of the same page…I’ll get my coat!
Steve covered me in sticky Velcro pads down my left side for the Retul cable and set me off with a enough resistance to ensure I didn’t bounce, produced an even power stroke and force my skin to start leaking…heavily. Steve then does his thing reading the Retul data and remotely adjusting the Bio Bike in order to find the “sweet” spot of power output. It is fascinating how you can see the figures change depending on what parameters Steve enters into the machine. I was extremely pleased to realise that despite thinking I didn’t produce much power, I was in fact above average albeit only just. At least that’s what Steve said anyway and I’m sticking with it; never let the truth get in the way of a good lie.
Steve also has a good selection of seats so after the data capture had finished we tried different perches for my chunky butt and eventually found one that feels sweet. Thank god for flexible hamstrings. Interestingly, after many years of a Fizik Aliante I eventually opted for something racier, time will tell.
And that was pretty much that. I think I was there almost two hours having worked a bit harder than I had anticipated. It now only remains to wait until all the bits of the bike finally arrive, let Steve get to work with a blowtorch and some pliers to build my dream machine. I know it ultimately depends on the engine but I am really looking forward to swinging my leg over the bike for the first time. I will keep you posted.
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