Mercury Rising Triathlon: Sponsor Spotlight -- TCR Sport Lab

TCR Sport Lab (www.tcrsportlab.com) utilizes the power of science to help you achieve your athletic goals. Professional bike fitting, run gait analysis and V02 testing for the bike and the run are a few of the services they offer.

You train hard, juggling work schedules and family priorities -- getting up early to swim, packing extra food, and getting in lunch-time runs. You make dietary changes, attend camps, and get your swim stroke analyzed. What is the point of all this training when your bike is ill-fitting? Approximately 25% of competitors in an iron-distance event are in an uncomfortable bike position, and because of that discomfort, end up sitting upright, negating any aerodynamic advantages their tri bike offers.

All of the professional bike fitters at TCR Sport Lab have Masters in Kinesiology -- put their extensive knowledge database and experience to work for you!

Bring in your bike for a professional bike fitting on their Dynamic Fitting Unit (DFU) machine. The DFU is a wholly customisable bike fitting machine. The athlete climbs on board and step-by-step, slight adjustments are made to seat height, handlebar height, and so on. As each adjustment is made, the athlete performs a spin test to gauge power output as well as physical comfort level in each position. Armed with this comprehensive feedback, the professional bike fitters at TCR determine your optimum bike position and then transfer these measurements to your current bike.

Getting the fit dialed in on the DFU.

But, what if you are in the market for a new bike? The same measurements that were taken on the DFU machine can be dialed in to your own customised tri bike...at a similar cost to standard tri bikes (prices ranges from $3000 - $7000). Guru is a "100% made in Canada" company that does custom bikes, but they also carry stock size bikes.

Depending on your unique bike position measurements, you may fit on a stock size bike...but have no fear about a custom-sized Guru! Custom frames generally run around $200 more than stock sizes. As an added perk, Guru bike colours are wholly customisable. You, the customer get to pick out any colour combination you want and truly personalize your ride.

A custom Guru Tri 901 frame in the works.

Run Gait Analysis

How do you know if you need a run gait analysis? If you can answer yes to any of the following questions, then learning to run more efficiently might be the solution:

Do you keep getting the same running injury over and over again?

Do you find you just can't get any faster?

Do you "not like running?"

After you are observed running on a treadmill from various angles, you will receive expert guidance as to the changes you can implement in order to fine-tune your running form.