Last week two Cinelli employees attended an equipment testing session for Italy’s leading Professional team and another Professional youth development squad which has this season begun to use Cinelli equipment. While at the session we overhead the team doctor suggest that a neo-pro, fresh from the Tour Down Under, might do well to do a little work on a fixed-gear next winter to iron out some problems in his pedalling action. Curious, we asked him what advantages this form of training has at a Pro level. He sent us the following piece of writing which we have extracted and translated into English.
This article was written by Fabrizio Tacchino, perhaps the most respected personal trainer working in the professional ranks in Italy. In it he explains how the professional cyclist uses a fixed-gear bicycle as part of winter training.
The difference between the two types of pedalling, free-wheel and fixed-wheel, needs to be discovered in the bio-mechanics of the pedalling action: in the dynamic of the pedalling action with a freewheel there is a so-called “dead” point which has to be overcome with a boost in the pedalling action which calls on an increased effort from the biceps femoris muscle, but with a fixed-gear this part of the pedal’s revolution is more easily overcome as it is subject to an acceleration coming from the inertia of the drive train connected to the pedals from the chain. This important difference allows for a more constant rhythm in the pedalling action and as one says in cycling slang “rounder circles” in so much as to say that in training the muscles learn to contract and lengthen themselves in a co-ordinated manner even at extremely high cadences. To notice this effect all you have to do is make an amateur pedal at a high RPM while remaining in the saddle and you will notice the little “jumps” he will make on the saddle because he is not co-ordinated in the two phases of contraction and lengthening, while on the other hand if you ask a competitive cyclist who trains on the track to repeat the same exercise he will have a far more delicate and economical pedalling action. Thus we can conclude that to develop a good pedalling action serves to economise the action so that when one multiplies these revolutions to the quantities undertaken in a race you will have an extremely noteworthy saving of energy: very important in the moments of a race that count.
Fixed-gear riding is therefore an important form of training which can take place either on the road or track. The fixed-gear has been used as form of training by athletes lucky enough to have had in their career sports directors with experience who has made his charges begin with this method of training in their junior years and appreciating the benefits have continued to use the form right through to the professional ranks.
The fixed-gear out to be used in the winter period with specifically determined modules with the goal of maximizing the benefits of the exercise.
One ought to build up a bike exclusively for this purpose of fixed-gear training while also maintaining the availability of the standard geared road bike which will continue to be used for training specific to strength and climbing. In Italian slang this fixed-wheel bike is called “muletto”, it is only to be used on flats or the slightest hills which one might encounter.
Ideally the fixed-gear training should be scheduled after having done about 1000km with a freewheel geared bike and begun after a period of strength work in the gym. Traditionally the perfect period is considered to be between Christmas and the first ten days of January for a total of 15 training sessions effectively distributed among 2000km.
One’s gear ratio should obviously be chosen according to one’s level of performance, but these are the following guidelines which are usually loosely adhered to: 39 x 19/18/17 for the junior and amateur categories and 53/52 x 20/19/18 for professionals. Deciding on the ratio should be based on the consideration that it should allow for an RPM above 100/110 with periods as high as 130. When one uses the fixed-wheel it is important to attach a cyclo or cardio computer which can measure cadence, speed and time for the “blocks” at different freuqencies.
A fixed-wheel needs to be used for 15 days in a row to maximise the benefits of its use, alternating between one day of only fixed-wheel and one day of both a free-wheel session which will be focused on strength work and high cadence work on climbs, and then a second session on a fixed-wheel.
Keep in mind that an hour of fixed-wheel uses as much force as an hour-and-a-half of free-wheel so the training session should be kept between the length of 1.5 – 2 hours. During a fixed-wheel training ride the only parameters to observe are those of one’s RPM in relation to cardiac frequency. For the first week one should work with a more agile rear sprocket at a cadence of 100 RPM with a constant rhythm, the second week one should move down of one tooth on the rear sprocket and ride at 110 RPM with blocks at 130 RPM which should be kept for 1 minute every 5 minutes, with constant rhythm. On alternate days, as previously mentioned, one should add a session riding freewheel…
Build a muletto...