After decades of promise but little credible achievement, artificial intelligence has got very clever very quickly, catching the world off-guard. No longer the preserve of sci-fi movies, AI is here to stay, if not here to take over. Powerful, liberating, accurate and, well, intelligent, it impresses and intimidates in equal measure. In the world of cycling, it promises to calculate our optimum set-up at the click of a button.
In fact, AI bike-fitting has been available since 2021 in the shape of MyVeloFit.com, an online service that promises a virtual fit for less than the cost of a pack of premium bar tape. It’s so inexpensive that I thought it must be worth a gamble. Not too daring a gamble, admittedly, as I also booked a fit at my local bike shop for a human comparison. Cost-wise, they are poles apart: MyVeloFit is one-sixth of the cost of my chosen human bike-fitter. But which offers better value?
Keeping it real
If the power of AI is to be challenged, Grant Bayton is the human for the job. An ex-pro and son of 1980s cycling legend Phil Bayton, Grant’s been around bikes and riders all his life. I found him through my local bike shop, Ride 24/7 in Cirencester, which leans towards the premium market. Owner Dave Evans is as passionate about his customers as he is his bikes. The coffee’s great too.
Meanwhile, MyVeloFit is a young Canadian company co-founded by experienced bike-fitter Jesse Jarjour, with investment and mentorship from Shopify’s former chief technology officer Cody Fauser, himself an avid cyclist. Their aim is to democratise bike-fits, making comfort and performance available to everyone. Will its raison d’être render human bike-fitters obsolete?
この記事は Cycling Weekly の April 27, 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は Cycling Weekly の April 27, 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
CLASSIC BIKE COLNAGO SUPER
A trailblazing bike immortalised by Merckx and Saronni
"Strava activities are the only way I know some of my friends are still alive"
...or that Bernard is doing his weekly shop
AN EXPERT'S TAKE ON... SADDLE SELECTION
Crucial advice to guide your next purchase
JUST A NUMB#R?
Approaching a landmark birthday, Charlie Graham-Dixon explores how ageing affects cycling performance and what can be done to stay ahead of the curve
RURAL PERIL
More UK cyclists are killed on rural lanes than on busy city streets. Rob Kemp investigates why and what can be done to keep us safe while riding in the countryside
A BLESSED RIDE THROUGH THE FOREST OF BOWLAND
Forgoing cloak, cassock and cross, Trevor Ward goes in search of the holy roads that helped make a Tour winner
Dame Sarah Storey claims road and 19th gold double
More success for Team GB's Paralympians in Paris, but Storey slams women's time trial course
Roglič matches Vuelta win record
Slovenian takes fourth Tour of Spain title after hunting down O'Connor's lead, writes Adam Becket
Williams crowned Tour of Britain champion
Welshman leads home resurgence at the stage race to crown an Israel-Premier Tech clean sweep, reports Tom Davidson in Felixstowe
CLASSIC BIKE CLAUD BUTLER OLYMPIC ROAD
Iconic British brand's Holdsworth-era road bike