First road test of new components and positioning adjustments after a bicycle fitting

Yesterday I was test riding the new split-nose saddle, shoes, Speedplay pedals, and longer stem from the bike fitting. I meant to go a couple of miles around the neighborhood and return to make adjustments, but none were needed, so I kept going, heading nowhere in particular. I was 19 miles into what would be a 27-mile jaunt when I stopped for a few pics.

The new saddle is phenomenal. It's so comfortable. If anything, it feels just a tiny bit too soft and bouncy, so I may see if there's an option in the same design with less padding.

The new 100mm stem eliminates the twitchy steering problems I was having at higher speeds with the 5mm stem. The new steering dynamics are unrecognizable. I topped 36 mph on one descent (which requires pedaling the 46x16 at 160rpm) and small movements of my hands made the bike do lazy zig-zags instead of nerve-wracking jitterbugs.

The new Fizik shoes feel great, offering a snug but comfortable fit, and just enough extra room in the toe box to splay my toes a little, on a sole with no detectable flex. Added up, I get a very solid sense of connection to the bike. Off the bike, they're dreadful to walk in. Thanks to the Speedplay cleat my foot is tipped very far back, like a high-heeled shoe in reverse, but at least they give my calves a good stretch with every step.

The Speedplays are easy to disengage, but engaging is proving to be a challenge. The stack height is so low that it's hard to locate the correct contact position by feel. It takes a quick, firm, flat, press in the proper area to get the soft pop that means you're in. The problem is that the contact surfaces of the pedal and shoe are so smooth that any pressure applied firmly in the wrong spot causes my foot to shoot off the pedal like a curling stone on a sheet of ice. This is disconcerting on a fixed-gear bicycle since I cannot coast, meaning my feet can never be level and stationary, and the pedals offer no reliable support without the engagement.

With my SPDs, I could pedal normally whether the cleats were engaged in the pedal jaws or not. No more. The practical upshot: I can't disengage early while approaching red lights and stop signs and still continue to pedal. Now I have to pedal until the last moment, stop, disengage, and put a foot down before I tip. My other options include a track stand (which is less doable or desirable as I age) or something quirkier. I could disengage early-on with one foot, pedal one-legged with the other foot, stop, then set down the free foot. It's lucky that the disengagement is so easy or this could be a dangerous--and possibly embarrassing--problem if I can't clip out quickly enough.

The bottom line is that I can hold a lower, better relaxed, and more aero posture. Power that was once lost to overcoming wind drag, improper positioning over the bottom bracket, controlling the twitchy handling, and pushing a squishy pedal interface is now going straight into the road. I have no scientific means to measure the savings in watts, but based on perceived effort I'm going faster and not working as hard. The bike fitting is a big success.