endoman
Senior Member
- Location
- Chesterfield
Im a relatively new cyclist, about a year, got my road bike, Focus Cayo last June and have ridden a fair bit since then. Done a few 100 milers and am training for The Etape acte 2. Decided that I want to make sure I’ve done all possible to make it as painless as possible so a bike fit was a logical thing to do. I set up the bike myself, using some on line guides etc. Wasn’t aware of any problems and could ride 100 miles in relative comfort.
I decided to use cadence sport as it’s only an hour away and the offer of footbeds made at same time would help my high arches. The standard footbeds in my shoes are very poor!
Adrian who does the fit is a former TDF rider and Olympian so has done a bit! Having read a few reviews I was hopeful that I could get a bit more out of my riding due to the fit.
I filled in an assessment form prior to the fit detailing my aims and current bike etc. Went along this morning and arrived at about 8.15 for an 8.30 start.
Lovely shop, loads of exotica in there, Pinarello and Trigon, DI2 etc. Had a look around while Adrian got everything set up and made me a lovely coffee :-)
First part of the fit was to get the footbeds made, I’ve had them for skiing before so knew the process, we chatted about what I wanted from my cycling etc and once the footbeds were done moved onto flexibility assessment and some measuring.
Bike was put on turbo, footbeds in shoes and wow that was a lot more comfy. Pedaled for a bit and measurements of bike taken etc. Lasers lined up then got off and Adrian told me what was wrong. I was tipped way too far forward and had tons of weight on the bars rather than the saddle, I had been sliding to the front of the saddle un aware, and this position explained a little my lack of confidence in descending cos I had little weight over the back wheel. Changes were made and I was back on again, felt totally different, much more comfortable and stable. We then looked at pedaling style and was shown how to pedal properly and some drills to help.
Next looked at arm and body position and again some tweaking of the set up to get this correct. Tried some narrower bars but couldn’t notice a huge difference.
After about an hour and a half it was feeling very comfy, easy to sit on the saddle, arms relaxed, hands soft. I then asked if we could look at my tri bars, and a few adjustments were made to these but at my level, ( low) there was not thought to be any reason to change saddle position to use these. Again very easy to move from these to hoods etc.
Once I loose a bit more gut I can take a spacer or two away to get a bit more aero,
During the whole process Adrian offered advice re riding, how to handle The Etape etc.
At no point did I feel pressured to by anything extra, came away with same saddle and stem, no mention being made of changing either.
So, I was pretty excited to get the bike on the road and went out for 40 miles this afternoon. It truly feels like a different bike. Amazing. Power in the stroke up hills was a revelation, Strava agreed with 2 pb’s on climbs,
Rode 40 miles non stop, zero saddle discomfort, never had to stand to adjust etc, no pressure, feels like I am finally sitting on the saddle and not sliding off it! Arms more relaxed, kept telling myself re my elbows as instructed. Much more stable on the descents, position in the bars improved that.
Not used the TT bars yet, hopefully doing a ten next week, club run tomorrow will tell how things are over 70 miles or so.
Was offered feedback later if any changes needed via phone or email, told to ring before picking up an allen key. At the moment I feel as if I have a new bike and can’t recommend the process highly enough. Maybe it’s cos the bike was poorly set up initially, but the changes are not huge, just enough to make a difference.
I decided to use cadence sport as it’s only an hour away and the offer of footbeds made at same time would help my high arches. The standard footbeds in my shoes are very poor!
Adrian who does the fit is a former TDF rider and Olympian so has done a bit! Having read a few reviews I was hopeful that I could get a bit more out of my riding due to the fit.
I filled in an assessment form prior to the fit detailing my aims and current bike etc. Went along this morning and arrived at about 8.15 for an 8.30 start.
Lovely shop, loads of exotica in there, Pinarello and Trigon, DI2 etc. Had a look around while Adrian got everything set up and made me a lovely coffee :-)
First part of the fit was to get the footbeds made, I’ve had them for skiing before so knew the process, we chatted about what I wanted from my cycling etc and once the footbeds were done moved onto flexibility assessment and some measuring.
Bike was put on turbo, footbeds in shoes and wow that was a lot more comfy. Pedaled for a bit and measurements of bike taken etc. Lasers lined up then got off and Adrian told me what was wrong. I was tipped way too far forward and had tons of weight on the bars rather than the saddle, I had been sliding to the front of the saddle un aware, and this position explained a little my lack of confidence in descending cos I had little weight over the back wheel. Changes were made and I was back on again, felt totally different, much more comfortable and stable. We then looked at pedaling style and was shown how to pedal properly and some drills to help.
Next looked at arm and body position and again some tweaking of the set up to get this correct. Tried some narrower bars but couldn’t notice a huge difference.
After about an hour and a half it was feeling very comfy, easy to sit on the saddle, arms relaxed, hands soft. I then asked if we could look at my tri bars, and a few adjustments were made to these but at my level, ( low) there was not thought to be any reason to change saddle position to use these. Again very easy to move from these to hoods etc.
Once I loose a bit more gut I can take a spacer or two away to get a bit more aero,
During the whole process Adrian offered advice re riding, how to handle The Etape etc.
At no point did I feel pressured to by anything extra, came away with same saddle and stem, no mention being made of changing either.
So, I was pretty excited to get the bike on the road and went out for 40 miles this afternoon. It truly feels like a different bike. Amazing. Power in the stroke up hills was a revelation, Strava agreed with 2 pb’s on climbs,
Rode 40 miles non stop, zero saddle discomfort, never had to stand to adjust etc, no pressure, feels like I am finally sitting on the saddle and not sliding off it! Arms more relaxed, kept telling myself re my elbows as instructed. Much more stable on the descents, position in the bars improved that.
Not used the TT bars yet, hopefully doing a ten next week, club run tomorrow will tell how things are over 70 miles or so.
Was offered feedback later if any changes needed via phone or email, told to ring before picking up an allen key. At the moment I feel as if I have a new bike and can’t recommend the process highly enough. Maybe it’s cos the bike was poorly set up initially, but the changes are not huge, just enough to make a difference.
