If this story sounds familiar, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me. As noted in my article about this year’s IRONMAN Lake Placid, I managed to move my completion ratio for 140.6 distance events below the Mendoza line. One wrong step while running seemingly had blown the back half of my leg apart.

As it turns out, well, that wasn’t true. It had nothing to do with running at all. In fact, it had everything to do with cycling — and, really, just one very critical component of cycling. One that I, a fifteen year veteran of our sport, and nearly twenty years in the business of our sport, had completely overlooked.

It was my saddle.

You’re probably asking, “oh, come on Ryan. Just how bad of a problem can you create for yourself with the wrong saddle.” The answer is this wrong, from my MRI report: oblique linear low signal right inferior ramus compatible with nondisplaced fracture. Adjacent marrow edema superior rami fracture appreciated. Relatively localized high signal within the adductor minimus and ischiocavernosus muscles, adjacent to the fracture suggest contusion or strain.

For those who don’t speak radiology reports: I broke my pelvis in one place, I had a stress fracture in another place, and I had a lot of swelling / fluid in the hamstring and adductor, along with a strain of both muscles. Go big or go home.

And after talking with my orthopedic team, we narrowed down the source of the injury to one specific item. One that I consistently ignored some of the warning signs of. One that I just kept saying, “oh, it’s just part of riding. It’s never truly comfortable.” One that I rode for mile after uncomfortable mile, and figuring it was all down to the price we pay for biking 4-5 times a week for months on end.

Again: it was my saddle.

Hindsight being 20/20, I’d say I first started noticing that the saddle was really uncomfortable at what turned into my fracture site around February — five months before the race. As I wrote in some of my articles leading up to IRONMAN Lake Placid this year, almost all of my bike training occurred indoors, with my trainer bike and Wahoo KICKR. As rides got longer, my discomfort increased; I tried different shorts and new chamois cream, but never touched the saddle (a Bontrager road one that came stock on the trainer bike).

There is a reason why a friend of mine calls me “dazzlingly incompetent.”

We don’t think of bike saddles as something that can go disastrously wrong. But, as a reminder: your saddle is really only one of three places where your body comes in contact with a bike. And if any one of those is wrong, the rest of your bike fit is a series of compromises. As it turns out, an improper bike saddle can go severely wrong; that pressure onto the pubic rami wound up putting a stress fracture into both ends of the bone. Then me attempting to run on it pulled the inferior part of it apart into a full-blown fracture — that’s when it felt like someone had shot me in the back of the leg.

Let’s not forget: I work in the industry. I have countless good saddles at my disposal, from the ISM PS 2.0 that was on my triathlon bike (and gave me zero problems during the 112 miles at Lake Placid) to the Fizik Argo on my gravel bike or literally anything else (like the excellent WOVE saddle pictured below). But it points to a much larger trend that we’ve been alluding to over the past two years looking at the World Championships bike count: we seem to have lost the plot on bike fit and technology.

Look through the bike racks of your next triathlon and you will see plenty of newer bikes with what can only be described as compromised set-ups. Whether that’s interesting stem or bar choices, or saddles pointed toward the ground, or athletes still not utilizing their aerobars, it all comes back to fit not being placed at the front end of the decision-making process. Fit has to come back to the forefront — the thing you do before you even consider what bike you might be purchasing.

Or don’t. And perhaps you too can join me on the sidelines, cursing yourself for not being smart enough to just change your saddle.

Photos: Rob Piperno / Kelly Burns Gallagher / WOVE Bike

The post A Case Study on the Importance of Saddles first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

The question I have is this. As a top-tier professional triathlete, do you change up bikes 3.5 weeks before a World Championship? If I asked 95% of the professional field this question, they would look at me like I was crazy. I mean, I get it. So let me be clear: I didn’t “Ask” Jackie to do this. What I did for Jackie was help her get it done. The real credit goes to the village of people who are her sponsors and friends who support her. 

Certified Piedmontese, Shimano, ENVE, and her new sponsor Cervelo. At the last minute, every single one of the brand managers at these companies dropped everything to make sure she had everything she needed to be shipped to Lincoln,NE in time so she could make this happen.  Also, a huge shot out to our very own Ian Murray at F.I.S.T who made the long trip at the last minute to make sure that Jackie’s transition over was as smooth as possible, and let’s not forget Eli Cullison, who took the time at the GOODLIFE CYCLERY who not only blocked out the F.I.S.T studio for the day but also made sure that Jackie‘s bike got built. 

If you don’t know much about Jackie Hering, you should. Why? Because she is cool. I don’t know what else to say about that. She has a lengthy history as an amateur and professional triathlete in our sport. She has multiple 140.6 and 70.3 titles. She was one of the first to take time off to become a mom and start a family and come back into peak racing form. Yes many have done this and probably maybe even before her but I can’t think of anyone that is now really current that stopped triathlon has a female 8 years ago to have 2 kids get them going for a good couple of years, and then get back to in the sport years later and still be as successful as she is currently. Also usually (unless someone is just an odd duck), she is very much liked and respected by her peers and fans. 

Now, I’m not saying Jackie is some butterball of joy all the time. She is a mother of two who is just getting stuff done. She can be quick on the uptake, and if she doesn’t like something, she will be the first to tell you. If you don’t know any better, you will think you are getting the “Mom look” and probably reply with, “Yes, mam.”  It’s why I have always respected her, though I appreciate people who are direct and have the common sense to go with that.  I would guess that is what most people would agree with me on. She has fun while getting things done.

During the crazy time of COVID-19, when the bike business was having its hay day with sales, Jackie was trying to get back into the sport. She didn’t have a bike sponsor, and things didn’t look good at the time. We at Slowtwitch couldn’t even get bikes because the marketing people thought they didn’t need us. (That aged well) She started racing again and was on a very old BMC that worked but didn’t compare to the rest of the field. She was swimming well, losing time on the bike, and showing strength on the run. When she would show up RUN fit, she was able to claw back to podiums and some wins. When she wasn’t totally fit, she would probably think to herself (Do I really want to do this again) During that time going into the fall of 2023, I had been talking to her about her Certified Piedmontese sponsorship and I was trying to help her (as I try to do with anyone that I can be successful as I can). The conversation about her bike situation was an issue for her. She had been cancelled from her local shop for standing up for women in sport and she really didnt have any recent results to show. We at slowtwitch had just gotten a P series to do some other things with, and it was 54cm (not my size at all), so instead of sending it back, I called our contact at Cervelo and asked the question and they 100% where onboard with my request to repurpose that ride. Jackie was going in the Long Course direction in 2024, Which I might add has been the right choice for her, as she continues to sit #1 on the Ironman Pro Series.

Long story short, Jackie, on her own, ended up winning Cervelo’s eyeballs, and Jackie alone closed that deal with them. We at SlowTwitch did what we do: connect people. We also wanted to tell the story about it. So, what is this story? 

How did a top-tier professional triathlete feel comfortable switching bikes 3.5 weeks before the biggest race of her year?

Simple.  She wanted to, and the new bike is basically the old one (from a fit perspective) 

There is a reason Cervelo has owned the Bike count at Kona since 2005. Yep, you read that right. Cervelo has won every single bike count since 2005.  Why? A couple of reasons:
#1 They make fast bikes, and people know they are fast;
#2 They have great marketing for the most part; and
#3 They, for the most part, never chase the rabbit down the hole.

The engineers at Cervelo are smart, sensible, and for the most part, move slowly.  In other words, they don’t tend to get “Side Quested,” and when it came to the recent P series and the P5, they didn’t. They made just the right number of changes that made the new bike “more better” to entice people to pay attention and “easy enough” to make the change.  After all, we are talking about less than a 1% change in geometry. (If you want to read more about what I am talking about CLICK HERE for our P5 Article)

Over the last two years at the helm of Slowtwitch, I have learned that people hate change. They ask for it all the time. But when you do it, you, “The Changer,” become the most hated idiot on the planet (so they say).

The biggest thing that Jackie wanted was internal cable routing. She wanted to not only be fast, she wanted to “LOOK FAST.” I told her it comes at a price, just like I told everyone in my other video. You are always and will forever lose adjustability regarding a proprietary cockpit. The million-dollar question is. Does that actual wind tunnel speed and that “look speed” translate to the rider in the real world? Or, in other words, can the rider get comfortable enough to hold the position that proprietary front will force them into? 

In the newer Cervelo P5, they have certainly made the argument that one can get in almost every position one needs. They even allow you to switch to third-party extensions with the more general 31.8mm clamp diameter. Nonetheless, it’s still an integrated front end,so yes, it does test faster in the wind tunnel, but, stem length, steam, and armrest height, and just packing your bike will all be more complicated.

Don’t ever tell a strong woman what to do. So when Jackie was dead set on this I was ok. LFG!!! Jackie contacted Shimano and Enve, and once we knew everything was en route to Lincoln, NE. Ian Murray was the first person I called and asked for assistance. The date was set, and Ian, Jackie, and Eli knocked it out of the park. Jackie came down for a long weekend. She did the GRAVEL WORLDS 20K run, the 75-mile gravel ride, and the Great Plains Gravel Triathlon. Then it was off the shop for new bike day.

What’s the build? 

• Cervelo P5 54cm Blue Frame
• Complete Shimano Drive Train
• ENVE SES 6.7
• ISM PN 1.1
• Garmin Rally RS200 pedals
  

“Every fit begins with understanding where the athlete is in their career and where they are headed.  Jackie’s fit carried a bit more gravitas in that she sits in first place in the Ironman Pro Series, and her next stop is the Ironman World Championships in Nice, France. Her existing fit coordinates could have been transferred – straight across – to the new bike, but we wanted to explore her position to see if there might be a slight improvement. Jackie is a tough and durable athlete, but we still wanted to follow the same elements that drive every fit: comfort first, then the ability to make power. Jackie’s feedback, the Goodlife Cyclery fit studio tooling, and the Fit Institute Slowtwitch process all came together to find a place that worked.” – Ian Murray

What changed during her fit with Ian Murray? Mostly down a little more, slightly more forward.

• Saddle was pushed 2mm forward
• Saddle height came down 24mm
• Arm rest width came in 15mm
• Pad elevation came down 13mm
• Nose to extension extended 3mm
• Cleats pushed back (under the sole)

Note that some saddle height reductions would occur because of the cleat adjustments. So, when you consider all of those, these are pretty minor adjustments, but I’ll let the fit geeks chime in. Also chime into the later part of the video where Ian and Jackie talk about it.

So what changed with her fit after about a week of her riding outside? Jackie bought a pair of Zipp S curves extensions that were on her P-Series prior, and ended up moving her cleats back to the front again. Ultimately, those two things wouldn’t work for her on such short notice. All of which was based on some common sense logic.

We wish Jackie the best with the new rig and will check on her progress once we get into Nice later this week. So stay tuned.

The post Jackie Hering’s New Bike Before IRONMAN World Championship in Nice first appeared on Slowtwitch News.