Editor's letter

Well we made it to issue two! The world has changed so much over the last three months that we’re now looking at a very different commercial and social landscape to the one when we first published our first issue.

The cycling industry hasn’t seen a surge in demand this large since the 1950s and we are all having to constantly adapt to the changing situation. I don’t remember a time in my professional career when it was so hard to buy gear cables!

With the world in such a state of flux, and with all of you out there in varied levels of lockdown — and coping with the challenges that that brings — I am still hopeful that this may be the start of a meaningful shift towards using bicycles more, both as a means to exercise and as a form of transport, which can only be a positive thing for our industry. We have an article this month all about the new surge in cycling, written by our president, Andy Brooke (page 3).

Keeping connected

One of the things that has made pulling this edition together really interesting has been the ability to catch up with people living outside of our own little bubbles of reality. It’s become very easy to keep your head down and plug away without the usual connection to colleagues working in different environments and it’s been eye-opening to see the varied approaches to taking on the challenges of the corona virus pandemic, which we discuss in some depth in our ‘fitting post-lockdown' article (page 6).

Bike fit practice

Alongside this comment on the current climate, we have several articles delving into the science and practice of bike fitting in its various guises. There is the continuation of last issue’s piece on cross discipline co-operation to eliminate knee pain which just goes to show how sometimes the result can be greater than the sum of two parts.

Then we move into the wind-tunnel with Bianca Broadbent to address considerations that can be made to help with the aerodynamic positioning of a rider. We take a deep dive into the effects of position on the cardio vascular system with Jed Campbell-Williams, and I take you through a recent bike-fit case-study investigating the causes of foot numbness.

New products

Whilst we still don’t have many dates to share with you there are some great online events happening which you could pop in your diaries.

Now three months in, we are able to bring you our first long-term product tests. The hardest part of this process is limiting the number of words, as I do have a tendency to go into minute detail when doing product reviews due to my background in industrial design! I’ve been impressed so far though with the new crop of products, into what is still a relatively niche industry.

And finally, now that the new IBFI constitution is in place and we’ve been shuffling around duties, there is a new contact list in this edition should you want to get in touch. Which segues me nicely into my last point…

Your magazine

So here we are. Our second edition of your IBFI magazine. And it’s the “your” part that’s most important. We are still finding our feet with how to provide you with interesting and informative content. So please feel free, in fact more than that — I actively encourage you — to let us know what you think. What works and what doesn’t? What do you want to see that we haven’t included yet? And if any of you would like to write an article for us then don’t hesitate to reach out — our contact details are below.

Don’t forget, feedback is a gift and I’m hoping for a lot of presents…

Lee Prescott

IBFI Vice President