Bike Fitting

derrickyoung

It seems you can not go into a bike shop these days and not have the staff try to sell you a bike fitting. We are not talking the buying a new bike and getting it sized correctly. I am talking the get the calipers and plumb bob out and measure every angle for 150.00 to 200.00 dollars.

Is this level of fitting really needed for the average rider? I know my stem is a little long. I knew that when i bought the bike. My body told me that, so I slid the seat ahead on the rails a bit. Problem solved till i get a shorter stem.

I guess i am asking when dealing with a limited budget for cycling every month how high up the priority list is this. How valuable is it and when i am losing 10 lbs a month how long before they suggest i redo it.

veloman21

The answer is........... it depends!

If you are a time trialist/road racer then no doubt you could benefit from a professional fitting to ensure you are getting in the best position and have the ability to deliver max power to the pedals. If you do Gran Fondo's or other endurance events you may likewise benefit from improved comfort.

For the average person riding for pleasure, doing say less than 30-40 mile rides, there probably is not much benefit unless you are experiencing pain in the arms/knees/feet,shoulders etc etc. Even then, a few minutes experimenting with saddle height and fore/aft position may improve many of these issues if not solve them.

It's really no surprise that LBS are offering this service. For one it is an obvious source of additional revenue and helps to make up for or compete with online bike sellers by offering a differentiating service.

TheBigYin

For me, frankly, it was the best money i've spent on anything cycling related since I was 15 years old...

But then, I was looking to ride 4-5 hours at a time, I'm overweight, over 50, and I've a dodgy hip, a even dodgier knee (on the other side to the hip) and a leg length imbalance of over 1.5cm, so perhaps i'm not the typical rider.

The strangest thing is, I actually thought I had my position dialled in pretty well - and in fairness, I probably came out of the fitting with the handlebars moving up 5mm and forwards 10mm, the saddle moving forwards maybe 12mm and raising initially 5mm (though this was gradually increased to 15mm as my physiotherapy on the knee improved it's "tracking" - but the big thing was shimming under the cleat on my "short leg" and eventually a set of custom orthotics for the cycling shoes that raised the short leg and "canted" the other foot to keep the dodgy knee tracking straight.

What had happened over the 10 years or more since i'd had the accident that resulted in the "short leg" is that i'd lowered my saddle to prevent "rocking" - i.e. the saddle height was set up for my short leg, but the other one was finding it too low, and my knee was throwing outwards during the upper part of the pedal stroke - eventually it resulted in the knee ligaments being tighter on one side than the other, and inevitably at some point my knee joint played up badly.

As I say, this was quite a long process, not just the measurments but the whole "dynamic fit" thing - with the ergometer bike that they can dynamically move around while you're riding, and the led marker dots for the video digitising to see how the joints are moving. In the end I had one "main session" and a couple of "follow ups" - as I say, it was almost a 6 month process of rehab on the knee, and a gradual process of raising the saddle 1mm, then riding for 2-3 weeks, then repeating.

I also came out with a full set of specifications which pretty much allowed me to get a perfect fit on the new bike I was buying, even though I actually bought all the components independently - because I knew where the bars/seat/pedals needed to be, I could hand the fitting guys a drawing of the frame, and they could say "Okay, for the size 56 you need a 11cm stem, 2.5cm of spacers under the stem, a layback seatpin rather than an inline one, and with a Fizik Arione the tip of the saddle needs to be x mm from the centre line of the handlebars, y mm behind the spindle of the BB and z mm from the crown of the saddle inline with the seat-tube straight down to the centre of the bb spindle. I've even been able to replicate almost exactly the position on my CaadX 'cross bike as I got on the full custom specced Dolan - the bars are actually an extra 5mm higher, but as its a winter bike/offroad bike that extra degree of being "more upright" is actually not only not a problem, but actually works slightly better.

blackcoffeeandcherrypie

Being a short girl with a long back, my two main concerns are seat height (i.e. it needs to be a small frame) and 'reach' (distance to handlebars). So long as you have reach adjustable handlebars, and the frame size isn't so small that your knees are hitting the handlebars, then you should be fine. It's good to check adjustments every so often (seats and handlebars can often creep down over time and might need to be raised slightly) but anything excessive is just unnecessary upselling, imo. What's more, no-one can tell exactly what size and adjustment you should have simply from your height or measurements because every cyclist is a unique person with their own gait, posture, comfort while stretching and preferred riding position. All the measurements in the world can't say whether a bike is comfortable for you to ride - only you can say that. I have had lots of experts in bike shops trying to tell me what sort of bike and position I should be riding and they don't seem to care about my own opinion or what I prefer, but I'm the one riding it for 2 hours every day. Basically, you get some arrogant, know-it-all assistants in shops, but you're the one riding it, so you're the only one who knows whether you're comfortable on it or not. If you're already happy with your bike's angles, then why change it?

derrickyoung

Maybe i am old fsshion. But to me if I want to buy a new stem then the local shop should look at me and my bike and recommend a size. Not tell me to spend 150.00 for a basic fitting which will then tell me what sizs stem to buy from them.

This has all started from sessions i have been doing with a coach. Duri g the sessions he has made some minor adjustments to smooth out my pedal stroke. But keeps encouraging me to get a fitting. Saying that he can only adjust so much duri g the sessions. It may help, and maybe as I progress i will see the value in it. But right now my budget is limited per month on what i can/will spend on cycling. So to drop 200.00 plus what ever parts and installation means putting off other purchases.

jacksonpt

I've never had one. I'm pretty typical in my measurements/proportions, so getting sized correctly gets me 90% of the way there. After that, I had a trusted shop guy "eye ball fit me" to both my road bike and my tri bike. Each one took about 30 minutes and cost me about $50. A good shop should do this for you regardless of your bike or where you bought it.

Is a full on fit better? Yes. Is it worth the money? Hard to say. If you're having problems related to fit, generally pain/discomfort/fatigue, then it can be helpful. If you're putting in a lot of miles and logging a ton of saddle time, then it'll probably be worth it in the long run.

If you're a regular dude riding for fun and exercise, a few hours a week, with fairly normal body proportions, then it's probably not worth the price.

IMO.