Originally Posted by
VegasJen
After many people badgered me about how important it was to get a professional bike fit, I finally pulled the trigger and got fitted this morning. Now, I have to say, I've always been the odd duck. I like or am comfortable in positions many aren't comfortable. I say that to preface my valuation of a professional fit. As is always the case, YMMV.
I left the shop feeling quite underwhelmed. The basic conclusion is what I already strongly suspected, that being my crank arms are far too long. Once those are adjusted, most of my original measurements, with only some modest tweaks, are pretty much where they're supposed to be. I had already had planned, even requesting quotes, for shorter arms. It just so happened that the fit was scheduled before I got the shorter crank arms.
Once again, YMMV and if you don't feel at all comfortable on your bike, or maybe it's something that's included with a new purchase, then by all means take advantage of the service. As for me, I'm left with this feeling that I could have just spent that money on getting the shorter cranks like I was already planning and then tinkering with it because I was already pretty darn close.
Not everyone needs a professional bike fit. If someone has been more than an occasional, casual cyclist for a while (as you have), I suspect that one would have been motivated to get the various touch points "pretty darn close"; otherwise, one would be noticeably uncomfortable, especially over longer distances or at greater intensity. This can be accomplished via either a professional bike fit or "tinkering" / DIY. Professional bike fitting is not an exact science. With the information now available online (including YouTube), DIY is more than viable, especially if one approaches the fitting process diligently, patiently, and systematically (which not everyone is capable of). I would even venture that DIY is advantageous in that it affords one the luxury of time to evaluate new settings and how one's body reacts thereto, unlike a professional bike fit done within a single session.
Don't feel underwhelmed just because your fitter only made "modest tweaks"; those tweaks may represent optimizations that you only realize later after you have become more used to your new settings. Even if your new settings are not better than your old, the bike fit may still be worth it for someone knowledgeable to confirm that your prior settings were "already pretty darn close," especially since you are an "odd duck." Given your riding history, it would be more unexpected for the fitter to have made drastic changes to every touch point.