Bike Setup Differences between Velobeat & Veloburn

by Fabian, Velocity Veloburn Instructor – Monday, 20 April 2019

A proper Bike Setup helps to increase the intensity of your workout and also prevents injuries due to persistent malposition. Your Bike Setup is dependent on your anatomy, in particular on the length of your arms and legs. Remember: the saddle should be at the height with your hip and the distance from the saddle to the handlebar should be the same as from your elbow to your fingertips. So far so good, but there are small differences between your Bike Setup for a Velobeat and a Veloburn class. In this Blog Post I give you some hints, how to adjust your Setup, which can help you to maximize your Beat and Burn workout.

Let’s start with Veloburn. The focus in a Veloburn class is on performance and numbers. So we have to make sure we chose a Setup, which allows us to work in the most efficient way to bring all the power out of our muscles right into the bike. So we need to create an optimal power transmission and for that I have some instructions you can follow:

  • The height of your saddle should be slightly higher than the height of your hip. So if you sit on the bike and you bring your heel onto the pedal your leg should be fully extended. Therefore if you then clip in, you will have your knee slightly bent.
  • Your handlebar should be no lower than your saddle, to prevent back pain. How high you go doesn’t matter, because there won’t be any adverse winds. So pick a position in which you feel comfortable.
  • The distance from your saddle to the handlebar stays as mentioned above.

Let’s keep going with Velobeat. The focus in Velobeat is a full-body workout with a safe but wide range of motion. Thus the lower you go for example in the pushups the harder it gets. In that case we need to find a bike setup, which allows us to make our movements as big as possible. Going over the full range of motion in every single exercise means you are activating more muscles, so you need more oxygen to let your muscles work and this finally result in a higher heart rate and calorie consumption. So let’s make sure you find the right setup to burn those calories:

  • Your saddle should be at the height of your hip or slightly lower. So if you do tap-backs you can sit lower, which helps you going for a bigger range of motion.
  • Your handle bar should be slightly higher than your saddle, because in a Beat Class you work a lot in standing positions. To reduce the load on your spine we suggest to have your handle bar slightly higher. Make sure you only go a few inches higher, cause if you go too high you are not able to do pushups and dips with an efficient range.
  • The distance from your saddle to the handlebar stays as mentioned above. I suggest you bring your saddle slightly to the back, so the way to tap the saddle is longer, which results in more muscle activation. Preferably you have the saddle behind the bottom bracket line, so if you are standing the saddle is not bothering you between your legs.

Try out this points and I guarantee you will have a more efficient and a more intense workout. Higher numbers, more muscles activated, increased calorie consumption, lower pushups and still working with a safe Bike Setup… make the most out of those 50 minutes!

Velocity’s Summer Playlist