Torke Off Road positioning is a one day, world leading, advanced level course that builds on the fundamental principles of Torke Cycling’s Body Positioning course. Off-road cycling presents a significantly broader array of challenges to the human body than road cycling and exposes the cyclist to a greater variety and range of forces than any other cycling genre. Therefore it takes a greater level of understanding of these physical forces and their physiological effects in order to correctly fit these cyclists. This is the main reason that Technological Fitting Systems avoid offering Off road positioning advice and also why many fitters don’t offer or actively push off road fitting. They just don’t understand it well enough. This unique course has many ‘aha’ moments that not only help you understand and practice Off Road Bike Fitting better but also further enhance your understanding of general physiological cycling concepts which will also improve your general gross positioning outcomes.

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Course Outline

The course delves into the distinctive requirements of off-road cyclists, encompassing XC Mtb, Enduro, Downhill, Gravel and Cyclocross. As with all courses there is a balanced mix of theory and practical application with the main goal being significantly improving your practice and the quality of your bike fit outcomes.

  • Detailed exposition of the forces and physiological effects off road
  • Unique postural requirements
  • The unique physiological challenges of steep climbing seated
  • The postural and muscular load of descending
  • The best posture needed for absorbing impacts
  • The best posture needed for handling and moving body mass over the bike.
  • Requirements for delivering power in loose, rough terrain
  • Introduction to bicycle handling dynamics
  • Balancing best fit for handling and best fit power production
  • Balancing best fit for climbing and best fit for descending
  • Critique and expose of common trends in off road disciplines – Bike Packing, Ulta, XC, Enduro,DH, Gravel, CX
  • Component choices – Saddle, bar shapes, grip shapes, shoe/pedal styles
  • How to simulate off road cycling in the fit studio and the studios limitations
  • A thorough method for evaluating the individuals unique riding situation, discerning the key forces and parameters.
  • A thorough testing process to discover the best, most effective fit /handling elements for each individuals body and riding use case.

Course Outcome

Through enhanced understanding of the base physical and physiological principles at work and through leaning thorough practical methods of situational simulation and body response evaluation, the bike fitter will be able to accurately fit each individual to a wide range of off road (and other) cycling use cases.

Course Length and cost

1 day, £375

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Day 2: Torke Cycling Off Road positioning @nordicbikefit . An advanced course looking at applying Torke Body Positioning principles to off road cycling situations. We are interested in the physiological stresses that off road terrain imposes on a cyclist and how to best resolve these. When riding up steep mountain trails on dirt both traction and system inertia are significantly reduced. This results in cyclists having to remain seated to stop the rear wheel spinning out. However remaining seated at 12-16percent gradient often creates a significant postural stress on the cyclist. Photo 2 of the rider – see how he is pulling on the bars with his arms. What you don't see is the increased phasic hamstring activity as the quadriceps are working posturally to hold the position. (Leads to premature hamstring fatigue on extended steep climbs) In this case we managed to initially lower this stress with a T shape saddle (selle Italia L1) the wider, tighter radiused wings held the rider better than the Fabric. However we completely resolved the stress with an @sellesmpofficial Blaster with its tail rise. See the no hands picture, showing how the saddle improved postural stability at incline. On a bike used up/down steep gradients we also need to test the position for descending. This is largely about keeping the riders centre of mass into the feet whilst achieving neutral shoulder/arm extension for maximal control. Note the standing pictures, second one has the rider into underextension, and any forward shift of mass from hard braking or a drop off would be harder to manage as the shoulder cannot exert so much extension (foreward pushing) force in this position. The first 20mm longer position improved the riders shoulder strength and therefore control over the bike.

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Location

Torke Cycling, (Pronto Bikes) Frome, Somerset (Nearest Airport Bristol, Nearest Train Station Frome)

Extra

Although the education is 100% independent of any tool or parts manufacturer in the education some technologies and products will be demonstrated

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