As a coach I'm lucky enough to own a Wattbike Pro - fantastic piece of kit but I'm unable to have my clients and other athletes over to Merlin HQ for testing at the moment and rather than let it gather dust in the corner its been put to good use not only testing new indoor 'Turbo' sessions on myself but also using the Wattbike's vast array of measurement functions to find optimal position and improve my woefully poor pedalling technique.
I also wanted to try different saddle heights as quite by accident a few weeks ago while doing a workout I accidentally forgot to reset saddle height on the Wattbike after testing a client - it was only 15mm but nevertheless data showed a much better leg balance and I was pedalling in a more rounded style, with a much better FMax score - more on that later!
So to the test.
With my initial seat height calculation* I allowed for the Wattbike's non-interchangeable cranks which are shorter than my usual preference. I'd already seen the leg imbalance at that measurement so started 5mm lower with a plan to test a 2nd measurement, a further reduction of 5mm.
After a 10 minute warm up I rode each configuration for 5 minutes each in two different pairs of shoes to take out any variance at my natural cadence. Its then just a simple matter to compile results into a spreadsheet. The Wattbike also has a polar view feature that shows how you pedal visually so I took screen shots of each segment.
Overall results appeared similar at first glance but then a pattern emerged and one combination of saddle height produced better leg balance, power and lower average heart rate. The polar view segment also confirmed a more rounded stroke.
The FMax score I mentioned is the angle on the downward pedal stoke where you apply most power and is usually around 120 deg give or take on an experienced cyclist. This is another area, which should be quite even.
Apart from 'free watts' which equate to a faster and more efficient riding style the even power stroke will hopefully prevent injury. I can take this further and work on the 'low spot' at the top and bottom of my pedal stroke.
Question to ask about your pedal stroke; are you a peanut, a chipolata or a sausage? - only one way to find out and hopefully in the next few weeks my testing studio will be open for business as usual!
* To calculate saddle height take an accurate inside leg measurement standing with your back to the wall, bare feet approx 20cm apart use an old LP Record or hard back book in 'saddle position' between legs and measure to the floor. You then multiply this measurement by 0.9 to get a starting point for saddle height measured centre bottom bracket to top of saddle.
