The Extent of Fitting?
 

I have been shopping a new road bike as of late, in the range of a $3000 or so. Looking at a R3 Cervelo, Trek 5.2, or Specialized Roubaix. I am wondering what level of fitting is really needed. All of the shops claim some kind of fitting is available. Some give a free fitting to try to get things like stems and seat adjustment right. Others want to do a fitting system of some sort for extra cost. One shop I went to one shop that has a extended fitting that is a very extensive fit that uses laser alignment and extensive physical assessment. They want like $100 a hour it.

What is really needed to get a bike comfortable and to keep from causing injury from poor fit? Will a extensive fit yield that much better results than basic fitting? My riding is mostly for fun and fitness, but I like to go fast and push myself for endurance. I am also in my 30s and working on losing my extended belly and get foot numbness from Morton's neuroma. Damn wide feet and narrow shoes. Do you think a extra fit would be beneficial?

Thoughts?


In the DC area, so vast variety of bike shops...

If you don't know what bike fits you, you could save some money and buy a $1,000 bike. Unless you want to pay $2K for cool bike look or make other people happy that they passed a rider on one of those fancy bikes.

Anyway, this web page helped me a lot with my initial fitting research
http://www.coloradocyclist.com/bikefit

You will have to do most fitting yourself because nobody except you knows how you feel on a bike

Like duh, the point is to tune the fit of the bike so you get that milliwatt more out of it. The question is do the more extensive fitting really help the average rider get a better fit and less potential for injury? Websites like the competitive cyclist and such get you close on sizing, but do not take into account motion and your body mechanics to tell you that you should move your seat back 1cm or something like that.

There are different kinds of fitting and what you need depends upon how much riding you do and what kind of issues you have. A basic fitting might be all you ever need.

How can someone determine what is comfortable for you. I dont get this fitting thing. I make minute changes to my bike frequently. Its part of riding. My saddle goes up, down, forward, aft, as my conditioning develops and changes. Cleat position changes as well. I dont believe in "a fit" but an "evolving fit".