Online vs local dilemma

[bozmandb9]

If you are sure of the frame size, buy it online. Prowl around Youtube for clips about how to do some basic servicing, and look at some more clips about doing the bike fit yourself. Unless you are hell-bent on shaving milliseconds off your time as a professional racer, bike fitting isn't rocket science, it's just a matter of comfort.

Good bike fitting isn't a question of shaving off miliseconds, but of getting a genuinely comfortable and efficient riding position, which works for you as an individual. Nothing online can tell you what is working for you, no advice can replicate having a professional watching you live. If you don't go for bike fitting, fine, but unless you've experienced a good bike fit, I'd suggest you don't pass expert judgement and say what it is or isn't. Maybe it leads to less slow motion? ;-)

 

[Drago]

I had a bike fitting, and within a few months had altered it to get more comfortable to accommodate a chronic injury. In terms of fit, what is more important than being comfortable?

 

[bozmandb9]

I had a bike fitting, and within a few months had altered it to get more comfortable to accommodate a chronic injury. In terms of fit, what is more important than being comfortable?

Nothing really, a GOOD bike fitting should leave you comfortable, if it doesn't, you should go back. Sometimes it takes a bit of riding to discover this.

But anyway, I'm sure, you're right. Bike fitting is a waste of time and money, take a look online and you can all be experts (but I'll stick to using a real world expert).

 

[Drago]

Bike fitting is not a waste of time, and I never said such.

My questions and doubts revolve around the commercial fit systems. For example, Retul and the lesser known GURU standard both contradict each other somewhat. BikeFit in turn has a different approach to managing the 3D field of movement in the knee through the pedalling stroke.

They all differ, so clearly they can not all be correct.

Therefore, to blindly suggest a 'bike fit' from an 'expert' (cough) is a good thing without any analysis or qualification is absurd. There simply is no universal agreement in sport science as to what constitutes an effective expert in this field.

Having a bike that fits the rider correctly, which maximises comfort and then extracts the best pedalling efficiency without compromising that comfort is a sensible objective. Achieving it through means of a commercial bike fit is not automatically the best way of achieving this, simply because there is no universal standard which has been proven to be optimum for every paying customer.

 

[winjim]

If my dealer was an insufferable twot like yours then id buy online with glee.

Without a test ride?

 

[slowmotion]

Good bike fitting isn't a question of shaving off miliseconds, but of getting a genuinely comfortable and efficient riding position, which works for you as an individual. Nothing online can tell you what is working for you, no advice can replicate having a professional watching you live. If you don't go for bike fitting, fine, but unless you've experienced a good bike fit, I'd suggest you don't pass expert judgement and say what it is or isn't. Maybe it leads to less slow motion? ;-)

.You are free to spend your money however you want. I'm quite happy to try some of the set up suggestions on Youtube.

 

[Goggs]

I'd buy online mate, in fact, I did. I hunted high & low to buy the bike of my choice locally but couldn't find it anywhere. In the end I bit the bullet & ordered it from Germany (I'm in France) . I knew the frame size I should be getting and ordered it but the company came back to me wanting my height & inside leg measurements. When the bike arrived 3 days later the fit was just about perfect. They'd put tape around the seat tube at a point they figured it would fit best and they were only 1/4" out. The bike was €100 under list too.

Like you I'd much prefer to buy local but money is a finite resource.

 

[PhilDawson8270]

Achieving it through means of a commercial bike fit is not automatically the best way of achieving this, simply because there is no universal standard which has been proven to be optimum for every paying customer.

Some people seem to enjoy paying to be told they're not competent.

 

[vickster]

Some people seem to enjoy paying to be told they're not competent.

Some of us are happy to pay trained professionals because we accept we are not (and don't want to make injuries worse)

 

[PhilDawson8270]

Some of us are happy to pay trained professionals because we know we are not (and don't want to make injuries worse)

Certainly, but that statement is far different to "Experts are always better than DIY".

 

[vickster]

Certainly, but that statement is far different to "Experts are always better than DIY".

I never made that statement?

 

[PhilDawson8270]

I never made that statement?

I never said you did

The post you quoted, I quoted a person who was replying to a post that contained the original statement, that the quoted, quoted, post reply was referring to. Bit of a quoteception.

To make it simpler, the original statement was by @bozmandb9 "But anyway, I'm sure, you're right. Bike fitting is a waste of time and money, take a look online and you can all be experts (but I'll stick to using a real world expert)."

 

[Drago]

In reality, whether you're an amateur or a professional, youre not an expert on bike fitting. No one truly understands the physiological mechanisms involved, and how the fit can be effectively adapted to suit different people.

Being paid living wage to trog round shops doing bike fits in no way qualifies one as an 'expert', any more than my tailor is an expert on anatomy.

 

[vickster]

My fit was done by a physiotherapist expert in treating cyclists (also dabbles in triathletes). I had seen her for a number of sessions after knee surgery, only then did she do the on bike assessment

I did have a retul fit previously on the same bike. I didn't much enjoy the experience personally but that doesn't mean it was bad especially as the physio actually did very little to alter that set up

Indeed my current physio has recommended getting rechecked as I've had shoulder surgery. I've not done so as I'm not riding huge distances and any discomfort I'm getting is down to muscle tightness and weakness for which I'm rehabbing with the physio under the surgeon's instructions

 

[Drago]

I too had been considering a bike fit, albeit half heartedly, on the advice of my physio. My hand was tipped when a friend who'd booked a Retul buke fit couldn't do it and couldn't get a refund, so I took it.

Full disclosure about my orthopaedic problems, and still within a few months I was tweaking it to relieve the pain down my forearm from my elbow to little finger that the 'expert' bike fitter had brought about. Its my injury, elbow full of metalwork causing ulnar nerve impingement, but it had never troubled me on a bike until the expert fitted my bike to me.

So one can see why I'm not impressed by some of these experts.