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Stem Mountain
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Professional cyclists obsess about the height of their saddle to the nearest millimetre. For good reason; the way your bike fits is crucial to your comfort and efficiency.

Case Study

A guy came into the shop I managed a few years ago. He was a beginner cyclist and had recently bought a second hand road bike to compete in some short triathlons for charity. He had done plenty of training and completed two or three events. The bike was the right size for him but he was finding every mile tortuous and going up hills felt like he was pedaling through treacle. He arranged to have himself fitted to the bike and over the course of an hour the following Saturday we adjusted his saddle in two directions, moved his brake levers, rotated his bars, raised the handlebar stem and moved his aero-bar elbow pads further apart. We even moved his clip-in pedal cleats backwards a few millimetres and rotated them one or two degrees in his race shoes, but by far the most crucial of the adjustments we made was simply to set the pedal to saddle dimension to suit his inside leg measurement.

Two weeks later he came back into the shop smiling like a Cheshire cat. The tweaks had enabled him to knock fifteen minutes off his 'on the bike' time. Fifteen minutes is a big chunk to a triathlete. Undoubtedly some of the improvement was down to a reduction of his aerodynamic profile, some of it was down to his improved fitness but he said he just felt 'right' on the bike, he felt part of the bike. Because, finally, it fit him properly.

Historical Background

Improvements of such magnitude are rare but it helps immensely that we can actually make adjustments like these. In the Olden Days, when High Wheelers (Penny Farthings) roamed the Earth, the fastest racing cyclists were those with the longest legs. Before the introduction of gears it was the size of the wheel which determined how far a bicycle wheel would travel for one turn of the pedals so the longer the legs - the bigger the wheel - the faster the bike (and the higher the rider's head from the ground). The implication of this of course is that back then each bike, including its front wheel, was individually manufactured to precisely fit the owner's inside leg measurement. There were no adjustments to be made, your saddle height was set in stone.

Thankfully the introduction of chain driven transmissions brought things down to earth. We are so familiar with the shape of modern bikes that we rather take them for granted but the evolution of that double diamond shape was a long one. The pedals, saddle and handlebars are suspended on a collection of tubes between two wheels. Right in the centre of the frame and holding it all together is the seat tube. It connects the bottom bracket shell (where the pedals go) via a telescopic connection with the seat post to the seat itself. Adjusting the saddle height involves loosening the seat post binder bolt, moving the seat post up or down inside the seat tube and retightening the bolt. It couldn't be simpler. So why do so many people get it wrong?

Getting it right

"Sit on the saddle, place the flat of your foot on the pedal, and adjust the height of the saddle until you can just straighten your leg. When pedalling the ball of the foot should be directly over the middle of the pedal and your leg never quite straightens". These words are repeated in bike shops across the planet thousands of times a day. It's the Universal Bike shop Saddle Height Adjustment System mantra and it works pretty well. There are other systems, a few cycle stores employ advanced computer aided rigs, some do it by eye and some do long calculations on the back of envelopes using archaic pythagorean formulae. One traditional method for pro cyclists is to set the saddle too high and then drop it in small increments until the rider's hips stop rocking. However, the UBSHAS will get your saddle to within 5mm of ideal, and that's good enough for most people. And for those who want even better accuracy it's a great method of setting a datum point for further fine tune adjustments.

There is a tendency for beginners to want their saddle set way too low, it feels precarious perched up there when you are not accustomed to it. And some regular cyclists with over tight ham-strings hear that message and put their saddle too high. The more miles you do the more attuned you will be with your riding position and the more accurately you will be able to place your saddle. Before too long you'll be aware of the difference in the thickness of soles between two pairs of shoes (and of the resulting difference in efficiency). If your seat is too low you'll find it a challenge to get any power into the pedals. If it's too high you'll be forced to pedal too slowly.

Humans are very adaptable, we can jump on a bike and make it go along even if it is completely the wrong size for us. It doesn't take a lot of effort or specialist knowledge to optimise our biomechanical efficiency, but doing so will enable us go further and faster in more comfort.

Don't adapt yourself to suit the shape of your bike, adjust the bike to suit the shape of you.

Written by Mick Allan, associate editor of Cyclorama. This article and many more can be found on http://www.cyclorama.net - the online cycle show.

You can visit the Cyclorama blog at http://www.cyclorama.net/blog

Rocky Mountain Rum Cake Serves as Authentic Souvenir From Denver

The rum cake recipe may originate from the early 1800's, but the taste is always the same, whether then or now. The Denver Pie Company provides an authentic treat that have long pleased mountain men, cowboys and travelers across the Rocky Mountains. Made of the finest ingredients, the rum cake symbolizes all things great in Colorado history.

 

Created by a small family-owned business, The Denver Pie Company, this unique gift product is available for the more than 27 million annual travelers to Colorado and the surrounding states. The Rum Cake is packaged specially in natural earth-tone packaging combined with regional graphics and custom labeling. Ultimately, the rum cake provides retailer with a unique product to provide its customers.

 

Jason Kline, owner of The Denver Pie Company, says that each cake is still made the old-fashioned way - in small batches. The combination of vanilla and other secret ingredients and then a generous hand glazing with gold rum (straight from one of the oldest distilleries in the world) make this a mouth- watering experience. In addition, each cake is individually vacuum sealed, ensuring a shelf life of 6 months or indefinitely, if refrigerated or frozen.

 

“Visitors to this beautiful region of the U.S. deserve a high-quality, gourmet souvenir,” Kline said. The original Denver Pie product line originated with Peanut Butter and Key Lime variations. “We wanted to create a product to encourage the state’s millions of tourists to take home a piece of the Rocky Mountains.”

 

The story of the Rum Cake begins in early 1800s where beaver trappers and traders explored the expansive wilderness of the Rocky Mountains; they encountered American Indians and built forts that still stand today. It was not uncommon for these fur traders to carry a supply of rum with them through their travels. Not only was it used for trading, but cooking too.

 

The creation of the rum cake stems from a legend where on one cold winter’s night, a mountain man was enjoying some cake, but found it to be too dry. He doused the cake with some rum; it was so good that he later developed a method of immersing the cakes in rum syrup, and used it for trading at outposts all along the Rocky Mountains. This creation is enjoyed and sold today!

 

Kline's enthusiasm toward his hometown is apparent. Many shop owners have found success with Rum Cakes as well. "These Rocky Mountain Rum Cakes convey a very warm and inviting feeling. They are a delicious and thoughtful gift. The flavor is exceptional! After all, it's Rum and Cake! What could be better!" said Christine Shamrell, Gift Shop manager St. Regis Resort, Aspen

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How do you install a mountain bike stem?

Hi,
I've just received my mountain bike today through the post and its 90% assembled. However, I can't get the stem on.
Now the stem on the bike without the handle bars are fused together. There is a rubber end at the bottom of the stem where its supposed to go into the frame and an allen bolt at the top. Now I took off the allen bolt and it was just one long screw and I have no idea what its purpose is.

Anyway I've tried greasing it, I've tried a rubber mallet, but so far it only goes 1 cm into the frame and then gets stuck because of the rubber end. Can anyone please help me how to install this because I've looked on the internet and I can't find any help or videos.
Yes its a rubber end, but it won't come off if I try to pull it. I dunno if you just have to take it off or what?

Well, with you saying that the stem is 'fused together', do you mean that the stem is one unit.
On 'newer' bikes the stem fits onto the fork steerer and then there is an allen key bolt that fits into a star mangled washer?

If it is an older type stem, the allen bolt is loosened so that the expanding end to the bolt is loose. The stem is inserted into the forks and then the allen bolt is tightened so that the expander tightens against the inside of the forks.

There is often a plastic or rubber cap that is fitted over the expanding head in order to protect it and to stop the unit damaging other things and to keep it all together if the allen bolt is loose. Loosen the allen bolt and see if this releases, or makes it easier to release the rubber thing.

Often the expander head can become 'siezed' together. Put the stem in a vise, put the allen key into the allen bolt and give the allen key a quick, sharp hit with a hammer in order to release the expander. Make sure that you have unscrewed the allen key quite a lot first.

Make sure that the bearings on the forks/steerer are correctly adjusted.
Support the front of the bike so that the front wheel is clear of the ground and adjust the bearing so that the front wheel/forks easily swing from lock to lock but without any play. Check this, once the bike is fully assembled, by applying the front brake and rocking the bike forewards and backwards. Place a finger against the forks -where they enter the steering head at the bottom of the head tube - and feel for any play. You will need some big spanners for this, if not a special tool.

Best of luck.

E-ELT site chosen
On April 26, 2010, the ESO Council selected Cerro Armazones as the baseline site for the planned 42-meter European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). Cerro Armazones is a mountain at an altitude of 3060 meters in the central part of Chile's Atacama Desert, some 130 kilometers south of the town of Antofagasta and about 20 kilometers from Cerro Paranal, home of ESO's Very Large Telescope.

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