tuxbailey

yes

Six jours

As much as I'd like to argue with you, you haven't written anything to argue with: your "disagreement" doesn't actually disagree with anything I wrote, opinions re. Competitive Cyclist excepted.

big chainring 

Can't you just feel if your fit is right or not?

I just switched saddles recently. I made adjustments in tilt and fore/ aft to dial in the correct placement. It still needs to go forward just a bit to be right. I can tell in my pedal stroke that I am just a tad bit to far back.

Same with saddle height, stem length, foot/pedal placement. Maybe it just comes from experience. But even when I was 15 and getting my first good bike I knew how to set up my bike. You adjust things until it feels right.

And then when you think you have it right, ride by a building with highly reflective windows and see if you look pro.

martinus

+1

martinus

This. ... just say no, to the kidies at Performance ... find the guy thats recommended by your buddies, proly in some hole in the wall LBS/ or his garage.

halfspeed

To an extent, yes. And depending upon your goals, fitness, health and everything else, that may be enough. Or it might not be. If you need a pro fit, you'll realize it when it's time.

blackvans1234

I have a basic bike fit on thursday at my LBS. It is complementary with the bike purchase. It includes seat height and fore and aft positioning.

I have a bad feeling it'll be a ''oh you're perfect, see you next time (when you pay money)"

I'll be disappointed unless he pulls out a goniometer

laserfj

BG fit.

chaadster

Probably the most insightful post in this thread to date.

Icculus21

Ha, yeah. Like most people say those are easy adjustments to make on your own. I feel like bike shops plop you on a frame that's good for your height/standover, then do a simple seat height adjustment and that's it. I've had my bike for little over a week and have already adjusted the seat about 4 times in all height, tilt, and fore/aft. After my ride this morning intend to make another adjustment.

Icculus21

Thanks for all the (sometimes conflicting?) advice.

What I gather is no people are alike (obviously), and different bike fittings, whether done by eye with a professional or high tech fit machines, will have different benefits for different people. I think I can make some improvements myself by simple seat and maybe stem adjustments (just up/down and flipping), but I also think a professional might be able to help in ways that I can't on myelf, like careful observation of my positioning and just knowing ways to fit different body types.

A good idea might be to ride for a few more weeks and make my own adjustments, and then if I'm not fully satisfied and think I can't get better on my own then consult with a pro.

I <3 Robots

Fits are hit or miss. It is entirely on the fitter...not the tools he/she uses. Ask about their background...and how long they've been doing it.

Both me and my girlfriend got fitted by a well known local fitter...and the difference was noticeable. I know people that used the Spesh BG Fit and Retul...with good results.

I think when it comes to finding a good fitter...make sure that that person has a number of years worth of experience...and that they will work with you with adjustments after the initial fitting.

IMO...it is worth it to get one done...it can prevent alot of bad habits.

musicman1

When I purchased my CAAD I would say that the initial fitting was worth getting but I've since changed the headset, seat position, seat height etc as I have developed as a better rider.

cyclezen

your initial statement, above, covers the concept universe, and there are as many opinions on fit as there are riders.
However, thinking that you can make adjustments, that are more than helter-skelter, without some understanding of what each adjustment affects, will likely prove problematic.
It would seem to be a simple thing, given you are doing 3 things to a saddle - height, fore-aft, angle; and then adjusting the bars to suit/match. But only surface simple.
I personaly think a good pro fit is a great tool for someone who has problems that can;t be addressed thru a well-conceived trial and error process (preferrably with the help of experience - as mentioned by pdedes). Pro fits can and have worked. But like many things, there's no real guarantee. You pays your money and takes your chances.

If however, you decide to fool around on your own I recommend 3 things.

Before making any adjustments - look first to your riding posture. Much discomfort is generated in riders by posture which causes or exacerbates problems. Fix the posture problems first.

Before making any adjustments - know that the body does need to adapt to the process of riding, especially when you start putting in regular rides of an hr or more. IE - I don't know anyone who hasn;t gone thru ass-burn for the first 3 weeks of becoming a 3 or 4x a wk rider. I Imagine there might be those who don;t get the burn, but I haven;t met any.
Same holds true for other things.

Before making any adjustments - take notes on the measurements of the current position of the things you will change - saddle height/extension, Fore/aft as related to distance behind the BB, tilt angle. For the bars - 'reach' from the nose to the bar, drop from the saddle top to the bar top, and bar rotation.

Make adjustments in relatively small increments 4-5 mm per adjustment, and less for some. Takes a note on the adjustment you made. Ride for some days, take notes on the affect of the change. Continue on...

Don;t ignore cleat adjustments if youre riding with your foot fastened to the pedal. That adjustment is as important as any other.

Like Pdedes, some of us have been lucky enough to have had the help of other, very experienced people. Whether you find someone like that thru your riding or thru a pro fit, either way they are worth their weight in gold.

Fix posture before you tackle anything else

cyclebycle13

A few years ago I was having major issues w/ my right leg. I went for a retul fitting and it did help, but I found the guy was pushing components he liked as opposed to what I liked. I think it pissed him off when I found stuff I would rather use that yielded the same geometry. Looking back now, while the fitting helped, I think he was more interested in having me conform to his idea of where I should be as opposed to what was going to work best for me.

In the end I don't regret it because I was able to take what he said and did and apply it to my new frame. Then again I had done enough of my own research and reading to understand what it was he was trying to do. If I was to go for another fitting I'd be heading to a different shop where 2 people I know have gone and the guy there spends more time listening to the customer and then presenting different options - he also has them test out those different options to see what works best.

If the person you're working with doesn't listen to you it won't work well. If you're not communicating with them, that won't help either.

squatchy

It amazes me how some guy, who has never had a fit can say there not worth the money. I had read all I could find to read as well as watched as many videos on youtube as I could find. I then fitted myself and I was pleased for a long time. After riding for a year and going from a new rider to one who rides a couple hundred miles a week I started not feeling as right as I wanted to on longer rides ( 75 to 125 miles). I ended up getting fit a few weeks ago by someone who has done several thousand fits.
We made a couple small changes that made a pretty big difference actually. After talking to him, and seeing the very small difference we made to my fit and feeling the difference out on the road, I personally believe that unless you can record on video yourself in motion you can not fit yourself perfectly. Having all the static places right still can't show you what your body does in motion.
One thing that I was able to see on the video was that I rode in my toes too much. I started trying to drive downward with my heal a little more and after changing my muscle memory I am a good bit stronger now . That added to my climbing ability a bit as well as added to my endurance a bit more in the long run.
For me it was worth it. As I mentioned before it took me a year to come to the decision to spend the money and now I'm glad I did!

volosong

+1

BG fits are performed at a Specialized dealer. My BG fit was done with my Pinarello. A few components were swapped out. A 10mm shorter stem, the next size narrow bars, and shoe inserts. Of course, the shop wanted to sell me Specialized components, but I wanted to keep my bike all-Italian and purchased Deda Elementi parts on my own. The fellow even gave me a "tune up" fit several months later.

Was it worth the cost? Heck yeah! No more pain in my hands, neck, lower back, butt, nor hot spots on my feet. Yes, the cost was well worth it.

Six jours

FWIW, there's a guy on either 50+ or Clydesdale who started a thread about how he had a fitting and now feels fantastic on his bike, so thinks everyone should get a fitting too. It's a common enough theme around here but his thread was revealing in that he posted a picture of his bicycle post-fitting. It was so obviously incorrect that a bunch of people pointed it out to him and he went back to the fitter to ask about it. Turns out he was "sitting on the bike wrong" during the fitting which resulted in an error so glaring that strangers on the internet noticed it at first glance. The fitter made a big change, and of course the OP felt even fantastic-er afterwards.

I'll leave folks to sort out the moral of the story for themselves, but personally, I am more convinced than ever of the placebo effect where bike fitting is concerned.

halfspeed

In anything where subjective impressions come in to play, there's going to be a placebo effect. OTOH, there's no denying that biomechanical problems can affect physical pain, power output and aerodynamics.

Jandro 

Yes.*

/thread




*from an experienced fitter

Flechensabre

Just had a fitting from my local shop with the guy that leads the group rides out. Beforehand I was having severe knee pain on both my medial and lateral edges, plus where the thigh tendons insert into the knee. I was warned at the beginning that due to a birth defect I have (My tibias are rotated outward) that a fitting could only do so much and my next visit may have to be to my ortho. He touched pretty much every adjustment on my bike and cleats and we have an 80mm stem on order to replace my 110mm.

Today I went on a short 10 mile and for the first time since I picked up cycling my quads were limiting my performance, not my joints. Best feeling in the world though the pain in the medial side and tendons are still there intermitently. He wants to go on a ride sometime this week to see how I ride on the road and see if we can work out a solution to completely eliminate the pain on the medial side without irritating the lateral side. He's only been doing fits for about two years but I have to say the difference is amazing. Worth every penny.

Gege-Bubu

I think it works only with older frames.
The newer slopped frames require sitting on the saddle.

TK LP

My latest bike/frame fit was using the GURU system, where you are actually sitting on the bike/machine, and fit changes are incorporated from the rider input. It was a lot like going to the eye doctor, where you are asked about how specific, small incremental changes are made, to your preference. The only actual static measurement made was the pubic bone height to establish baseline seat height. At the end of the fit, the measurements are plotted, and geometry/size is established. It took about an hour and a half to do after initial set up, and the cost was discounted off the purchase of a frame/bike. The fit alone was quoted at $150.00 for a road bike, more for a TT bike. The fitter had a data base of frames that could be built up to provide the fit, although in my size, stock frame size selection was very limited, and I wound up ordering a 66cm frame. My current bikes could not be practically modified to recreate the fit. The cost of my frame made the fit basically free, and I couldn't recommend it enough to anyone looking to either get the fit of their current bike to it's best potential, or for a new purchase. I personally couldn't be happier.

stonecrd

For me the answer was yes.

I had my fitting done because I was buying a new frame and decided I wanted to make sure I selected the right frame and that I would have no issues with the bike. The fitting is generally $150 but they will include it if you are purchasing a frame.

The fitting took about 3 hrs total using the Retul system and a Serotta fit bike. Once all of the measurements were collected they plugged it into the frame I was looking at and made sure the geometry would match and we decided which frame size would be best. From there we could size the stem and put it all together. Once the frame came in they moved my components from my old frame to the new frame put on the new stem it was back on the Retul system to check the geometries and fine tune. In addition to the bike they made sure my speedplay cleats were setup correctly.

More info on the how the fitting works in on the LBS site https://theracersedge.net/roadbikefit.htm

The bike fits like a glove and is a joy to ride

wphamilton

No.

/thread.

Unless you really need one, then it's probably worth it.