Design & Innovation Award 2016 | Jury Profile 5 – Lotte Kraus
The leading award of the bicycle world, the Design & Innovation Award 2016 is now upon us. Our international team is riding, testing and analyzing the most exciting products of 2016. Our mission is to award the world’s best products and most innovative technologies, and joining us will be a select jury of six of the most skilled, influential, and analytical minds from the cycling industry. It’s time to meet our jury members.
Jury Member | Lotte Kraus
When it comes to bike design, a good fit is everything, and nobody understands this better than biomechanical expert, Lotte Kraus. Lotte works for gebioMized, a society of biomechanics from Germany who develop dynamic bike fitting technology using pressure mapping systems and video analysis for cycling optimisation processes. Lotte has worked extensively with the worlds best cycling teams, and also the cycling industry to provide guidance for product development. She has worked with most of the major brands when it comes to bike fit programs. Lotto also runs international bike fit classes where she trains instructors from all over the world. As new technologies and geometries flood the road and MTB sector, her experienced eye will be instrumental in gaining a better understanding of the biomechanics behind the marketing.
Bike fitting has been traditionally linked to road, do you think it’s useful in MTB?
Yes, I think that bike fitting for MTB is essential, but it’s certainly more complicated and requires experience from the fitter. However, I see bike fitting becoming more important in the future as there are now so many more geometries coming onto the market, especially as the sport is opening up to riders of all ages.
How important do you think bike fitting is for a recreational rider?
I think it’s even more important for the recreation rider as professional athletes are limited to what they can ride due to sponsorship. They have also ridden since they are very young so there’s little we can change. A recreational rider has yet to fully adapt to their setup so we can still optimise their position. Also they don’t earn their money from riding, so they may desire a more comfortable position on the bike. Riders of all skill levels and disciplines can benefit from a proper bike setup.
What are you most looking forward to when attending the Design & Innovation Award?
I think in the future there will be great opportunities for creating a better mountain bike experience through ergonomics, biomechanics and performance. With a better understanding of different parts of the bike like the stem length and geometry we can do more to improve stability at the contact points. I am excited to see some of the strategies that some of the brands incorporate into their designs. I am also looking forward to incorporating data analysis to support the judging process and give objective data, especially for the road segment
Words: Trev Worsey Photos: Trev Worsey, Christoph Bayer
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