From Sao Paulo to San Antonio – A Fitting Experience

As KGS Bikes develops the Global Bicycle Studio concept, more and more people will travel great distances to experience bicycle design at a world class level. This story is about our friend Paulo Pontes who contacted me after seeing pictures of the KGS bicycles on Flickr.com.  Here is a snippet from his initial inquiry. Paulo said, “I’m a big collector of Road Bikes… top end Bikes! Now I want a true Dream Bike. I’m in doubt in which one to buy; Parlee Z1 or Serotta Meivici. I want Carbon! Stiff but at the same time a very light bike to climb the mountains of Italy.”

I am always intrigued when people are drawn to the pictures and stories published on the website. It is gratifying yet humbling because I want to work ten times harder to make sure my new friend is thrilled with his investment. I asked Paulo why he was interested in a KGS bicycle and he said, “I consider your work as the best out there! Every single Bike from your store is unique…it has soul, it has identity! I want something made for myself …I have this dream bike in my head and I think you can help me building this masterpiece!

Something that I can build with you guys and that I can take care to my kids as an heritage…do you understand that due to exchange rate in Brazil this Bike will cost more than a nice car down here! This experience is once in a lifetime…”

No pressure, right! Actually, I take all projects just as seriously as this one. The first thing we have to do is to arrange to meet so we can derive some bicycle dimensions. We originally spoke about Paulo flying to San Antonio but I found out from my good friend Clayton Arhelger, the General Manager of the Cooper Fitness Center, that Dr. Cooper was famous in Brazil. He developed a fitness training program for the Brazilian World Cup soccer team at one time and apparently did such a great job that he is still remembered there. Since Dallas is much easier to get to than San Antonio, we agree that Paulo will fly to Dallas.

I drove to Dallas and got everything set up at the Cooper Fitness Center and the next morning headed out to DFW Airport to pick up Paulo. Since my Parlee Z1 was on the back of the car, I didn’t want anyone to “borrow it and forget to bring it back”, so I took the bike into the airport with me. Some people thought it was a little odd but Paulo spotted the bike when he came to baggage claim and we had a good laugh. Since he is getting a Z1 as well, it was fun to show him what he could expect when he got his bike.

As we drove back to the Cooper Fitness Center I got a chance to get to know Paulo more. He is young and fit, and passionate about cycling. He is a lucky man, too, as his wife still lets him keep bicycles in the living room! I was reminded how safe we are in America, as Paulo could not keep a bike on an auto rack without fear of theft and will not ride alone in Brazil because of muggers and thieves. The axiom, Safety in Numbers, has real meaning in other parts of the world!

I helped Paulo get settled into the Cooper Fitness Center and found him a locker that happened to be right next to George W. Bush’s locker. Without any reference to Mr. Bush’s popularity in America or Brazil, Paulo knew he was at a special place where excellence is the game. I was thankful for my Cooper relationship as I always am each time I go there to consult.

The next two hours involved the details of our fitting consultation. Paulo and I went from cleat placement, to ankle technique when pedaling. We then optimized his saddle height and found his balance point at about 200 watts. Paulo trains with power and was able to see differences in his power output by this stage of the fitting process.

Once we got the saddle located, we focused on Paulo’s handlebar placement. The goal is to be balanced on the saddle with one’s back in a comfortable position and then bring the handlebars to the point where all three positions, tops, hoods and drops, are comfortable without reaching. A side benefit is, one can put forearms onto the handlebars a la triathlon positioning, to use that position if needed. Once we finished locating the handlebars, we did some further testing at speed.

The final test to determine proper positioning is to see if anything moves at high power output. With a good setup, nothing happens. Predictably, nothing happened here with Paulo, except lots of power being generated! We were finished. The setup bike now had Paulo’s exact position and my next job was to document it. A few measurements here and there and the data was captured. This is all we needed to design Paulo’s dream bike, a Parlee Z1.
I took him back to DFW airport and we discussed the day. Paulo had a whirlwind trip to Dallas and could honestly say that he had not experienced anything like this in his life. We now have his bike in production and the next trip Paulo will take to America will be to take delivery of his new dream bike. Thanks, Paulo, for giving me the opportunity to make a new friend and to help you enjoy our wonderful sport while halfway around the world.