jrobe

A fit is only as good as the fitter. There are absolutely no criteria for calling yourself a bike fitter. If I owned a LBS, I could deside to call myself a professional bike fitter and charge a fee for my service (with absolutely no training).

I have spent money on bike fits that made me feel worse. I have also spent money on useful fits.

This is the best bike fit resource I have ever found. This article helped me much more than a couple bike fits I had in the past.

https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/fitting.htm

Low J.

My LBS where I bought my bike spent about an hour fitting me on it right when I bought it. If you didn't get one on the house I'd say it's certainly worth it.

sdean911

Same here, including duration and pains. I have it perfect now but I also spent hours riding, reading and watching homemade videos and dealing with discomfort to finally get here. I should definitely have gone the other way and gotten a good detailed fit.

Raleigh_Rider

I'm really enjoying the responses in this thread and learning a lot. Anyone else want to share their experiences with getting a pro fit and/or do-it-yourself fit?

Raleigh_Rider

Anyone have a "fitting" experience to add here? Great info thus far!

eippo1

If you go to a shop that does a lot of fittings, chances are that many of their staff does lots of fittings. Hence the aggregate experience will treat you well.

bobthib

This gets my vote, based on my experience. However as Hunt-man said, "Depends on the fitter."

I got a lot from club members recommendations for John at Racer's Edge in Boca Raton. They were right. I don't think I would go elsewhere.

I_Like_Bike

I hear it's worth the money.

Raleigh_Rider

I was told at the LBS that the shop owner does the fitting and that he has gone thru the Specialized training seminar. Sounds like $50/hr will be a good investment of time and $$.

thirdgenbird

this is what i am afraid of. my stem is probably "too long" and bars are "too low" im many peoples eyes. i have also read that may cranks are a size too big. that said, i can go out and ride 80 miles 90% of the time in the drops with a cadence around 95-110 with absolutely no pain. ive never felt more comfortable on a bike than i do with my current setup.

i would listen to a fitters advice if i was uncomfortable or found a good deal by someone that was recommended.

edit: i just looked at that link and according to him my cranks are correct and i appreciated the comment he made about setting the bars as low and far ahead as you feel comfortable. maybe i am closer than i thought.

grwoolf

+1 on this.

I think a good fitter can get you in the ballpark and it's certainly worth the effort/expense, especially starting out and if you don't know what you are doing.

However, the right fit today isn't neccesarily the right fit tomorrow, especially as a beginner. As you ride a lot, you should become stronger and more flexible and may also want a more powerful or aero position on the bike. I used the information at peterwhitecycles and feel I am able to dial in my fit much better than what I got at my LBS. I also feel that I have the ability to make adjustments over time and understand the relationship between various changes. I feel confident I can set up my bike better than the typical 'good' LBS fitter. I also accept that there are some great fitters out there that could help me improve my fit.

Also, watch out for bad fitters that don't want to listen to you. I had a bad experience with a fitter that insisted that my saddle needed to be moved forward/up to get my knee over the pedal spindle (a common starting point). I knew it didn't feel right, but he was the expert (he kept telling me that anyway). A few rides later and I had massive knee pain that took several weeks to recover from (after moving the saddle back).

Raleigh_Rider

"I have the ability to make adjustments over time and understand the relationship between various changes" ....I think it would be beneficial if experienced riders would post here and elaborate on what adjustments they consider and the relationship those changes make regarding bike fit. Thanks everyone.

schnee

I just got a professional fitting this Monday. ROCKED MY WORLD.

I'd only gotten LBS fit before, which was pretty good, when it came to fore/aft balance, bar height, knee over spindle, stuff like that. Now that I've started training for a century and racking up more miles, I've started having a lot more aches and pains.

So, I went to a specialist. It took about 3 hours. He used plumb lines to get exact numbers. He marked up my ankles, hip, and knee with chalk or a marker (depending on clothing or skin) and observed my pedaling. He even set up two lasers that painted the front of my legs with a vertical line so he could really see what was going on. You'd maybe think 3 hours was excessive, but we used every minute of it.

It was iterative, like an optometrist. Questions, small adjustments, 'how does that feel', rinse, repeat. He spent 3/4 of the time on my pedals and leg fit, stuff like cleats (way too forward for being a 6'-3" clydesdale), pedals (adding spacers and watching my leg movement until I had good form and Q-factor), etc. Once that was dialed the upper body fell into place quickly. It was eye-opening. Every single adjustment gave me immediate tangible improvement. I actually already had good position in some ways, but the ones I didn't were affecting me more than I'd ever realized.

One big example: he added 2cm spacers inside my pedals. That may sound excessive, but I'm built like a linebacker. I have 49cm shoulders, and correspondingly wide hips. Once he spaced out my feet, the first thought in my head was (I kid you not): wow, I'm actually feeling the force of pedaling on my entire foot for the first time. I was basically pedaling on the outside edges before, and from what he told me, that was causing my IT band tightness and knee pain.

Another one: when he moved my cleats back, my calves relaxed, and I felt the power coming straight through my thighs and glutes. I've basically been doing a calf raise for hours at a time. I'm looking forward to far less pain and agony on the massage table.

The real shocker was the power increase. At the beginning of the fitting, he put some resistance on the trainer and said 'pedal at a comfortable pace'. I was getting 17-18kph. By the end of the evening, I was getting 21+ and still not working as hard.

So, yeah. I'm a believer. Anyone in San Diego, send me a PM and I'll give you a reference to my fit coach.

grolby

This is so important that it's amazing that it isn't more obvious. I had a fitter insist that my saddle needed to be higher. I was getting fitted because I had been dealing with a knee injury, and raising the saddle seemed unlikely to help, but I did as he said. Well, the injury persisted. I wouldn't go so far as to say that this was a BAD fit, because it was helpful in some important ways, but he definitely didn't understand my needs as far as saddle positioning and such.

I recently got another fit with someone else, and brought the saddle back and down, down, down. The improvement was almost immediately obvious. I still don't know if I've solved my injury problem (not enough riding since the fit), but it's definitely a lot better than where I was before. This was a more interactive experience - there was a lot of making an adjustment and then seeing how it felt. As a result, my handlebars came back and up quite a bit. The Euro-snob part of me cringes a bit when I look at my bike now, but being stronger and more comfortable is making it pretty easy to ignore that little voice in my head - especially since I'm probably not functionally any less aero than I was with the less comfortable fit.

ciocc_cat

I've seen some cyclists who were supposedly "professionally fit" that had bad position on the bike, so I suspect that there are a FEW shops out there that either don't know and/or don't care what they're doing and are just in it for the money. However, if their fitting sessions are consistently off then I wouldn't expect them to stay in business unless perhaps they're the ONLY LBS for many miles around.

Btw - I fit myself (with the help of another competitive cyclist), but I've been riding for many years, am a former bike shop mechanic and am on my sixth bike.

Raleigh_Rider

I found this article very helpful. Thanks to those riders who have referenced / shared it! https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/fitting.htm

cjcastan

I got serotta pro fit from Get a Grip in chicago (they have many local and national awards for their services) three years ago. A lot of life got in the way and I hadn't been on my bike since shortly after the fitting.

My eighth and tenth ride back from inactivity this year were over 70 miles. I felt no bad pains. A good fit is priceless!

Polar Foil

Paying a lot for a fitting is like paying a lot for a helmet. People who say "how much is your head worth?" are 'tards. You should get a free fit with a new bike purchase and if you pay more than $60 for a one-hour fitting for a non-new bike, and you're not entering races to win money, and/or you're not sponsored, you're wasting money.

dahut

Professional bike fitting is like retaining a Realtor - you don't really NEED one, but you better educate yourself if you choose to do without.
Personally, I reckon that spending money on a bike fitter is money lost. The article cited and carried with you to test fit bikes will do as much as anything else.

uncrx2003

Just got fitted for my BMC today. It took a little over an hour. The bike shop is a mom and pop store and has been in business for over 30yrs. He put the bike on the trainer and had me warm up on the bike. He then measure the saddle height when I'm sitting. It was a tad low and we adjusted it up about 1 cm. Even though, I did not get knee pain from the previous height, he said that with the new height I should have more power with the strokes. Next, he adjusted the stem bc it was about 2 cm too long on the one that came with the bike. He set the angle of the stem at 7 degree. Told me that since I'm pretty skinny, he wanted me to try out the "race" fit to be more aerodynamic. When I go low on the handle bars, my forearms and my wrists are straight now. Overall, I'm happy to spend $75 for the fitting. He told me that he can adjust as needed but it's pretty much dial in from my standpoint. Will see how it goes with the next ride.

Hunt-man

This part of the article is pure nonsense and I'd be cautious taking his advice as gospel. The whole concept of saddle position based on balance.... Seriously????:

Quote:

What about knee over the pedal axle?

Quote:

Using this article you could get / justify almost any "fit".

Thylacine

Any fit system set up by a major bike manufacturer to fit you to one of their 5 or 6 different size bikes is a complete joke. How can this possibly be in your best interests? How could it actually be that difficult to do? It's science masquerading as sales.

patentcad

It can be. Depends who's doing the fitting of course.

dahut

Id refine it as sales, under the guise of pseudo-science.
There is much self-serving in the cycling industry, as well as perpetuation of stereotypes - both for profit. In many ways, it reminds me of the automobile business of old.

On the other hand, I would suggest that fitting a bike, any bike, to ones physical dimensions is a practical thing and in ones best interests. Ignore it and see what your results are. It's hardly a joke. To your point, though, this fitting does not have to occur with any specific brand - it applies universally.

That you find only one brand promoted in any one particular shop has more to do with business practice than meeting the buyers best interests.

schnee

You need to read my post a bit earlier in the thread, champ.

This Saturday I rode 68 miles (my personal best distance).
NONE of the pains I had before in my knees or neck. Legs were significantly less tight than usual also.

My LBS would have never been able to do what that fitting did for me. Ever. They just didn't have the expertise or equipment.