On the pod this week, I interview John Cobb. He is a pioneer & innovator in the bike industry since 1972 and is considered part of a handful of legendary figures that helped shape the bike industry. He is often referred to as “Mr. Wind tunnel” and has been a proven pioneer in the area of cycling aerodynamics to help position riders better in order to gain speed and comfort.  He’s designed or been involved with the design for virtually every part of the modern bicycle. His stories are almost as legendary as he is and John provides many of them throughout the podcast.

We focus on aerodynamics since John was one of the first to ever put a human inside a wind tunnel.  How he convinced the kind and intelligent people of Texas A&M to use the wind tunnel for cyclists vs. their usual car testing is quite amazing.  Regardless, John was relentless in spending his own money and time with some of the early pioneers of the industry to study the impact of aerodynamics on cyclists.  This lead naturally to bike fitting as he analyzed position changes and it's aerodynamic impact but also the tradeoff regarding aero vs. comfort.

The Podcast breaks down into 4 major topics but as you'll notice, I let John's brilliant mind meander down the rabbit hole in any direction as only he can bring the most amazing stories to life.

1.) Coaching and bike fitting symbiosis

2.) Bike fitting

3.) Aerodynamics

4.) Crank length

Learn More:

https://blog.bikefit.com/podcast

Episode website:

http://bit.ly/BFPodEp11

Episode sponsor:

https://blog.bikefit.com/education

About John Cobb:

John Cobb has been an avid cyclist since 1973, going through the steps of recreational cycling, touring, road racing and getting involved in the new sport of triathlon in 1981. Triathlons were particularly interesting to John and he began to focus more on that area as he developed skills in fitting and designing bikes. John opened his first retail bike shop in 1981, always having a focus of making his customers faster and more comfortable. He began testing human riders in 1984 at the Texas A& M WindTunnel and soon developed a reputation and a following for delivering the fastest bikes and riders around the world. John has always had a natural curiosity and an ability to see something in his mind and then be able to actually build it with his hands to test his theories. He has designed frames, wheels, cranks, helmets, saddles, handlebars, clothing and virtually every other part of modern bicycles, having many, many designs and products that lead the way today. John has always been willing to explore the outer limits of different sports and his continuing research will hopefully help riders for many years to come.

Want to learn more about John's current projects?  You can find his work below:

https://speedandcomfort.com/

https://www.facebook.com/SpeedandComfort/