buttman

I live abroad but I'm currently home for the holidays and was thinking about getting a bike fitting while I'm back. I feel more comfortable getting the fitting here instead of the country where I live (it's a developing country and I just don't have a lot of faith in the quality of a bike fitting here, if I could even find a place that does it), but I don't have my bike with me. The guy at one bike shop uses a system where they have a contraption that can be set to mimic the specs of almost any frame size. He said I could do it without my bike and then make the adjustments on my own as long I as I know my frame dimensions (I do), but I don't know how feasible that is. I went to another shop and they said it's not a good idea to do it without my bike, but they use a different system than the guy who said I can. So is it ok to get a bike fitting without my bike or should I just do it in the country where I live? The guy at the first shop seems really knowledgeable and the fitting seems really in-depth, but it's $250 and I'm afraid of spending that money then not being able to set my bike according to my fitting. What do you guys think? Should I take the chance or should I just keep searching for a decent place in the country where I live?

Carbonfiberboy 

I think it's completely feasible. After the fitting have the fitter help you take all the measurements you'll need to transfer the fit to your bike. Make sure the crank length on the contraption is set to the same as your bike's cranks. The saddle may be different, too. If possible use a saddle that's similar to yours and adjust it for similar angle as best you can. Another thing which could possibly go wrong would be that the bars on the contraption can't be set to the same height as the bars on your bike, and of course vice versa.

Many people when acquiring a new to them bike simply transfer the measurements in the same way.