Cycling Analysis
From beginners to elite cyclists, our specific expertise ensures you hit your goals and remain pain free throughout your cycling season. Utilise our Sports Science and Bio-mechanical expertise with our comprehensive Cycling Analysis, tailored to all levels, whether starting out, or looking to make time gains to reach your cycling targets.
Why have a Cycling Analysis?
Mixing the linear mechanics of a bike and the rotational mechanics of the human body creates a bio-mechanical challenge for cyclists. Our clients often come to us with perfectly fitted bikes, yet they struggle with discomfort or underwhelming performance.
In these instances, the problem rarely lies with the bike itself; it’s usually a bio-mechanical issue with the rider. This can stem from past injuries, or more commonly, subtle habitual movement patterns that evade detection in a standard bike fitting. This is where we are different, our approach revolves around Cycling Analysis, that goes beyond conventional bike fitting (although that’s part of what we do).
Meet Ian, our Cycling Analysis expert, who mixes his expertise in Biomechanics, Physiotherapy, and Sports Science with bike fitting. This mix allows him to see things either Physiotherapy alone, or Bike fitting alone cannot.
What happens during a Cycling Analysis?
During our comprehensive 90 minute specialised Cycling Analysis sessions, we conduct a thorough assessment of your body, both on and off your bike. We are aiming to establish, not only your optimal cycling setup, but also the best position for efficiency within your body.
Our Cycling Analysis specialist sessions are entirely tailored to your unique needs. We commence with an in-depth bio-mechanical evaluation of your body whilst off the bike. This initial step allows us to identify any limitations or weaknesses that might be contributing to issues during your cycling experience.
Once the off-bike assessment is completed, we transition to observing your performance on the bike. Typically, we utilise a turbo trainer to capture video footage of your cycling technique. In certain instances, cycling-related problems might not become apparent until later during a ride. For such scenarios, we might record you in a real-world cycling situation. During these instances, Ian will accompany you on a bike while filming your technique.
Once recorded, we are able to analyse the video of your cycling, slowing it down to gain a comprehensive insight into your movement patterns while on the bike. Both the bicycle and the human body can mutually influence each other, so it’s crucial to comprehend how the bike impacts the body and vice versa.
Once we’ve identified any restrictions, we can utilise our expertise in strengthening exercises and hands-on techniques to enhance your mechanics and alleviate any discomfort. Occasionally, we might recommend adjustments to your bike settings, and in these cases, we would re-record your technique to ensure the new settings are perfectly calibrated to your needs.
What can we do for Cycling Injuries?
Numerous injuries and discomforts can stem from cycling, with some being a result of incorrect setups or mismatched bike geometry for your body.
Within our Cycling Analysis sessions, we aim to identify any of these issues and can often rectify them by checking your bike fit. However, several specific problems tend to surface, frequently involving shoulders, backs, and knees. Our assessment process includes examining pelvic mobility, knee dynamics, aligning the entire body, and evaluating ankle movement.
For instance, knee pain is a prevalent concern among cyclists. Often, during Cycling Analysis, it’s noticeable as the knee tracks in a figure-of-eight pattern rather than a linear trajectory.
Our next step is to understand the underlying cause. It could be due to the bike’s configuration or limitations in your ankle’s biomechanics. In some cases, insufficient foot strength or restrictions at the hip might be contributing factors.
To tackle this, we can customise the bike at the pedal level, utilising shims if necessary. Adjusting the pedal type, changing footwear, or modifying pedal float are also options. Alternatively, rectifying your own biomechanics through Physiotherapy and Sports Therapy, along with strength and flexibility exercises, might be the solution.
Frequently Asked Questions about Cycling Analysis.
We would chat to you on the phone first as everybody has an individual situation, but in general please bring all your usual cycling gear including your bike(s).
We usually ascertain on the phone wether your bike will fit our turbo trainer. Those with Carbon bikes often prefer to bring their own turbo trainer and this is fine.
In short, yes absolutely. It does not matter how you ride, whether that be racing, as a commute to work, or just a gentle cruise around the country side. The same mechanical principles apply to anyone riding a bike.
Ultimately, every bike needs to work correctly for you and your body mechanics. We frequently analyse people who use Brompton’s and other fully upright bikes, as well as mountain and road bikes.
We are not ‘bike fitters’ but we are trained in bike fitting. Therefore, we will usually ask you to make the actual adjustments yourself to your bike, while you are with us, with us to guide and support you.
If you are not handy with a spanner we do tie in with one of areas top bike fitters or we can do the adjustments for you but we would need to discuss this in advance.
Ian is our cycling expert. In his younger days he was a Triathlete and has always been a cyclist. He began cycling seriously at 8 years old and built his first true road bike at the age of 11, which he still owns 43 years on!
You can book using our online booking system. Or you can email us or call us directly.
We don’t use receptionists, so when you call or email you get directly either Ian or Gina, who can answer any questions you may have, prior to making a booking.
What Our Clients Say About Us?
What Our Clients Say About Us
Michael Jenkins
May 1, 2024 Google
Ian was the third physio I'd seen for a cycling specific hip injury, I wish I'd have found him much sooner! Back to full speed (and duration) on the bike!
Paul Tutton
September 5, 2023
As a recipient of an online bike fit from The Reinge Clinic during the Covid lockdown, I have nothing but good things to say. Ian looked at a number of positional videos I sent him and provided me with great guidance to improve my on-bike TT position. Not only has this helped me attain some decent PB's across a number of courses but it has (as importantly) ensured no knee or back pain - pre, during or post exercise. Highly recommended.
Debbie Cooper
September 5, 2023
I began seeing Gina towards the end of 2020 due to having severe back pain. I have a lower lumbar fusion and 2 slipped discs. After a thorough inspection and assessment Gina was able to begin her diagnosis and spec out a plan for me. At the point of first meeting Gina I was in so much pain that I could barely be touched and now I am able to train, run and cycle again without feeling pain. I am now undergoing running assessments to understand where my issues are, how to rectify them safely and set realistic goals.
Nick Lawton
September 5, 2023
I am a keen cyclist and runner. I visited the Reinge clinic as a result of continued tightness and discomfort in my IT band. Gina was fantastic. Her approach was friendly and professional. She had fantastic knowledge and was able to articulate this in a way that was easy to understand. Gina was focused on addressing the underlying causes of the injury and providing long term solutions. I would highly recommend the reinge clinic for both injuries and ongoing maintenance.
Scott Brookes
September 5, 2023
5 stars for Ian! Deciding to get physio after an injury can be a daunting prospect, especially when trying to find someone who you can trust to take you from being in chronic pain and not being able to move, to moving in the right direction. Ian is extremely passionate about the mechanics of the body and isn't phased by taking on someone with a badly herniated disc. I was told that surgery was looking likely, but I wanted to try all other options first as surgery was no guaranteed silver bullet. Ian has been extremely supportive with explaining the issues, deciphering MRI scans and providing a tailored set of key stretches, both face to face and via videos to help in my road to recovery. I am back now cycling and swimming (better than i was before my injury!) and while i am less dependent on intense sessions with Ian, I am still a regular client as daily life still puts pressures on my body that need a professional to reset. I highly recommend Ian to anyone looking for injury recovery or general physio support, but also for anyone looking to change their mindset towards investing time and effort into trying to future proof their bodies from the risk of issues.
Erik Downey - GB Triathlon
September 5, 2023
As a G.B. Age group Triathlete I have used Ian’s services for several years. He is very efficient at finding the cause of the problem and also treating the symptoms. I initially sought help for stress fractures and with his assistance was able to overcome these and compete in 6 Ironman events without any major injury issues. During my build phase I would attend Ian’s clinic on a monthly basis to ensure my body was given a once over. Ian would be able to spot minor issues and imbalances before they became a problem allowing to continue my training. Thank you Ian for helping me achieve my goals. The only advice I can give is don’t delay seeing Ian as the problem is unlikely to go away on its own.
