Harumph

I purchased a new bike last week and tomorrow I'm having a first. I'm going to have a professional bike by Tad Hughes in Houston.

Tad Hughes Custom Fit Studio | Texas' only independent Master Bike Fitter and retailer of 100% custom footbeds for any lifestyle.

My riding buddy had it done after he purchased a new bike last year. I could tell immediately his gain in performance so I'm looking forward to my session.

I'll update later next week the outcome.

Hurumph

firebird854

Just an fyi, a bike fit can also make you lose performance for a few months as you may have to acclimate to muscles that you haven't used much before the proper bike fit.

All in all though, it normally makes a pretty positive difference.

Machka 

Also keep in mind that fit changes throughout life for various reasons including:

- weight gain
- weight loss
- loss of flexibility
- increased flexibility
- loss of fitness
- increased fitness
- injury
- age


So ... get the professional fit, see how it goes, but if things change for some reason, be aware that you might feel differently on the bicycle and might need to make some additional adjustments.

sdmc530

I had one last year and it was great experience. I would highly recommend it!

f4rrest

I've had 3 over the years with mixed results.

One of the fitters, as soon as I started pedaling, says "oh, I guess you've ridden a lot"... as if he expected it to be an easy session.

drewguy

To OP - had a fit, and it greatly enhanced my comfort and thus my ability to cycle effectively.

As for these changes - how often should one get refit (or at least retested)? Bear in mind I'm not talking a pro who makes his living cycling and has access to a fitter for constant tweaks. I'm talking about someone who cycles a decent amount in a more recreational fashion.

TrojanHorse

Who was that? Good grief.

My last fitting featured the fitter complaining about modern saddles and espousing the benefits of brooks-style saddles. Oooooookay. But he fixed my cleats up nice for me.

Hunterdog

I had a fitting a few years ago when I was having pain in right hip area. He recommended shorter crank arms. I have been very happy with the results as my hip pain has totally gone away! So, for me, a positive experience.

hcgaloi

I'm a recreational rider with front left knee pain issue. I went in for a non-computerize bike fit. It helped reducing 70% of the pain. So, I'm considering a Retul fit ($450), and hope that it would fix the problem completely.

Simply sharing bike fit experience of a newbie...

PedalingWalrus

I've had one done a month ago. It was an overall positive experience. Most useful was a takeaway sheet with all the settings that I immediately utilized on my other 3 bikes.

memebag

Several people on my bike team use Tad Hughes. They all speak highly of him.

I had professional fittings on both my road bikes, but nothing as extensive (or expensive) as Tad Hughes. Maybe someday.

Doge

Great points. Add to that the type of riding. Fitting can be a continuous thing if disciplines vary.

A good performance fitter will fit at power, not static. Kind of silly to fit someone without knowing how much push they are getting off the pedals.

atwl77

I had one done a couple of months after I had begun cycling, experiencing problems with tricep and toe numbness. In addition to adjusting my cleats and fit which eliminated the tricep numbness and significantly reduced toe numbness, my fitter also spent the session coaching me on my pedaling and posture -- so it's not just about the bike.

Heathpack 

Nope. No one has ever had a bike fit.

Cyclist0108

All the fitters here are so busy and overbooked, no one goes to them anymore.

Cyclist0108

Butt seriously, I had one done for my custom bike, and have successfully transferred the measurements to my others.

Fiery

I had one, didn't work out for me. I was not particularly more comfortable and I developed knee pain that took quite some time to resolve. It did make me aware how much I was dropping my heels, and it did push me to try some different things on my own, so I guess I did end up with a better fit than I started with even if I did have to do it myself.

Kapusta

Had one done about 7 years ago and it made a HUGE difference for me.

I had been road riding as a secondary option to mountain biking for the previous 12 years, but never loving it, as I was often running into some kind of joint or muscle pain after a few hours road riding. Over 60 miles and I could not be sure if I was going to be in pain.

The fit changed this and since then I can ride as long as I want and I started doing things like solo centuries. I now like road riding almost as much as mtb.

Interestingly, what worked well for me was pretty much the opposite of what many self-described experts (both in person and even more so online) were preaching.

One of the things I discovered was that pretty much no stock performance road bike frame at the time was going to fit me well. The upside was that frames that did fit me were mostly part of the oncoming wave of “all road” or gravel bikes which opened my eyes to the benefits of tires over 32mm wide for road use.

bogydave

Anyone ever have a professional bike fit?

My guess is :
most here have not.
But
Would like to.

DIY with help from folks here
& www articles for most of us

practical

I guess they can be useful (a lot recommendations here). And I suppose sometimes an "off-the-rack" bike simply won't fit and you will need to different crank or saddle or stem.

But if you're a recreational rider you should be able to adjust the bike to fit you without a professional fitter.

silverado8405

I had one a year ago after my first season of riding left me with some knee pain. He raised my saddle almost an inch and a half and had me put on 165 mm cranks. Honestly best money I’ve ever spent as my knee pain is gone and so is my hip pain. What I did discover is that I’m solidly in an endurance setup due to my flexibility suckage and that the frame I wanted is out of my reach (quite literally) so my dreams are shattered there but I feel a lot better.

aplcr0331

Yep, got a RETUL at the Specialized dealer. Very thorough, but didn't change much. I've been riding a road bike for 2 years going into my 3rd year, and apparently already had my fit pretty well dialed in. I don't have any issues that necessitated much change. Mostly just validated what I already have and set some numbers to it. So in that aspect it was a good thing to do.


If you can afford it, I think just about everyone will benefit from it in some way.

San Pedro

I was told by two stores today that I have to buy a bike from their respective stores to get a bike fit...

Kapusta

I don’t think they are talking about the same “fit” process that most people here are talking about.

The fit I got took about three hours, and normally cost several hundred dollars (I traded for some carpentry work for the shop) and involved some speciallized equipment including a video camera setup with software that tracks your motion and various joint angles.

No shop that provides this is going to decline to offer this paid service just because you are not buying a bike at the time.

San Pedro

Quite the opposite surprisingly. The one shop said they could do the basic fitting for about $50, but for the full fitting one would have to have bought the bike there. Japan does things that don't really make sense at times. I'm sure I can find a shop that would do if I look long enough, but it'd probably be not so convenient.