From Brooklyn to Roubaix: ACME and the Edmonds Kids

About two and a half years ago our good friends over at Tuned in Brooklyn reached out to connect us with their friend Kenji about getting bike fits for both of his kids.  Kenji, a lifelong cyclist, was turned on to cycling as a kid by his dad and passed the passion on to his two kids, Akira and Enzo. The kids were both actively racing - they were brought up in NYC’s Star Track program and were also road racing. Akira (about 12 years old when we met) was having all sorts of lower back pain and knee problems and Enzo (then about 14) was having severe problems with his neck. He had been to a few PTs and doctors who told him he might need to try another sport.  After a little back and forth over school schedules, we were able to set up an appointment to meet.  Little did I know the talent about to walk through our door.

It was the winter of 2022, we broke the day in half and I spent the morning with Enzo and the afternoon with Akira.  Kenji came in with a ton of extra bike parts, saddles, stems, and even frames, just in case we needed anything. It should be noted that Kenji is not only an awesome dad but he’s also the kids’ number one fan. He is their manager, their advocate, their chef, and importantly, their parts supplier. (He also has a keen taste for good espresso, so we were instantly friends.) The kids both had numerous bike fit issues that we started working on right away.  Enzo’s neck issues were fit-related; he needed small adjustments everywhere he touched the bike. We changed his saddle and raised it quite a bit - his handlebars were a bit too low and a bit too close.  We spent a lot of time working on his cleat placement, added arch support, and some cleat wedges. The combination of changes stabilized Enzo’s hips, straightened out his knees dramatically, and let him more comfortably extend from his Thoracic spine - taking the stress away from his neck and shoulders. 

Akira had her own set of issues. Akira’s back problem was largely related to a saddle that was forcing her to sit with poor posture and handlebars that were way too far away. Her crank arms were also too long, creating too much hip and knee flexion at the top of the pedal stroke. We also identified that one of her glutes was weaker than the other, probably adding to the knee pain and causing her to sit asymmetrically on the bike.  We shortened the cranks to 155mm on both of her bikes, did a lot of work with insoles and wedges in her shoes to help compensate for the glute issue, and finally put her on the very popular Selle Italia Novus Boost Evo Saddle.

ACME’s relationship with the Edmonds kids has grown from our initial fits - and while the problems they first came in with were resolved,  teenagers grow fast and their bike fit needs continuously change! Since our first fit sessions in 2022, we’ve seen Akira and Enzo 3-4 more times.  We’ve been through several bikes and numerous other equipment changes. These kids are not only getting older but they are getting faster too. Akira has just won her first (of many to come) National Championships at the Madison Track National Championships last fall and just today won at the Cherry Blossom Challenge, which is an annual race held at Branchbrook Park in New Jersey.  She raced in both the junior's category as well as the women's cat 4/5 and won both the junior girls category (she was the only girl, racing against the boys) as well as the women's 4/5.

Enzo has now won a staggering 12 National Championships.  He was just back at ACME a few weeks ago to get his fit dialed in on his new Enve Melee which he’s currently racing in Europe representing Team USA Juniors.  The culmination of his European tour will be this weekend as he takes on the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix, with about 125 of the world's best junior riders! 

Every bike fit we do at ACME is special and unique in some way, but it’s not every day that we get to work with kids, especially not kids on track for cycling careers like these.  It takes a village though (as Kenji can attest to) and we are honored and excited to be a part of their story and among a strong local community supporting them.

We are rooting for you this weekend Enzo!