Bike Fit ?

[gmw492]

Has anyone opted for a bike fit from a shop,Dolan do a fit called CRM body scanning £40,The Bike Factory in Chester do a Retül Pro Fit £125 and Sail and Ski in Chester do a Total Tri Fit £99.
I have seen reviews but they are only from the companies mentioned, they are selling it so obviously its all positive reviews as they are the salesperson, my question is is it worth paying for a bike fit as mentioned above, has anyone had one and are they worth it, the difference in price suggests some might be better maybe, I don't mind paying for one if it gets my new bike just right, prefer to do that than keep doing trial by error so to speak, if they are just a selling gimmick then no, then I would then have to find my fit, I have done that before and changed stems ,height etc but still never got it spot on, anyone had one of these ? Thanks

 

[Slick]

You will probably get quite a mixed response on here regarding fit in general with most believing that you can do it yourself over a period of time. I've no experience with shop fits but I understand your concern as they obviously have some restrictions as to what they can recommend.

I met this guy http://www.edinburghbikefitting.com at a bike show and thought I would give it a go as my base knowledge at the time was next to zero. He did manage to increase both my power output and my comfort which meant I could spend longer in the saddle. He also took me to a nearby bike shop to get me a saddle that he didn't have as he knew exactly what I would need. It's the best saddle I've ever had and is now on all my bikes.

You obviously think there is some improvements to be had in your set up, so I would go and speak to an individual who knows what they are doing.

 

[mjr]

No, I'm sure nobody's paid for one(!)

Personally, I think the www.wheel-easy.org.uk guide is good enough for most, then consider paid fit if you still want faster or have problems.

 

[vickster]

I didn’t think much of Retul, focused too much on performance over comfort

The two I’ve had done since by Cycling specialist physios due to specific issues (following knee and shoulder surgeries) were of much more value to me as they actually understood what the operations entailed

If you’re not trying to address specific issues, I wouldn’t bother. It is highly unlikely that a fitter will get it spot on (there are a number of posters who say it’s actually made things worse)

Are you buying a Dolan bike? If so, surely it should be included

 

[gmw492]

I didn’t think much of Retul, focused too much on performance over comfort

The two I’ve had done since by Cycling specialist physios due to specific issues (following knee and shoulder surgeries) were of much more value to me as they actually understood what the operations entailed

If you’re not trying to address specific issues, I wouldn’t bother. It is highly unlikely that a fitter will get it spot on (there are a number of posters who say it’s actually made things worse)

Are you buying a Dolan bike? If so, surely it should be included

One of my options the Dolan, I think it would be negotiable to maybe be included,

 

[HLaB]

There's a lot to be said for experience, my retul fitter whilst putting me in the most powerful position put me too upright so not as aerodynamic and placing to much wait on my bum leading to saddle sores. The retul fitter did identify a leg length discrepancy and fixed it with shims and that seems to have fixed my hip problems.

 

[cyberknight]

No, I'm sure nobody's paid for one(!)

Personally, I think the www.wheel-easy.org.uk guide is good enough for most, then consider paid fit if you still want faster or have problems.

Thats pretty close to my fit apart from a shorter reach to the bar in my case , then again it could be down to short arm/back ,who knows as long as its comfy

http://davesbikeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2006/07/what-does-length-of-your-forearm-and.html

 

[Drago]

If you decide that a bike for is for you, you then have to decide which of the competing and slightly contradictory standards is for you. They can't all be optimum, so which is "best"? No one knows.

I was disappointed with my Retul system fit, wouldn't bother again.

There's no right answer out there. Spend some time reading arou d bit fits, bike fit myths, and bike fit myths debunked, and you'll be enlightened can confused all at once. Nothing but nothing is more important than comfort, so tweak your position and set up until your comfort and endurance comfort is optimised, and then work from there.

 

[Alan O]

I've never had a bike fit and I'm very much of the old school "I'm the only one who can possibly tell what's best for me" tradition (with possible exceptions for physio problems where I do think professionals who understand your specific problem can help), so take my comments in that context. I have several reasons I would eschew a bike fit, except perhaps as a last resort when you really can't do it yourself.

One is that I simply do not believe there is an objective "best fit" for you that a third party can determine, and certainly not in an hour (or however long you get) or with whatever fancy equipment they have. Different individuals, even of the same size and build, have variations in internal anatomy, different degrees of fitness, different riding styles, different subjective feelings of safety, comfort, confidence...

If there was an objective best fit, then all bike fitters would produce the same result, wouldn't they? They don't, and are often significantly different in their recommendations. I can't remember if it was on this forum, but some months ago I read of one person who had a bike fit from a reputable fitter but didn't feel comfortable with the result, so tried a different fitter who produced a completely different result. Even that wasn't right and it took some time to further adjust things - so a couple of hundred quid spent and they ended up having to work it out themselves in the end. Better to do it the other way round, surely?

Tiny changes can make big differences, and you can't tell without riding the bike. It took me months to get the saddle position on my tourer just right, with the final two adjustments being just a couple of millimetres in height and then a one-click change on the micro-adjust for the angle. It took miles of riding in between adjustments to get there, but the final adjustment suddenly took it from "pretty good, but with a niggle I can't quite put my finger on" to "Ah, that's perfect". I really should write down all the measurements before I need to remove anything for maintenance! Anyway, my point is that I do not believe a bike fitter could have short cut my tweak-and-trial approach which needed fine adjustment and testing by riding.

Having said that, plenty of people have reported great results from their bike fits. But whether that will happen for you as an individual is, I think, pretty much a coin toss. If the fitter's recommendations for a person of your physical stature (etc) happen to be right for you as an individual, great. But if not, not so great.

I really would read up on bike fit guides and do the best you can yourself first, using the only expert witness who really can judge the results - yourself through repeated tweaks and trials. Set things up the way they seem best according to general guidelines, then tweak one thing at a time and try it out. And if you really can't do it, only then adjust the weight of your wallet downwards and go for a fit.

 

[kingrollo]

I was having specific injuries - so I had bike fit done by Adrian Timmis - which helped enormously. I have had winter bike fitted by him and any new bike I will buy and I will pay the £100 or so for him to set me up on it. He's an ex tdf rider so clearly knows his stuff and is a well rated fitter. The only downside v other fitters is that you don't get documentation - I suppose because hit fits you to your bike not a fitting jig.

IMO - bike fits are only worth it if there is a problem to solve - there are tons of guides on line and provided you are sensible you are unlikely to be far out.