Pro Bike Fit

thegodplato

Have had my bike 2 weeks now and wondered whether a pro bike fit would help ease the back pain and stiff neck I get when getting past 25 miles on the road. I've also just noticed a slight numbness in my feet too - not there until maybe after an hour of riding. I've seen there is plenty of web advice about doing things yourself but not 100% sure its the right way to go even though I don't like spending money! I'm from near Blackpool and have emailed Hewitt Cycles in Leyland for a price. Has anyone used them before and had a good response from the changes? Is there anybody else fairly close to me that can be recommended?

izza

I went to my nearest Specialized concept store for mine.

1) Due to my booking being midweek the shop was not busy, guy took three to four hours to finely tune things rather than two hours as advertised.
2) One of the comments I remember was that the whole measurement/refining process starts from the shoes. To this extent I would say get those sorted in terms of fit/footbed/axle position before signing up for a cycle fit.
3) Your foot pain does not start straight away so does not sound like a poorly fitting shoe (that would start gradually straight away) so may well be a case of nerve bashing on the underside of your foot. I had the same - tweaked the position of the pedal axle with minimal success. Fitted a pair of Spesh footbeds and instantly cured. Have a look at some of the contoured/buttoned footbeds that are available.

NITR8s

I was considering a Pro Bike Fit, as you are Godplato cos was getting ache in sholders and neck after about 25 miles. Even went as far as getting a quote of £120 for it. However as I am tight I decieded agaisnt it, I am currently putting aches down to not being used to cycling in the position for such a length of time. If you do go for a Bike Fit then please let me know if it was worth it.

Simmotino

I'd thoroughly recommend it.

I'm a couple of sessions in to a Specialized Bike Fit at my LBS and, although I'd done a lot of research and adjusting to get the bike to what I *thought* was a fairly good set up, a few hours on the turbo with the technician doing his thing has made a massive difference to my comfort and efficiency levels.

Undoubtedly the best money I've spent on the bike to date.

thegodplato

Simmotino wrote:

I'd thoroughly recommend it.

I'm a couple of sessions in to a Specialized Bike Fit at my LBS and, although I'd done a lot of research and adjusting to get the bike to what I *thought* was a fairly good set up, a few hours on the turbo with the technician doing his thing has made a massive difference to my comfort and efficiency levels.

Undoubtedly the best money I've spent on the bike to date.

how much was that though?

NITR8s wrote:

I was considering a Pro Bike Fit, as you are Godplato cos was getting ache in sholders and neck after about 25 miles. Even went as far as getting a quote of £120 for it. However as I am tight I decieded agaisnt it, I am currently putting aches down to not being used to cycling in the position for such a length of time. If you do go for a Bike Fit then please let me know if it was worth it.

Will do.

ollyridesfirst

i had a bike fit with Paul Hewitt and bought my bike there soon after. Very good service and the guy knows what he's talking about....

Simmotino

thegodplato wrote:

how much was that though?

£200 at my local LBS for the Specialized BG Fit process, although others may price differently.

For that there was an initial chat just to assess what my riding style/level was and what I wanted to achieve in the next 12 months or so, then a physical assessment of about 90 minutes taking all sorts of measurements of my flexibility, alignment, physical tendencies etc. Then it was on to the bike and a couple of hours of physical measurements, video analysis, adjustments, rinse and repeat.

Where possible, adjustments were made to what was already on the bike (so it's not a hard sell just to get you to upgrade various components) and then different bits were introduced where deemed necessary. Some made a difference (so I bought them) some didn't (so I didn't) and the technician was very honest in the assessment of the benefit of various bits as to whether it was really worth it or not based on my abilities. Of course, your results may vary dependent on your LBS on that one.

When I initially enquired about the cost I must admit I thought twice about it but, having bitten the bullet and done it, it's not something I regret in the slightest.

thegodplato

Paul Hewitts have come back to me with this :


"We do offer a fitting service with the view to applying this then to an existing bike, obviously we could be restricted by the frame dimensions, although it is usually possible to set up the required position unless the frame is a long way out.

Price for this is currently £50.00 + labour @ £30.00 / hour + parts, to set up the position should you want us to do this."

So it looks like between £110 and £170 excluding parts if they take 2 to 4 hours. Ouch!

NITR8s

Told ya I was quoted roughly £120+ for mine, hence i havent had it done.

p9uma

NITR8s wrote:

Told ya I was quoted roughly £120+ for mine, hence i havent had it done.

thegodplato wrote:

Paul Hewitts have come back to me with this :


"We do offer a fitting service with the view to applying this then to an existing bike, obviously we could be restricted by the frame dimensions, although it is usually possible to set up the required position unless the frame is a long way out.

Price for this is currently £50.00 + labour @ £30.00 / hour + parts, to set up the position should you want us to do this."

So it looks like between £110 and £170 excluding parts if they take 2 to 4 hours. Ouch!

It is a lot of money, no doubt, but surley it represents good value if you can acheive comfort on bike? £170.00 is not a lot for a professionl service considering how much we may have already spent on gear.

Blonde Cyclist

I have had RETUL fittings for both of my bikes (although over a year apart) and can highly recommend them. In the first one the position was changed quite drastically, the second had more subtle amendments, however, I felt better on the bike after both. That ache might be nothing more than "getting used to it" but it could also be the beginnings on an injury and the cost of physio to rectify is likely to be much more than the cost of a good bike fit!

If you have live in London I have been to Bespoke Cycling and Freespeed and highly recommend both. A good fitter will take time to understand your biomechanics (flexibility, ongoing issues etc), aims (racing, training, Sportives, triathlon) as well as applying their fitting "rules". The result is a position tailored to you leaving you more comfortable, less prone to injury whilst at the same time striking an appropriate power/ aeordynamics balance.

pete600

I have been toying with idea of a bike fit any one got any experience with this company

http://velo29.com/en/retul-professional-3d-bike-fitting.html/

MikeWW

Google Adrian Timmis and bike fits.
He has a great reputation.

Cost is £130 including custom footbeds

Wirral_paul

I'd thoroughly recommend Richard at Pedal Precision in Manchester.

http://pedalprecision.com/about_us/

£110 for the Pro Fit and this includes setting up your shoes and cleats (I needed a 1.5deg varus wedge in each shoe, which i got with the Specialized BG footbeds I bought from Specialized after using the BG Fit machine in store). I needed a 1cm shorter stem and had a spare with me of the right length, but there's an Evans Cycles store just around the corner from Richard's place.

Well worth the money anyway - it might sound expensive but think of the price of some of the upgrades we spend our money on to try and go that little bit quicker, and a correctly fitted bike becomes good value.

giant_man

thegodplato wrote:

Paul Hewitts have come back to me with this :


"We do offer a fitting service with the view to applying this then to an existing bike, obviously we could be restricted by the frame dimensions, although it is usually possible to set up the required position unless the frame is a long way out.

Price for this is currently £50.00 + labour @ £30.00 / hour + parts, to set up the position should you want us to do this."

So it looks like between £110 and £170 excluding parts if they take 2 to 4 hours. Ouch!

I think it only cost me 50 quid a few years ago have to say, everything is going up of course. Paul Hewitt does know what he's on about and he did sort out my problem, highly recommended. The point is, what price do you put on your comfort and ultimately your enjoyment whilst riding?

wiganwarriors

Totally agree with Giant man, cant put a price on being at one with your equiptment. Had my fit with Adrian Timmis of Cadence sports. Even though my back injury was caused in the gym and never going to repair,the fit appears to cushion the injury up until 40 plus miles when it rears its ugly head. I appreciate Cadence sports is a fair distance from where you live but well worth the time and effort, he's also an x pro and can give you valuable (free advice).

chrisaonabike

Has anyone had a recent bike fit at Freespeed in Chiswick?
They seem to be the only reasonably close bike fit people to me, but quite pricey, so it would be good if someone had some recent experience of them.

kleinstroker

Pearsons in Sheen do bike fits and they have a pretty good rep I think

simon_masterson

A bike fit is very worthwhile, but two weeks is not enough time to adjust to a road bike. To a certain degree they are uncomfortable by nature; the rider position is very stretched out.