Originally Posted by
Spoonrobot
Please share the link(s) to whatever studies you have that show the effects of stretching on cyclist position and flexibility. I haven't looked in a while but last time I did a few years ago the only literature was branded studies from Specialized and a saddle company that escapes me (Fizik?).
I wasn't referring to studies of cyclist position and flexibility, just those of stretching generally. @
Machka posted some good links above, and you can see that the claimed benefits are really nothing that dramatic.
I'm completely skeptical of any "branded" research as I don't know what commercial motives might lie in releasing the information.
I don't want to overstate my position here. My guess is that some people probably benefit more from stretching than others, and we self-select. I also think we self-select into what bike postures work best for us, and it's absolutely ridiculous to assert that everyone would be better off riding "slammed". I know you didn't say that, but the other poster strongly implied it.