Originally Posted by
Campag4life
Thanks. Performing fits at the bike shop has to be a bit of a shell game. No doubt the vast majority of newbs that come in and want a road bike when set up initially prefer an upright position. But you know ultimately...like you described for yourself, a scrunched position is always less comfortable as miles accumulate out on the road. Fitting somebody clearly isn't easy...what they think they want generally isn't the best.I have such a friend that I ride with who moves along pretty well in spite of riding bolt upright...never uses the drops etc. I have explained to him why his position slows him down and he would not only be faster but more comfortable with a proper fitting and yet he hasn't morphed his position yet. Will see in the new riding year.
Part of what helps us is taking a picture of their output on the fit they bring us. Then, as we move through the process we continue to show them the improvements. It's less subjective that way. So when they are done if they've picked up 15% more power, which is not unusual on an initial fit or many "Self fits" they get pretty happy. I describe it as going from 20mpg to 30mpg. Who does not want to ride faster with less effort?
Obviously, the more miles they ride, the more they will be able to learn about their setup. Eventually, if you ride long enough you begin to get personal likes and dislikes, and that's more along the lines of what you see in setups for Lance (as you metioned) or Jens Voight. But, with all due respect to them, we see a lot of category racers trying to emulate what they see in magazines and it does not work for them.
And as someone mentioned, cleats and pedals are huge. Knee, foot, hip pain, numb toes, none of that should be happening.