I'm getting a bike fitting tonight. The bike shop specializes in taking rider measurements and building a custom bike from scratch. I'm not quite ready for that second step. Right now, I have two for-sure needs. I need a track bike for riding and racing in the velodrome. I need another bike for training on local roads and for group rides with the city bicycle racing club. The track bike purchase can wait until next spring. The training/club bike can be the fixed-gear bike that I have now, although it has some fitting problems, which I hope to identify and resolve with tonight's fitting.
I'm losing power in the SPD pedals and shoes that I have now, which are also slightly uncomfortable. SPD has a very small, high profile, which is important for pedal clearance while cornering on a bike that cannot coast. The threefold problem, however, is that the SPD interface is small, my existing shoes are too flexible, and the pedal jaw springs offer a relatively weak cleat retention. Besides creating hot-spots in my feet over the pedals, I'm losing precious watts to the flexing of the shoes and, at very high power, I might actually pull my foot straight out of the jaws. That is why pro track cyclists typically use straps and avoid clipless.
I have a solution for this already: Speedplay Zero Chromoly Walkables with Fizik R4B Uomo BOA Carbon shoes in size 47. I get the highest clearance of any clipless pedal type, with the most precise cleat positioning options available, and with nothing sticking out beyond the shoe. The carbon soles of the Fizik shoes are extremely stiff, which should solve the issue of small pedals dimpling into the bottom of my soft shoes, and wasting my power to do it. Best of all, Speedplay Zero uses a unique locking system instead of spring-loaded jaws to hold your shoe to the pedals.
The other issues: I ordered my State Bicycle Black Label training bike online so I was unable to check the size. State Bicycle claimed that the 58cm frame would fit riders starting at 6 feet, but it still feels a bit too big for me. I compensated for the long reach by using a very short stem and a forward saddle position, but I'm still a bit too stretched out. The short stem makes the steering twitchy and unstable at high speed (starting at 25-30 mph), which is dangerous and unsettling on a fixed-gear descent where I'm pedaling at 150 rpm and getting all bouncy in the saddle. Switching from the existing bullhorn-like tri basebar to compact drops would probably shorten the reach enough to switch to a longer stem. I'm concerned about climbing though, since lack of shifters and a rear brake means there are no hoods, which on a road bike serve the same purpose as bullhorns while on ascents.
The existing saddle is adequate, but after about 75 minutes it starts getting uncomfortable, because I must slide around depending on how low my posture and where I put my hands, and I have so little leeway to do it. As a result, my sit bones are often too far forward, off the widest part of the saddle, and the soft tissues bear my weight. I rarely ride more than 90 to 120 minutes at a time, but those last 15 to 45 minutes are really cruel to my tender bits. The fitter offers a wide selection of saddles, so I'm optimistic about resolving this problem.
I'll talk more about the fitting experience in a future post.