Retul Bike Fit, Am I being Stubborn ?

[HLaB]

A few folk have been on at me for a while to get a retul bike fit; my response is I had one years ago and my bikes are set up to it. It was the cheaper formulatic jig type however. I'm comfortable done many thousands of miles like that, including nearly 13,500mile this year. However, folk think I'm too stretched out and feel I may be unstable at the rear. Following a couple of crashes there's a nagging doubt in my mind but the stubborn part of me says I was just unlucky. The first one a driver clipped my bars, the second one I clipped a pothole , third one a driver pulled into side of the pack on a straight road (it was after dark but the 6 or more bright lights gave us away!) and yesterday at the bottom of a steep hill a tight bend and leaves don't go . This thread is probably meaningless without pictures (they're blocked at work) but do folk feel I'm being stubborn or any forumers that have ridden with me feel that I'm too stretched out? @Scoosh , @totallyfixed , @dave r @Banjo , @User482 , et al.

 

[User6179]

If your a believer and have the spare cash then why not ,personally I am a non believer

 

[Koga]

Perhaps you are stressed out, not stretched out ? To me, most accidents described above seem out of your control.

 

[michaelcycle]

If it puts your mind at rest then it's worth having done. In my limited experience of cycling conquering the limits your mind imposes on you is half the battle...

 

[Banjo]

I don't think your bike fit set up had any bearing on your crashes. Dopey car drivers can run into anything and wet leaves on a fast bend are allways a danger. I haven't noticed your position as extreme tbh.

 

[VamP]

The value of a bike fit is inversely proportional to the quality of your position in the first place obvious but important.

The Retul is reasonably well respected but the skill of the fitter does impact the quality of the result.

I had an observation based performance fit by a coach/sports scientist, who basically watched me ride my bike, and made a couple or really subtle tweaks. Bear in mind I thought my position was bang on when I went in, but I harvested about 10 watts out of those tweaks, pretty much within a week.

I use the same position on all my bikes now, so really well spent £80 or whatever it was.

 

[totallyfixed]

As you know I do bike fits by eye and observation, with dr_pink it was crucial to get it spot on because as VamP says, it is important for us to squeeze out all the power available. We got the positions checked out with the pros and it turned out that her position was spot on so I felt quite chuffed with that. It's been ages since I saw you ride so I can't honestly remember, but would be happy to help if you want to swing over this way [have turbo to put the bike on] or come out on a forum ride with us which might be happening on Nov 17th with dr_pink possibly leading.............slowly .

 

[HLaB]

Some pics of me on the bike:

 

[400bhp]

You do look like you are a bit stretched - arms a bit straight and not a curved back - see the one where you have the Northwave gilet on for example.

But, what do I know - take that with the pinch of salt it's meant to be.

With all the cycling you do, then a fit (with a good fitter) will be worth the money, not least for piece of mind.

 

[User6179]

You also look like your sitting to far forward on the saddle in a few pics .

 

[totallyfixed]

Very difficult to tell without movement, but the only thing that looks very slightly out, and I agree with Eddy, is that you may actually be a bit too far forward. If you were on the drops I would think there is going to be a big overlap with knees and elbows, perfect maybe for a TT position, not so much for a road bike. I could be completely wrong but that is how it looks from the pics. Interestingly most folk have the opposite problem with their saddle too far back and wrong length stem / too large frame.

 

[HLaB]

You do look like you are a bit stretched - arms a bit straight and not a curved back - see the one where you have the Northwave gilet on for example.

But, what do I know - take that with the pinch of salt it's meant to be.

With all the cycling you do, then a fit (with a good fitter) will be worth the money, not least for piece of mind.

Do you mean the luminous Endura gilet? Ive decided I am going to get a new fit but not to worry about the rear end control issue for now.
Thanks Folk.

 

[400bhp]

Do you mean the luminous Endura gilet?

Yes! It looks suspicially like my Northwave gilet.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/northwave/wind-pro-gilet-ec034589

 

[jay clock]

Very upright in my view! I would go for a longer stem but swivel the bars upwards quite a bit.

 

[Rob3rt]

And learn to bend your elbows a bit It will drop your head and shoulders a good few inches.