Went in to fit new bike and as we were adjusting things, I learned something today.

As a matter of background: although I have sufficient flexibility to ride in deep drops without issue, I tend to ride fairly upright on the hoods as well as the tops. This may be on account of my first bike fitter concluding that I had limited flexibility, and setting me up to allow me to ride that way. But through the years, I've gradually extended the stems and removed spacers from my bikes.

Anyhow, at first, one thing or another seemed off, just depending on where I had my hands. We adjusted the saddle and I could get comfortable in the drops in one setup or on the tops in another, but sometimes the saddle would feel too far forward and other times it felt too far back. But once we started taking spacers out, all of a sudden things came together.

The difference was that with all the spacers in place, I could could have my hands on the hoods without rotating my hips any more than they would be when I was sitting bolt upright, but making the transition to the drops or a more aero position on the hoods required a significant rotation of my hips for just a slight change in the position of my torso. But once we took a couple of spacers out, it seems I really couldn't ride comfortably, with my hands on the tops even, without rotating my hips as I previously would on the hoods with my elbows down. Consequently, the transitions from tops to hoods, to elbows-down to drops, and from out of the saddle to back down were all much smoother and more natural. I didn't rotate my hips except to sit up hands-free, so the saddle always felt right.

There's a reason it takes a few hours to work through a fit kit. Everything else is secondary to fit.

I wouldn't say a few hours, I'd say a few sessions; can't imagine being able to accomplish in a single session - no matter how long - what's taken several sessions over the course of a couple of years to refine. If one isn't an experienced rider to begin with, one likely doesn't know oneself what it takes for a bike to fit, and one may leave a fit session thinking the bike feels right, only to discover down the road that it's sub-optimal or even problematic.

True, for some it may take multiple sessions. Last time I did a fit it was a one time thing. I already owned a bike that was a good fit, so I had a starting point.

You could be perfectly fit to a bike with flat tires,

but you won't get very far.

True, but I think you know what I mean...

You got that right. Nice work. Not that many people even know what you're talking about. As they say, bike fit evolves over the years.

And for the follow up : I said "the saddle always felt right." Well, that was in the shop, on the trainer. "Always felt the same" would have been more accurate.

Today's inaugural rides went nicely (I was most satisfied with the wheels and tires), and the fit was, for the most part, spot on. I don't know if I looked any more "pro," but I certainly felt more "pro," not sitting up so much, and felt more confident on descents and, surprisingly, when looking back over my shoulder; it was weird - it was like my field of vision doubled. But the saddle. Hmm. It always felt about the same - tops, hoods, or drops (and it's the same shape and lack of padding as I have on two other bikes) but it didn't feel right. It was like I was sitting on the wrong spot. I think it maybe needs to come forward or the nose needs to be angled down just a skosh.

And so it begins ... the never-ending quest for "fit."

I adjusted the saddle tilt half a degree and moved it forward a millimeter .... after a couple of rides I realized I needed to raise my seat post a millimeter .... two rides later I realized I needed to adjust the bars again to suit the new saddle position ....... rinse and repeat ....


Seventeen year later I gave up and got a recumbent.

Once everything is sorted on fit, I noticed that my saddle was causing the ninglies.

So I dropped the nose a touch... and ended up with too much weight on my hands and poor balance around the hips and hand/write pain.

So I rotated it back up until the balance was right, and the ninglies are... infrequent. So every once in a while I have to wiggle around or stand for a 10 seconds to let the blood flow.

But when I'm really hammering, no issues... I imagine I have much less weight on the saddle at full gas.

Fit is something we pay (and he has donated a lot of his time too) a guy for multiple fit sessions throughout the year - going on 3 years now. As the type of riding changes, as well as the size/fitness of the rider little things can be adjusted here or there.

This made me LOL!

Reminded me of a joke we used to repeatedly tell 30+ years ago when I (briefly) worked in an architectural millworking shop: "This board was too short. So I cut it down. Then I cut it down some more. It was still too short."