Is a bike fitting worth it?

[mjr]

That’s the thing. People who post asking if bike fits are worth it, are more likely to be those that would gain from it than those posting that their years of experience and tinkering mean it’s not worth having one.

It’s almost like saying that you don’t need a bike fit, just fiddle for about 40 years and you’ll eventually get it right.

Or you could post a link to a guide encapsulating years of experience and tinkering, like teaching someone to fish instead of describing what you thought of the haddock you had from the fishmonger.

 

[bpsmith]

Or you could post a link to a guide encapsulating years of experience and tinkering, like teaching someone to fish instead of describing what you thought of the haddock you had from the fishmonger.

Well I don’t see any of those with the so called 40 years of tinkering actually doing that! Maybe you could ask them why?

 

[mjr]

Well I don’t see any of those with the so called 40 years of tinkering actually doing that! Maybe you could ask them why?

Reread my comment on page 1, please.

 

[bpsmith]

Reread my comment on page 1, please.

No need. All I saw was a link to the homepage for the site you mentioned. Most people would link to the specific place they refer too.

There’s a few fishmongers that would argue that the fishermen aren’t automatically fishmongers due to dangling a rod over the water for longer than someone else btw.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

It’s almost like saying that you don’t need a bike fit, just fiddle for about 40 years and you’ll eventually get it right.

40 years worth of fiddling around should be time enough to get it right. Most of us have probably ridden a bike of some sort pretty much since we were old enough to walk. You soon get to know what is comfortable and what isn't, what makes you fatigued in no time, and what makes you able to ride that bike all day. As you get bigger you raise the saddle until you run out of adjustment, then get a bigger bike and repeat. By the time you stop growing you pretty much know what size and set-up works OK for you, and unless you then suffer some injury that affects your motion as an adult, I doubt your early adult bike set-up is going to change very much. I can get on a strange bike, do a quick saddle height adjust, and have a ride round the block and I know very soon whether that bike feels comfortable to me or it feels weird.

 

[mjr]

No need. All I saw was a link to the homepage for the site you mentioned. Most people would link to the specific place they refer too.

Link to homepage plus description of where to find the link. I'm not a big fan of linking to PDFs rather than web pages, plus I was on my phone at the time, which doesn't make copying links to PDFs easy.

 

[Stef 1]

I found the PDF no problem - I thank you for the link! Printed it out last week. Lots of useful stuff, most I already knew about but the biggy in it for me was that whilst it discussed the KOPS (knee over pedal spindle) method, it lead me to learn about the COG method (centre of gravity) although I don't think they mention it by name. You know, the balancing comfortable without using your hands to hold yourself up. I think it makes far more sense and COG method positioning is possibly one of the most valuable things I learned... I went on to read a whole bunch of stuff about it from Steve Hogg which was useful.

By the way, I valued, read and follow all info and links posted throughout thread (well most of 'em). Both sides of the argument were useful in my decision making.

Anyway, the reason I'm here is to post an update - I wasn't even aware this thread was still rumbling onwards!

As I'd previously mentioned, I'd tweaked a bunch of stuff (seat higher, cleats forwards, new saddle, angle etc). Managed about 3.5hrs / 90km on Sunday. Back still hurt towards the end, but didn't become too noticeable until around the 3hr mark. Couldn't have gone much further, but that's a big improvement for me. I'm also wondering if it is fitness/stamina related. AS I get more tired I wonder if I sit on the saddle heavier, putting more load through my back?

Anyhow, that ride made me decide to move saddle a few millimetres higher again, and also forwards a bit (still getting used to new saddle). No issues at all on a fairly zippy 1hr ride this morning... new position felt different but good. Perhaps more powerful/direct. It's hard to describe. Looking forward to trying another long ride soon (maybe my first 100km).

So, to conclude (at least for me - as I'm sure this thread will keep on rollin') I think if I didn't at least appear to be making gains myself I would still be wondering if I should go for a bike fit. However, from my original question, the answer wasn't a definitive 'YES, get a bike fit' from a majority... there was a fairly even split. I appreciate it was worth it for some, but not so much for others. Not conclusive enough for me to go for one right now though. Possibly if I'm still struggling next year if I haven't managed to fix things further.

Thanks!

 

[Blue Hills]

It’s almost like saying that you don’t need a bike fit, just fiddle for about 40 years and you’ll eventually get it right.

Ere, I'll have you know I haven't been fiddling around for 40 years, despite being a slow learner.

It is always possible of course that you might have a bike fit and then still fiddle for 50 years - first 10 years spent thinking you must surely be wrong because an expert told you you had to sit like so.

edit - by the by the best bit of bike fitting advice given to me came about 15 years ago from two priests in the middle of the night somewhere in Suffolk on the dynamo. Told me I had my saddle too low. The key thing is to get the saddle the right height (if you can't without excessive seat post extraction you are sitting on the wrong frame size) and then fine tune the rest, without getting the bars too low in relation to where the seat has ended up. Unless you are on one of those drop bar things of course.

 

[mjr]

As your legs tire, they support your weight less and so you sit heavier on the saddle. As stamina improves, that'll happen later and less and the bum pain reduces. This is often misinterpreted IMO as one's bum hardening up.

 

[Blue Hills]

Maybe you should do some stretching.

?

I ride my bike for exercise and relaxation, plus popping down the shops, off to events etc. I don't think I should have to exercise before I am worthy of getting on it.

(I accept that it may be a good idea for athletic race riders but then that's a whole different game).

I'd no more consider limbering up for a bike ride than before sex.

 

[Blue Hills]

I am giving this some thought, maybe you did not have the setup correct.

I'd relax and think about something else screenman to be honest. For me (personally) the set-up involved being head down on the drops. Wrong for me for so many reasons. But that's a personal thing/separate debate.

 

[screenman]

I'd relax and think about something else screenman to be honest. For me (personally) the set-up involved being head down on the drops. Wrong for me for so many reasons. But that's a personal thing/separate debate.

No need to be any further down on drops than on straight.

 

[Blue Hills]

No need to be any further down on drops than on straight.

separate debate screenman.

 

[harrison_888]

Having just done my first 70miler it highlighted all the aches and pains which have laid dormant until now under fewer miles. It's interesting to note that as I progressed passed 50 miles some of the original aches and creaks began to subside - weird.
The worst of which is the lower back (common) and numbness in 1 hand (less common).
I hope a bikefit would help the lower back problem but the numbness on one side seems difficult to counter.
To the OP though it would be based on your disposable income as to whether you should go for it - you can get a pretty good idea with apps, online guides, and free expert advice on cyclechat.net but you'll only go so far.

 

[harrison_888]

?

I ride my bike for exercise and relaxation, plus popping down the shops, off to events etc. I don't think I should have to exercise before I am worthy of getting on it.

(I accept that it may be a good idea for athletic race riders but then that's a whole different game).

I'd no more consider limbering up for a bike ride than before sex.

I now have to limber up for sex more than I'd care to mention.