My wife and I purchased new Trek 7.6FX bikes from our LBS. I was an avid road bike rider in my 30's and early 40's but I'm 56 now and looking to lose weight with a fitness oriented bike. My wife is 39 and fairly athletic but has not owned a bike since high school. We're going to start by using the local concrete and asphalt trails.

I picked my bike up last Friday and the salesmen and mechanic basically said, "here's your new bike, hop on and we'll adjust the seat height". After a very casual examination of a slightly bent knee with the pedal at the lowest position, the seat was adjusted. The mechanic said the handlebars were at the highest position and could be adjusted later by removing spacers. I'm perfectly fine making adjustments myself as I get more seat time on my bike but expected a little more in terms of personal adjustment from the LBS.

We'll be picking up my wife's 7.6FX WSD this weekend and I'm a little concerned about getting hers "dialed in" early on since she has little biking experience. I don't want her to be discouraged too soon if she experiences pain or numbness from a poor fit. The LBS has two shops in the metro area and is highly regarded. All other aspects of the purchase process were very professional.

So, is adjusting the seat height the extent of the initial "fitting" a customer should expect from their LBS?

2 more things you need to look into, the arm length to the grip from the shoulder, and the knee position when the pedal is at it's highest level.

Your experience is pretty much the norm in my experience. You could ask them to pay a bit more attention to your wife's fit though. It wouldn't hurt to ask. Perhaps they have a fitting service you could pay for.

Thanks for the quick responses! I'll certainly ask them to pay more attention to fit details for my wife-- especially the two coolmingli suggested. I'll also check on the availability of a fitting service....sounds like it could be money well spent.