How to Get the Perfect Bike Position for Ultra-Distance Cycling

I’m relatively new to world of cycling & ultra-distance, I’m learning all the time, however understanding the effect of bike position has been revolutionary for me. I wanted to write this post to share a couple of things I learned about bike position during 2022 & how you can get the perfect bike position for ultra-distance cycling.

Like anything new; first you start, then you learn, then you get better – and this cycle repeats itself over & over again. Improvement isn’t linear, you have setbacks & its often in those periods of setback where most learning occurs – hence the saying ‘the comeback is stronger than the setback’.

I find myself very much in a deep learning phase at the moment – which is no coincidence, after the setback of a brain haemorrhage sustained back in December. It meant I couldn’t ride from December to March. Even then, it’s taken 6 months to be able to get back to a point where, in August, I felt able to embrace calling it training again.

I’ll start by saying I’m a mountain biker at heart. My riding was either self-taught, or learning ‘on the job’ by trial & error, or having others share advice as I ride with them. Riding was always about fun – and it still is. But as I’ve transitioned to ultra-distance, I realise I have ambition to do more than ‘make up the numbers’ or ‘just finish’. To shift from my current position to my desired position, I accept there are a lot of things I don’t know; the more I learn, the more I can improve. The pursuit of development is never ending.

I should add, I’m no physiologist. A bike fit is a worthwhile investment, it will give you the reference point you need to ensure comfortable riding. As you change your bike set up & drivetrain chain preferences to suit each event, the bike fit should always be the reference point or datum that you work from.

It took me long periods of knee niggles, injuries & general discomfort during 2021 – eventually bike fits & physiotherapy sessions to begin to understand my body, in turn, increasing my performance, where I saw astronomical improvements in 2022. So here are my tips to get the perfect bike position for ultra-distance cycling;

Alignment

This is what created my knee issues back in 2021, perhaps a bit of over-extension too. To put it bluntly, your hips-knees-ankles should be moving in a vertical line. Think of your leg as a crank arm, a bit like a piston that pushes a train wheel. Your hips, knees and ankles are effectively the nut/bolt joints. The crank arm should be moving in a perfectly straight line, if not, the uneven distribution of loading forces applied to the nut/bolt joint will eventually shear something. It won’t happen instantly, but eventually, something will give.  

If riding for 20 hours a day & pedalling at a cadence of 85rpm, that would equal 102’000 revolutions of your legs. This is why stress testing takes so long. Its never the single instance of applied stress that’s enough to do the damage – it’s the cumulative effect of constant loading. If you swing an axe at a piece of wood once, you might leave a mark – the piece of wood will remain relatively unscathed. Repeat this 100 times, chances are you’ll be a good chunk of the way through it – the piece of wood won’t be nearly as strong. Hit it 1000 times and you’ll likely have the end in sight – the piece of wood will be broken.

If anything is slightly out of alignment between your hip, knee & ankle, the repetitive nature of that cyclic motion over long periods of time will cause pain, eventually, it’ll become unsustainable. You can either record yourself from behind on the turbo, or ask a friend to watch you ride – to see if your legs are tacking in a vertical line.

*Common causes of this can be cleat alignment – it was in my case. A couple of lateral degrees out, or a couple of mm forward or aft, and the knock on effect to your ankle, knee & hip alignment will be significant.

Distribution

I’ve had numbness in my hands and feet; the common pressure points. For months after All Points North 2021, I couldn’t feel my two outer fingers on each hand. I must’ve trapped a nerve by resting the outside of my hand on the hoods – which is perhaps no surprise when riding in the same position for hours on end.

I cured the ‘feet issue’ by getting custom insoles & new shoes, providing much better under-foot support – meaning that when I got new shoes, the were fitted around my feet much more snugly. The hands however, that was a more difficult one.

I saw a lot of people riding with aerobars during All Points North, my first thought was ‘wow’ they must be expecting to push some watts & go fast. I later learned – the hard way – that its not about ‘aero’, its about comfort. The aero bit is for sure a side benefit, reducing the frontal area means less wind resistance.

It’d be easy to assume that bike position is primarily about the ‘bottom half’ – however in ultra distance cycling, where you’re riding for days (not hours!) on end, is a different ball game. Something, somehow has to support the upper body weight of your torso – and that thing is your hands, unless you want to ride no handed for days on end. Quite simply, I found variation to be the answer. Aero bars allow me support my upper body weight on my fore arms, thus relieving my hands entirely. Using the drops when descending means I’m pushing into my hands, rather than resting on the hoods – again a different load & different pressure point, therefore relieving other pressure points.

This same problem happens on a mountain bike too. I mean who in their right mind would fit aero bars to a mountain bike?! There are a whole host of strange looking contraptions arriving at ultra-distance start lines nowadays; an array of different handlebars, aero bars & end caps – all with goal of offering the rider a variety of hand positions. Luckily, I’ve found a saddle that fits perfectly; therefore, the most obvious pressure point has never been an issue for me. I’ve either got lucky, maintained good hygiene or not yet ridden far enough for saddle sores to be a problem!

Extension

Finding that sweet spot. Over extension will feel like you’re leaning at the hips to reach for the bottom of the pedal stroke. Under extension will feel like pedalling in squares, like all the action is coming from your quads to press the pedals. I started off riding bikes as if I were running, using quads to generate downward pedal power – admittedly on flat pedals. As the years passed and I got into road riding, I switched to cleats – being ‘locked in’ to the same position for hours on end. A bike fit in 2021 got me into a really comfortable position for long rides, allowing me to complete All Points North & the Hope1000.

Perhaps my most valuable lesson occurred on TransPyreneees race in Autumn of 2022. I began using aerobars in an attempt to reduce pressure build up on my hands, offering a different position to take my upper body weight. What I didn’t realise what that this change in position would generate additional power from the glutes. I felt strong in 2022, but being strong is only part of it. Being able to use that strength is the hard part. Anything locked away is useless without the key, right? Keeping your glutes & hamstring free is a challenge, especially if most of your day is sat down! I shortened my cranks, which enabled me to raise my seating position ever so slightly higher, my chest became lowered & that reduction in hip angle allowed me to tap into my glutes – whilst still retaining the comfortable position that gave me the endless perfect circles sensation.

Summary

In short, it takes all three to enable perfect dynamics & find that perfect bike position for ultra-distance cycling. Learning & fully harnessing this has taken time; time to get the right position, to perfect the technique & time to implement it.

When I say implement it, the phrase ‘endless perfect circles’ is how I describe the perfect bike position for ultra-distance cycling. As Ian Walker explains, it’s feeling like you could do it all day. It feels effortless. It’s harmony; zero dead spots, zero joint paint & muscle groups working in sync. Extension, alignment, distribution.

This learning curve of developing my position & drivetrain choices has been done with the primary goal of enabling comfortable, high cadence pedalling to suit longer distance riding. Its taken a lot of time & some (painful) lessons.

I had really hoped to kick on from these gains in 2022 & set a new level for myself in 2023 – but you know, head injuries! One can only hope the learning I’m doing in this current set back will enable me achieve something in the long term.