bike fit at Paul Hewitt's

kamil1891

I have booked a bike fit at Paul Hewitt's cycle store, for this friday and I would like to know your recommendations. What is the process like etc? I am wondering because the price is relatively low at 50 pounds and it only takes 45mins whereas other fittings take approx. 2-3h.

wheelygood

Paul fitted me for, and then built, a frame. It has been brilliant -once built up it has been the most comfortable bike ever. So if his bike fitting is to the same standard then should be good - he knows his stuff - you just need to be clear about the sort of riding you do.

Coach H

As I have stated on a couple of posts before, my fit at Hewitts was really quite poor.
Despite travelling 130miles to get there Paul wasn't ready for me (I had to wait about an hour in the finish whilst he completed another bike fit and other shop tasks)
Fit constantly interupted in order to deal with 'regulars' despite another seemingly competent assistant in the shop. This inclued a break to do the final prep for a new bike that was being collected.

Throughout he was not very interested on my feedback. In fact when I pointed out that I felt very stretched out and it didn't feel right the response was '...if you knew what was right you wouldn't need to be here, so let me tell you what is right because that is what you are paying for'. Fit only done on jig, at no time did I actually sit on MY BIKE!!

Regular comments on how the bike was not the right size and not good quality. It wasn't bought from Hewitts which was also pointed out to qualify the previouse points

All this would have been OK if the fit had been right. However after struggling for a few months I went to Adrain Timmis at Cadence sport where my seat was lowered 25mm, moved forward 15mm and the reccomended (but never fitted) 140mm stem was set at 110mm. This provided a great fit and the experience was very good indeed.

I am sure he is not bothered, as I am not a regular, but I wouldn't even shop at Hewitts now let alone have another bike fit.

This is just my experience though and others will tell you differen.. Please make your decision based on all the inputs, my experience MAY have been a one off.
(But you never see any negative reports about Cadence Sport!)

nickwill

I've had two custom steel bikes built and fitted by Paul. The service was spot on. My latest bike was built 3 years ago, and it still feels like a privilege every time I ride it. The only change to the original position has been the gradual raising of the saddle by 7mm over the 3 years. This might be as much a reflection of my increasing fitness and reduced girth as anything else. Its a busy shop and people are in and out so sometimes Paul needs to attend to other customers. The other side to that is that he will give you as much time as it takes to get things right. Whilst specifying 45 minutes, if the fit takes longer, then that will not be an issue.He will also not try to oversell things. Both times I went to spec my new bikes I ended up under budget by some margin.
Re the last posters negative comments, yes his fitting is done on a jig, because everything is movable. All the variables cannot possibly be quickly changed on an existing bike. If he was saying that your bike was the wrong size then I would assume that to be the case. It would have been bad practice to pretend otherwise. Paul is not a smooth talker but says it how it is. That is all good as far as I am concerned. I have always found him to be polite, interested and scrupulously honest. Re not listening to feedback, on the contrary he constantly emphasised that the fit was a two way process, and that is how I found it. Getting different fitting advice from another source doesn't mean either of the parties was wrong. Bike fitting is as much an art as a science and there is no one perfect fit. Different people will have different ideas and both can be right.
I have no hesitation in highly recommending Paul Hewitt.
(edited to say that the saddle has gone up by 7 not 70mm as originally posted)

Coach H

Nickwill wrote:

Getting different fitting advice from another source doesn't mean either of the parties was wrong.

Sorry but in my case one source was wrong and I suffered for it. The differences I state in my post are pretty big in bike fitting terms.

But as I allude to, if all Paul Hewitt bike fittings were as bad as mine he would not keep getting recommended.

nickwill

Coach H wrote:

Nickwill wrote:

Getting different fitting advice from another source doesn't mean either of the parties was wrong.

Sorry but in my case one source was wrong and I suffered for it. The differences I state in my post are pretty big in bike fitting terms.

But as I allude to, if all Paul Hewitt bike fittings were as bad as mine he would not keep getting recommended.

It just sounds to me as if you didn't give the fit a chance. You were specced a 140mm stem which was never fitted. Did you actually try to ride the bike in the setup provided by Hewitts?
Did you get back to Paul if you were unhappy with the fit? I would be amazed if he didn''t try to put things right if you were unhappy.

rozzer32

Nickwill

Paul Hewitt set your saddle and then you raised it by 70mm
:shock:

70mm is a bloody long way off, unless you're a teen and have grown a lot.

45 minutes for a fit?? My fit at cadence sport was near 3 hours!

I have no experience of Paul Hewitt and a club member works there but going off what you said and what I had done at Cadence sport it wouldn't fill me with confidence.

Also I would always prefer to get fitted on my actual bike rather than a jig, unless of course I was having a custom frame.

Like I said I have no experience of Hewitt and I'm sure he is great and lots of people suggest him.

nickwill

rozzer32 wrote:

Nickwill

Paul Hewitt set your saddle and then you raised it by 70mm
:shock:

70mm is a bloody long way off, unless you're a teen and have grown a lot.

45 minutes for a fit?? My fit at cadence sport was near 3 hours!

I have no experience of Paul Hewitt and a club member works there but going off what you said and what I had done at Cadence sport it wouldn't fill me with confidence.

Also I would always prefer to get fitted on my actual bike rather than a jig, unless of course I was having a custom frame.

Like I said I have no experience of Hewitt and I'm sure he is great and lots of people suggest him.

Just the opposite, I've lost 21lbs and am much more flexible than I was. I've always understood that bikefit is something that changes over the years.Sadly at 54 I'm no teenager but would argue that as an older rider, bike fit is even more important than it is for people who are younger. In the end we all have to speak as we find, and along with many other people I've been very happy and comfortable over my 6000+ miles a year!
(edited to say that I meant 7mm not 70mm) see embarrassed post below)

rozzer32

Forgive me if I'm wrong as I don't have a clue about bike fitting, hence why I went to cadence sport, but surely saddle height is done on your height and getting your legs/knees at the correct angles.

I thought bar height, stem length is affected by how flexible you are. But like I said i'm probably wrong.

Like you said you had a great time at Hewitt, I had a great time at Cadence Sport.

nickwill

As long as we're all happy!

nickwill

Did I mention that I was 54 and brought up to use imperial measurements! When I said 70mm, I really meant 7mm. :oops:
Rozzer32 you were quite right to be sceptical. If my saddle had really gone up 7 cm even I would have been doubtful re the original fit. To reiterate, my saddle has gone up 7mm over 3 years. I'm sure you'll agree that isn't a big change.
I'll now go back and relearn my metric measurements!

T.C.

I bought a VN off Paul in March 2009, i also got fitted on the jig, i did ride it after it was delivered it felt ok, after approx 2 weeks i wasn't happy neck/back pain. i phoned him up and he told to me to adjust the seat position i can't remember which way, anyway it was ok, lately i do get shoulder pain after approx 3 hours on the bike , i haven't adj anything yet. i recently contacted them about the bike size and they promptly sent me the receipt. like others have previously commented he does seem a bit dour but that's the way he is.

Garz

Nickwill wrote:

Coach H wrote:

Nickwill wrote:

Getting different fitting advice from another source doesn't mean either of the parties was wrong.

Sorry but in my case one source was wrong and I suffered for it. The differences I state in my post are pretty big in bike fitting terms.

But as I allude to, if all Paul Hewitt bike fittings were as bad as mine he would not keep getting recommended.

It just sounds to me as if you didn't give the fit a chance. You were specced a 140mm stem which was never fitted. Did you actually try to ride the bike in the setup provided by Hewitts?
Did you get back to Paul if you were unhappy with the fit? I would be amazed if he didn''t try to put things right if you were unhappy.

I will vouch that Paul may not have the best rapport with the customers but Nickwill is quite right. I am quite frankly amazed by your experience coach h. If you bought the bike elsewhere then take it on the chin, you get the bike to fit you not the other way around.

As Nickwill also mentioned, if you were not happy with it then why did you not flag this up and give the shop a chance to listen/react?

The jig may not be the best fitting method in the world but it works. Comparing others with time spent is not a fair comparison. How much does the cadence session cost?

I don't mind a fair dig as it's nice to see all feedback not just the positive ones. However I feel that your experience would be a rare occasion, shame you didn't express this at the time.

fungus_the_muffin_man

I went to Paul's to see about buying a bike with upto £2000 to spend. He wasn't interested in the slightest. I'd gone to him because he was supossed to be good. All he did was point me to a Kouta Kharma despite showing interest in other bikes. Which he told me had been ordered by others. No offers to try and test ride bikes or help in anyway. He was totally uninterested and looked like he had more pressing thngs to do other than talk to a potential customer.
I came away dissapointed and ended up driving from manchester to Epic cycles where the experience was so much better in every way.

milleman

I was warned before by a mate who had been to him that he is a bit dour-and to be honest that is the way he comes across.

I think the phrase "does not suffer fools gladly" springs to mind-I am reasonably new to cycling but immeadiately he fires off questions about saddles, wheel sets, crank lengths etc. Fair enough because he needs to know these things to do the bike set up, BUT he should be aware that all his customers are different and he needs to pitch his questions with this in mind-I got the impression that he just wants to deal with "pros"

I do not doubt that he really knows his stuff, but it all appears to be a pain to have to deal with customers

Just my opinion

nickwill

I've always found Paul to be straightforward , honest and more than willing to go the extra mile. I don't like being 'sold to' . I've been in some bike shops where I feel I have been patronised. I've never felt that at Hewitts even on my first visit as a rank beginner.
Paul 'says it how it is' and his enthusiasm for bikes and cycling shines through.
As far as I'm concerned his shop combines the best of the old fashioned bike shop with the advantage that he sells a wide range of quality products.

giant_man

I thought Paul was fine tbh - regarding calling a spade a spade - well he's Northern isn't he? but I got an excellent service from him two years ago - adjusting my fit and getting measurements spot on. Flipped my stem and put my saddle up and the position I havent' changed, cos it's spot on.

So regardless of what the man himself is like, recommended!

pdstsp

Bought my Van Nicholas from him in April. Plain talking - yes but also incredibly helpful and knowledgable - I had never been to the shop before but wanted the bike pretty quickly as I was doing LEJOG a few weeks later- Paul offered to lend me one of his own bikes should supply be an issue, which I was amazed by. I was really pleased with the whole experience and would recommend.