how is your hamstring flexibility? how easily can you touch your toes

im a regular at chainwheel for the horrible hundred i mostly stuck with the chainwheel guys. they are starting a farm team soon and i got dibs on designing the bibs and jerseys

how tall are you?

my next purchase is going to be a wilier gran turismo, probably after xmas

Originally Posted by Soup

how is your hamstring flexibility? how easily can you touch your toes

Very easily.



They are a bit of a haul for me so I don't really go up there and stick with Trail Sport Bicycles off of Seminole blvd. 10 minute round trip vs 1 hour for Chain.

They are a small family friendly type bike shop though so they carry about 1/5 of the product that Chain does but they are always helpful and hook me up all the time.

And I must be shrinking. I was ~6'2" almost 3" when I was last measured.

Just busted out 3 different measuring tapes this morning and was at close to 6'1" with only one putting me enough to round up to 6'2" ;o

Jerseys are $150 now? Jesus. When I was racing they cost half that much and were made of wool. Coolmax was invented like the last 2 years I was racing.

Soup has good position on the bike.

Originally Posted by Vanster

Jerseys are $150 now? Jesus. When I was racing they cost half that much and were made of wool. Coolmax was invented like the last 2 years I was racing.

Soup has good position on the bike.

Yes athletic apparel in all sports is ridiculously expensive now. To get "retro" wool cycling jerseys is like $100-$200+ dollars ;o

Originally Posted by Vanster

Jerseys are $150 now? Jesus. When I was racing they cost half that much and were made of wool. Coolmax was invented like the last 2 years I was racing.

Soup has good position on the bike.

the laser cut jerseys are that much easily. usually you can get something decent for 40-100 bucks though. gotta put the big bucks into your shorts and bibs and your saddle imo

What kind of bibs and saddle is good now? Our team had Nalini- some people used chamois butter, I never did, I liked the leather sticking to my ass like a second skin. Companies like Pearl Izumi, Descente, and Louis Garneau were still pretty new and looked at as stuff for beginners or casual riders. They had synthetic chamois, which I'm guessing have improved a lot, because 20 years ago they absolutely sucked. Leather Brooks saddle and leather chamois: one long ride in the rain and you were in an easy chair forever after.

I don't use taint cream though many people do. PI, Descente, and LG make some of the best stuff around these days.

i use chamois butter, i won a massive jug of it in a race last year and it defintely makes the saddle sores more bearable. during a 12 hour endurance race i did last year i got off and reapplied it like 4 times


my taint enjoys this:

I'm thinking about getting a Cobb saddle, SHC170 maybe.

i went to the biggest bike store i could find and had them measure my sit bones, then spent 3-4 hours riding my bike through the neighborhoods near the store until i found the one that fit best. epic boredom but worth it

don't think ive seen a non synthetic chamois. sugoi makes the best chamois from all the different brands ive tried, with LG close behind. i know assos is considered the best all around bib/chamois but at 400-500 bucks for one its way too pricey for me.

and i ride a specialized romin and comp, 143s

back on the bike after a few days, legs were stiff so i just did some spinning for an hour. The low angle makes my aero position look worse than it is, my seats ~3.5cm above my bars. still trying to work my weight back down.. 165 today

edit: and im going bald

Padding is overrated.

Originally Posted by Soup

how is your hamstring flexibility? how easily can you touch your toes

What does the hamstring flexibility have to do with buying a bike? Just curious?

I can touch palms to the floor btw. .

well, he was talking about getting a properly fitting bike, and he does mostly tris so it's all about aero positions... once your bike fit is good for a road bike, the only big limiter to how aero you can get (that you can change very much) is your flexibility. I'd bet a dollar if he buys that time trial bike and gets fit that after they're done, they will tell him to go enjoy his new bike and to come back when he's increased his sit and reach so they can go lower (more aerodynamic... less energy to go same speed)

I can put my palms on the floor, too, but when i lower my bars any more i start to have less room to breath and my heart rate goes up inordinate amounts.

If he said "no, I'm not very flexible in that way", I would have told him to save his money and spend a month or 3 working on his flexibility before he drops the cash

extreme example, this guy is insanely flexible:

lol @praying landis

Originally Posted by Soup

well, he was talking about getting a properly fitting bike, and he does mostly tris so it's all about aero positions... once your bike fit is good for a road bike, the only big limiter to how aero you can get (that you can change very much) is your flexibility. I'd bet a dollar if he buys that time trial bike and gets fit that after they're done, they will tell him to go enjoy his new bike and to come back when he's increased his sit and reach so they can go lower (more aerodynamic... less energy to go same speed)

I can put my palms on the floor, too, but when i lower my bars any more i start to have less room to breath and my heart rate goes up inordinate amounts.

If he said "no, I'm not very flexible in that way", I would have told him to save his money and spend a month or 3 working on his flexibility before he drops the cash

cool. thanks. I knew the question as i wrote it would sound sarcastic, but i wanted to make sure you knew i was truely asking a question .

As far as putting your palms on the floor, that is a sign of hyperflexibility. I have it bad in my shoulders, which causes me shoulder pain all the time (working on strengthening that up), and is one of the reasons i popped my acl when i landed.

a year ago i couldn't touch my toes, i've just made it a habit to stretch for a few minutes every day and my flexibility slowly (so so so slowly) increased