INTRODUCING FREDERICK MARTIN ILAGAN

Martin Ilagan has a degree in Economics and spent the first 10 years of his working life as an elected City Councillor in city of half a million people at home in the Phillippines. At the same time he was racing road, mtb and triathlon after having been a competitive swimmer in his teens. While racing he was always coping with various aches and pains and had a number of bike fitting sessions without ever resolving the problems. His frustration at this kindled an interest in bike fitting and determined to resolve his own issues, decided to ditch his career and get into bike fitting……………………..

……………Which he did by opening Forward Motion Performance and purchasing a Retul camera and training in that system. He also purchased as many other high tech tools as he could and opened for business thinking that with the training he’d undergone, he knew what he was doing.  Martin soon found that applying system protocols didn’t help resolve the issues that most of his clients sought his help for. So he set about weaning himself away from the high tech, ‘machine operator’ school of thinking. Instead he focused on improving his knowledge of human function and his observation and assessment skills so that he was directing his own actions rather than applying standardised, limb segment angle driven protocols.

In short, as anyone who wants to achieve real competency as a bike fitter does, Martin realised that focusing on quality of movement is far more important than relying on data driven quantity of movement. Eventually this change in focus led him here and we’ve just spent a month together.

Martin is one of the most humble and self effacing people I’ve ever met but is a worker in the truest sense. I introduced him to the Lovett pairing concept on Day 1 of training and by Day 2 he had memorised those relationships and could repeat them without fault as needed. He took copious notes and asked lots of questions. He spent every evening going over the notes he’d made during the day and asking for clarification when necessary. I rarely needed to go over anything twice as he’s an information sponge.

He became more assertive (see Interesting Note below) every week while retaining his humble demeanour. Initially his pool playing skills were top drawer but seemed to deteriorate somewhat after he, previously a non drinker, found that he really enjoyed strong, dark ales 🙂 .

Martin is married to Rochelle and has a son with the delightful, cycling related name of Rapha (Raphael). He works in 7 different locations around the Phillipines and sees an average of 600 clients a year. To anyone living or working in the Phillippines who needs help with their position, book time with Martin as he has my recommendation.

The two clips below show Martin working with a couple of elite riders during his Australian adventure:

Interesting Note:

Martin’s surname, Ilagan, means ‘Stay Away’ or ‘Beware’ in Tagalog, a major Filipino language. During the Spanish occupation of the Phillippines one of Martin’s ancestors was a resistance fighter hence the appropriateness of the name. Humble and self effacing Martin may be but his fighting ancestor’s spirit was awakened when exposed to a few NRL games and he is now a fan!

More information about Martin and his contact details can be found here.

Note: Often, more specific answers to your questions can be found in the Comments below or in the eBooks section and FAQ page.

To learn more about bike fit products offered by Steve, click here.

Do you have a bike fit success story? Please go here to share.