Bike Fitting advice please (Fleet, Hampshire)

adrianprescott

Sorry, I have tried the forum search, but I'm not having much joy.

I get lower back and knee pain when riding for much more than 30 mins, so I think I could do with a bike fitting.

Ideally I'd like to get my mountain bike set up better so that I'm pain free, and be able to take away some measurements that I can use to narrow down the choice of road bikes available to me, and use with the set up of the new road bike.

My local bike shop (Pedal Heaven, Fleet, Hampshire) does the BG Fit (I'm unsure of the cost), but a colleague recommended Retül.

What does anyone suggest? Any recommendations for one near to me?

Thanks

nicklouse

TBH dont bother with a fit for an MTB as you should not be sitting the same place all the time. but any shop should be able to point out where your set up is not right, A fitting for a Road bike yes as you dont move about as much.

I would use which ever shop you get on with best and buy the bike from them.

supersonic

As above, not worth doing at all. I'd even question it for road use too, as two different places will give you two varying set ups.

ollie51

But you should be sitting in the same place on the saddle all of the time... perhaps apart from when you sit intentionally on the nose of the saddle for very steep climbs and obviously when you're out of the saddle. The fact that you sit in two different places on your saddle is a damn good sign of your bike not fitting you. The idea is to achieve the most efficient and comfortable position possible, if that was achieved why would you move?

Also people neglect the need for forefoot support and proper knee alignment, something a fit will at the very least attempt to fix, if not fix. I went as far as having my pedal axles shortened so my knee alignment was bang on, the result? I no longer have any ITB tightness or knee pain, which is fantastic - foam rollers aren't nice at all! I also suffered from lower back pain, the fit helped a bit, but ultimately my lower back muscles were simply too weak. So I'm currently working on strengthening them.

adrianprescott

Thanks for the tips guys. I've gone for a local dealer's £30 fitting (bike fitting.com) and will see how I get on.

Having read of bad experiences even with BG Fit or Retül, at least I won't be parting with as much cash!

Still grateful for any further thoughts.

nicklouse

remember ask lots of questions. dont take their word as law ask why how etc.

supersonic

But you should be sitting in the same place on the saddle all of the time... perhaps apart from when you sit intentionally on the nose of the saddle for very steep climbs and obviously when you're out of the saddle. The fact that you sit in two different places on your saddle is a damn good sign of your bike not fitting you. The idea is to achieve the most efficient and comfortable position possible, if that was achieved why would you move?

My bike fits. I move around a lot on the saddle, from a planted position when cruising, on the nose for climbing (as you say), to a barely touching hover on rocky terrain. For road bikes you are much more likely to remain in the same position though.

As nick says, ask questions and be wary - I am willing to bet you could have 5 fits and come out with 5 different set ups.