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.

My experience was similar in that the adjustments were mostly small tweaks. The biggest change was lowering my saddle, which was done in stages to find the height that eliminated back pain.

I guess shortening crank arms is like lowering the saddle at the bottom of the stroke and raising the saddle at the top. Interesting.

The small tweaks made a significant comfort difference on long rides. I would not have come up with that specific set of of small changes on my own.

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.

I've never tried a pro fit, but have viewed numerous videos on bike fit. Some helped, most did not. I found tweaking everything after the first several rides from saddle height/lateral position, handle bar stems, handlebar position, so on. It's a long process but I get a good fit in the end,
And unfortunately, I had to change out some parts, but in the end it worked out and now have a fine collection of stems, saddles, seat posts, handlebars.

Vegasjen I could have told you that a professional bike fit wouldn't benefit you, but I doubt you would have believed me.

Any of the five people that 'liked' her o.p. could have, as well. But, she took one for the team. Chapeau!

"Doctor, you're charging me that much for what? Just to tell me I'm healthy? For that kind of money, I demand that you operate. Take something out or put something in."

Just pointing out that having a pro confirm that you've done a good job at setting up your bike isn't a bad thing.

Agreed. Although I didn't get a "pro fit", when I picked up my bike last June, they did put the bike on a trainer and I was "fitted" on my bike by a qualified fitter who works at the shop. I just gave him my saddle height, he adjusted the saddle to that height, I hopped on, pedaled for a while and the fitter said everything looked fine. It's true that they didn't take all of the measurements that they would have for a "pro fit", but he did spend some time looking at my position and pedaling action from several viewpoints for a while, and he does know what to look for. So as Jen noted any changes would have been minor tweaks.

(Note: I don't think they were just trying to get me out of there, because this is my LBS and I've been with them for more than 20 years. I've purchased several bikes, brought my many bikes in for various issues, bought consumables and clothes, accessories (lights, computers, etc.) and so on. I know the fitter who fitted me on my new bike, we've had many conversations about bikes and cycling, and we had a lot of discussions during the purchase of my latest bike.)

I would divide the cost of the fitting among these people and bill them 😂

A professional bike fit is only important if you can’t figure it out for yourself or if you have specific problems that you have failed to resolve. It seems like you had already figured it out.

If you went to see 10 different bike fitters, you would also get 10 different fits to choose from and they might all have pros and cons. It’s really not an exact science.

I’m a DIY fitter myself, but being an engineer I’m quite analytical. There are also some great online resources. MyVeloFit is very good if you are tech savvy and this pro fitter offers a really comprehensive DIY guide for just a few dollars.

https://bikedynamics.co.uk/shop.htm

I recommend you consider why.

Pretty sure it makes a difference, but not sure if it would be noticeable by most. Tons of videos out there to get you close, then it time, trial & error, and throwing $ at parts to get you closer. Probably the biggest advantage I see is it could save you some cash in parts swapping and time…….

again I’ve never experienced a fitting, but I wouldn’t think it would be a huge difference. Once you get the initial bike size right, seat right(height, angle, for and aft) most everything else makes minimal difference to me.

The inherent issue with a "fitting" is that every fitter has their own ideas of what a proper fit is. It's not like there is a Universally-applicale-to-all formula, which is implied in every "you should see a bike fitter". Which one, based on what theories ? While shorter crank arms for Jen was obvious to many, that's only one small aspect of fitting oneself, of finding the path of "least resistance" in propelling yourself forward on a bicycle. From my experience, the inherent intuition within us all, that "still small voice", knows everything one could possibly ever need to know. IT's the only Trust worthy of the word Trust. Nobody knows One better than the Inherent Trust of which One Exists As .

Obviously, the fit calculations are based on studies and averages, but I wonder if age is factored in. I am not nearly as flexible now as I was 50 years ago and riding on the drops is more uncomfortable every year.

That said, after buying my new bike a few years ago, I rode with an allen wrench for a while and did some minor tweaks. I think that there is an acceptable range of "fit" and not one precise measurement or location.

What did the bike fitter think about your seatpost? I'm genuinely curious.


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perhaps it’s an elixir guaranteed to cure all. Lol

Age is factored in indirectly with an assessment of your flexibility. Age itself is not very relevant as a direct input.

I agree about providing an acceptable range of fit. That’s how MyVeloFit and most other methods work. They give you a range defined by min and max values for parameters like saddle height and joint angles.

Any fitter that does not consider age (or more accuratelly age's effects) when fitting someone is a quack. I often do fittings without numbers or measurements for folks with challenging issues. You are fitting a person, not cutting corner moulding. I find a lot of folks get fixated on numbers, often to their detriment.

I felt the same way when I got fitted. Never again and that’s with one pro fit and 2 others from different bike shops.

VegasJen I'd take that as a confirmation that you're intelligent enough and willing to consider enough variations that you've already done everything a pro fitter can do.

Except the cranks, which you'd figured out but hadn't implemented.

Now cut back on the analysis and kibbitzing, get back out there and enjoy riding the bike!

I've always fit myself to my bikes and apparently it works well enough. However I'm not against going to a fitter just to see if there is anything they suggest that might help. Particularly if one is having issues they can't figure out. Some cyclist are just poor at realizing what's the real cause of the body issues they are having and what if anything on the bike is causing that.

Of course that's going to cost big bucks. But it's useful knowledge even if all they do is confirm you are doing it right already. Though I do have to say that I don't agree with the way some fitters go about fitting. But that's another story much like all the different diet fads.

I'm glad you said it!!!!

I think bikes are designed to fit into a range for the majority of riders so a fit on an existing bike will always be some amount of tweaking. You already have the bike, the geometry isn’t changing.

Ideally there is a goal of getting a good balance of weight that also puts the rider in a comfortable riding position. Anyone who has ridden a crank forward bike can quickly understand the effects of poor weight distribution. The rider to bike weight ratio is so significant that where it is located impacts how a bike reacts.

The curveball is when a rider experiences pain, or has physical limitations, especially with age. I’m not a fitter, but making on the fly adjustments while on a ride should be part of it. Teaching someone the how and why, even if is not absolute, will be valuable an hour or two into a ride. Obviously swapping a crank mid-century is not a viable option.

John

What it seems nobody has mentioned or asked is what kind of fit you got VegasJen a static fit is generally pretty bad sort of like going to a Subway and saying subs are bad. A static fit could help some but a dynamic fit is going to be the way to go think something like Retül or similar. It also may not be huge tweaks either not everyone needs huge tweaks but having someone point out the tweaks maybe confirm things you had been thinking is not a bad thing. Not everything requires the massive adjustable wrench sometimes a 2.5 hex wrench is all that you need and it may seem more silly to pay money to get that but it can help. Plus most fitters will have a test ride period and then you come back to make additional adjustments as needed or follow up in some way.

I would look at this a confirmation the basics are good, so elimination of wondering about that may have some value to the OP

It is also not a bad thing as I would not be surprised if a lot of people ride with a close fit, but not optimum fit......

I found out my seat height was too low when i had a custom frame built and leg length did not match seat height....raised 2 cm and made a huge difference

I suspect many of us achieved our “fit” by years of riding and then making adjustments as needed. Undoubtedly a much longer way of doing it but I’ve found a fit I wouldn’t alter no matter who gave contrary advice.
Shorter crank arms was my last major change after spending considerable time on aero bars, it felt like I was nearly kneeing myself in the chest every pedal stroke.