Pedal Precision. Manchester, Bike fit.

yvo69

After a bad experience with a retul bike fit. I,d very much value anyones views on the bike fit at Pedal precision in Manchester. All opinions, experiences welcome. Thanks in advance.

drlodge

Try and get over to Rourke's for a bike fit...they're in Stoke on Trent.

gloomyandy

Hi,
I've had both a retul and a fit with Pedal Precision and they are very different in the approach (though in fairness I ended up with a very similar riding position from both). The Pedal Precision fit I had was much more based around a sort of physio approach with more time spent looking at the (many!) problems I had with posture etc. Both gave me a set of numbers for setting up the bike, but with Pedal Precision I also got a set of exercises to help fix some of the issues. The retul one was more based upon getting things within pre-defined angles, etc. I found the Pedal Precision one much more useful but to be fair by the time I had that one I had been riding a lot more and had a better understanding of my problems and what I wanted to get out of the fit.

What problems do you have after your retul fit?

Andy

yvo69

Hi, thanks for the prompt response. Had problems with neck pains on rides over 2 hours, the retul fit simply raised my saddle to a level i queried to be way too high. after steady riding to get used to new position I had bad lower back pain to the extent i had to stop after only 5 miles, knee pains and just feeling battered after every ride. Previous bike fit was done whilst living in holland but I found it difficult to replicate this position on a new bike with different geometry. retul said they,d have another look for £50 but didn,t think much would be different as the computer readouts would be more or less the same, i don,t want to waste more money with retul as I,m obviously not in tune with their computers. Thus someone mentioned pedal precision which is why i introduced the thread to see if peoples experiences were positive or not before I go and lay down some more money. once again thanks for your reply.

mallorcajeff

Can you get to Adrian Timmis at cadence sport?

pinarellokid

with pedal precision being at the velodrome i wonder how much they are used by british cycling and the GB team.. may be better experienced to give a more thorough finished fit,
if you know what i mean

johnc2788

just to say I went to pedal precision having had trouble with knee pain and generally being uncomfortable on the bike. Very easy to talk to and took his time videoing and explaining what he was trying to do. As already said he gave some exercises for me to carry out. Was sent a printout of set up measurements etc. Most importantly it made a difference straight away and after little over a week the pain had gone and felt a lot better. Nice to go to the velodrome as well and have a look around!

meesterbond

In fairness, your experience is nothing to do with the Retul system, more the fitter that's using it.
All Retul does is provide accurate measurements / recordings etc of your range of movement etc, it's still up the to guy running it to interpret those results and recommend changes.
I had a Retul fit on both my TT and road bike from John Dennis at Velomotion in MK and it was excellent. There was a lot of iterative changes made to the position, we'd move the saddle up slightly, then up slighty more, then down a little until we were getting a position that I was comfortable with and showed an improvement through the system. Same with saddle fore and aft movement, slight tweaks to the bars and so on.

Is there a different fitter at the Retul place?

drlodge

Can't help thinking that all these expensive, scientific bike fitting services are a load of old b*ll*cks. Its really quite simple - bum, feet, hands all in the right position in relation to each other. What is good for one person isn't right for another, inherently you need to apply a few basic rules, then adjust as required to suit the rider style, flexibility etc.

I would never pay £150 for a bike fit, just seems a total rip off to me especially when there is no guarantee of the results. YMMV.

tall_cyclist

Rourkes in Stoke for a bike fit, you won't be disappointed

JimBobs09

drlodge wrote:

Can't help thinking that all these expensive, scientific bike fitting services are a load of old b*ll*cks. Its really quite simple - bum, feet, hands all in the right position in relation to each other. What is good for one person isn't right for another, inherently you need to apply a few basic rules, then adjust as required to suit the rider style, flexibility etc.

I would never pay £150 for a bike fit, just seems a total rip off to me especially when there is no guarantee of the results. YMMV.

What he said!

NewTTer

drlodge wrote:

Can't help thinking that all these expensive, scientific bike fitting services are a load of old b*ll*cks. Its really quite simple - bum, feet, hands all in the right position in relation to each other. What is good for one person isn't right for another, inherently you need to apply a few basic rules, then adjust as required to suit the rider style, flexibility etc.

I would never pay £150 for a bike fit, just seems a total rip off to me especially when there is no guarantee of the results. YMMV.

+1 been saying this for a while, Bike fits are like the Emperors new clothes, people who have shelled out untold amounts for something that is simple to do yourself are never going to say it was a waste of money!
The comments above re fitting are spot on

carl69

Went yesterday for bike fit with pedal precision. Top bloke, obviously knows his stuff. Went for a 3 hour ride today and had no pain or any of the niggles i,d been having. Enjoyed the ride and for the first time in ages got off at the end without feeling battered. Without reservation an excellent investment. Give him a try I,m certain you won,t be sorry.

HasselHough

carl69 wrote:

Went yesterday for bike fit with pedal precision. Top bloke, obviously knows his stuff. Went for a 3 hour ride today and had no pain or any of the niggles i,d been having. Enjoyed the ride and for the first time in ages got off at the end without feeling battered. Without reservation an excellent investment. Give him a try I,m certain you won,t be sorry.

Yeah, I'm with you. Richard knows his stuff, and sorted out my IT band issues, along with a great fit. All round good guy IMO.

frazered

did you have to swap out any parts as part of the fit? or just adjustments?

pinarellokid

NewTTer wrote:

drlodge wrote:

Can't help thinking that all these expensive, scientific bike fitting services are a load of old b*ll*cks. Its really quite simple - bum, feet, hands all in the right position in relation to each other. What is good for one person isn't right for another, inherently you need to apply a few basic rules, then adjust as required to suit the rider style, flexibility etc.

I would never pay £150 for a bike fit, just seems a total rip off to me especially when there is no guarantee of the results. YMMV.

+1 been saying this for a while, Bike fits are like the Emperors new clothes, people who have shelled out untold amounts for something that is simple to do yourself are never going to say it was a waste of money!
The comments above re fitting are spot on

Maybe not everyone is as knowledgable as you guys.
why not be helpful to us onknowing members on this forum and link us to a basic set up write up or maybe even write your own.

i understand the basics of heel on pedal, bars blocking view of front axle and knee in line with pedal axle. but not everyone does, and i dont think i know any more.

carl69

frazered wrote:

did you have to swap out any parts as part of the fit? or just adjustments?

No parts swapped out. cleat adjustment which he spent some time on to get right then various adjustments to the bike. Also a physical assessment and he,s sending over some specific exercises to help with various weaknesses and muscle inbalances I have. More importantly he didn,t take the p..s too badly when he had to put my bottle cage on the right way round as like a knob I,d put it on upside down. Come to think, maybe thats why I was uncomfortable on the bike initially.

meesterbond

pinarellokid wrote:

i understand the basics of heel on pedal, bars blocking view of front axle and knee in line with pedal axle. but not everyone does, and i dont think i know any more.

In fairness, that what I thought too.

During the Retul fit it was became obvious that whilst the saddle was at the right height according to the heel on pedal 'rule' I was dropping my left heel a lot more than my right during the pedal stroke. Also my left knee wasn't going straight up and down in comparison to my foot, where my right knee was.
Measuring the angle at my hip showed I was way too upright and I was too far forward on the bike (which had caused pain in the wrists and hands).
End result was pushing the saddle right back and lowering it slightly (we tried several saddle positions until the measurements looked right and I felt comfortable. My position is now both more efficient, more comfortable and more powerful.

Speaking as someone who's had a professional bike fit, I can say it was worth the money.

NewTTer

pinarellokid wrote:

NewTTer wrote:

drlodge wrote:

Can't help thinking that all these expensive, scientific bike fitting services are a load of old b*ll*cks. Its really quite simple - bum, feet, hands all in the right position in relation to each other. What is good for one person isn't right for another, inherently you need to apply a few basic rules, then adjust as required to suit the rider style, flexibility etc.

I would never pay £150 for a bike fit, just seems a total rip off to me especially when there is no guarantee of the results. YMMV.

+1 been saying this for a while, Bike fits are like the Emperors new clothes, people who have shelled out untold amounts for something that is simple to do yourself are never going to say it was a waste of money!
The comments above re fitting are spot on

Maybe not everyone is as knowledgable as you guys.
why not be helpful to us onknowing members on this forum and link us to a basic set up write up or maybe even write your own.

i understand the basics of heel on pedal, bars blocking view of front axle and knee in line with pedal axle. but not everyone does, and i dont think i know any more.

Sorry but bike fits really are the epitome of "a fool and his money being easily parted". How do you think people managed a few years back when the "bike fitting services" didnt exist, and marginal adjustments in search of any advantage were just in the domain of the professional ranks?
I guess no one rode their bikes?
Of course not.
Bike fitting is an excellent money making scheme when it comes to the general masses, but hey, as in another thread running here, we all buy bling we dont really need, so go ahead enjoy

napoleond

I wouldn't be riding mine now had I not had a fit. Too many issues following accidents. The footbeds I got made such an impact I told my go who referred me to a podiatrist. Turns out I need inserts full time which was the cause of lots of knee problems.
The fitter also identified and rectified a leg length discrepancy which was the source of hip pain (and significant loss of power).
Furthermore the (very) small adjustments to my reach/drop coupled to the new saddle height have sorted neck/shoulder pain.
Those that slate a top quality fit as the emporer's new clothes have either not had one or are VERY lucky.

NewTTer

NapoleonD wrote:

I wouldn't be riding mine now had I not had a fit. Too many issues following accidents. The footbeds I got made such an impact I told my go who referred me to a podiatrist. Turns out I need inserts full time which was the cause of lots of knee problems.
The fitter also identified and rectified a leg length discrepancy which was the source of hip pain (and significant loss of power).
Furthermore the (very) small adjustments to my reach/drop coupled to the new saddle height have sorted neck/shoulder pain.
Those that slate a top quality fit as the emporer's new clothes have either not had one or are VERY lucky.

SO i guess that the MAJORITY of cyclists out there are just LUCKY then, though that probably isnt true is it now!

Think about it, if these SMALL adjustments that served you so wonderoulsy are so critical how on earth do you ensure that you are sat in EXACTLY the same position as you were when the fitter was emptying your wallet for you? AND if you dont then these SMALL adjustments are doing nothing.

You needed a fitter to tell you what every school kid who does biology knows, Human beings are not precisely enginereed machines and our legs are different lengths! So presumably that is so critical you have differing lengths of cranks on your bike to compensate?
So out of interest what was the tolerance range on each dimension that the fitter gave you ? Must be pretty tight as it needed you to PAY for it, and how can you ensure that you position yourself to stay within that range

EMPORERS NEW CLOTHES, ergo those that have forked out are hardly likely to admit it was a waste of money! and will defend their spend regardless.
You are testament to that, I thought you were more sensible Nap to be honest!
I am not saying the adjustments you had were not necessary, but you could have done it yourself.

napoleond

That's the thing. I couldn't have done it myself... After breaking my leg one leg is 2cm longer than the other. The shims have made a huge improvement. My saddle and consequently bars were several cms out. I had read up on fitting techniques and thought I was ok. Then after the fit it was much improved. So much so the next season i won a TT championship.
It's even more important since I broke my back and shoulder.
It's perceived value, you, having never needed one, perceive non. Me, having had my riding transformed, perceive it of great value.
Shouting in random capitals does not make your view any more valid than mine.
I wouldn't be riding now had I not had it done, that's for sure.

NewTTer

NapoleonD wrote:

That's the thing. I couldn't have done it myself... After breaking my leg one leg is 2cm longer than the other. The shims have made a huge improvement. My saddle and consequently bars were several cms out. I had read up on fitting techniques and thought I was ok. Then after the fit it was much improved. So much so the next season i won a TT championship.
It's even more important since I broke my back and shoulder.
It's perceived value, you, having never needed one, perceive non. Me, having had my riding transformed, perceive it of great value.
Shouting in random capitals does not make your view any more valid than mine.
I wouldn't be riding now had I not had it done, that's for sure.

I note you totally ignored the questions about tolerances as these cannot be argued. And the capitals are to highlight the obvious foibles you are clearly missing. So your accidents actually prevented you from using some allen keys and tools along with the other injuries? So you have two shoes the same and one has inserts in to compensate for 2CM my that must be a fairly tight fit, what length cranks fo you use a 175 and 165, LOL he had you good and proper, and how do you compensate for the wear on you shoe inserts, after all such small measurements are critical! LOL you are a salesmans dream come true
PSST Want to buy a bike fit?
do you a good deal
LOL

LegendLust

NewTTer wrote:

NapoleonD wrote:

That's the thing. I couldn't have done it myself... After breaking my leg one leg is 2cm longer than the other. The shims have made a huge improvement. My saddle and consequently bars were several cms out. I had read up on fitting techniques and thought I was ok. Then after the fit it was much improved. So much so the next season i won a TT championship.
It's even more important since I broke my back and shoulder.
It's perceived value, you, having never needed one, perceive non. Me, having had my riding transformed, perceive it of great value.
Shouting in random capitals does not make your view any more valid than mine.
I wouldn't be riding now had I not had it done, that's for sure.

I note you totally ignored the questions about tolerances as these cannot be argued. And the capitals are to highlight the obvious foibles you are clearly missing. So your accidents actually prevented you from using some allen keys and tools along with the other injuries? So you have two shoes the same and one has inserts in to compensate for 2CM my that must be a fairly tight fit, what length cranks fo you use a 175 and 165, LOL he had you good and proper, and how do you compensate for the wear on you shoe inserts, after all such small measurements are critical! LOL you are a salesmans dream come true
PSST Want to buy a bike fit?
do you a good deal
LOL

I've no doubt that if you had loads of time to trawl Google, an understanding of bio-mechanics, and the time to tinker then you could find the perfect bike fit through ongoing trial and error. However I suspect most people, like me, are time poor and lucky enough to be cash rich. So have gone to a professional specialist and got a very good fit in less than two hours.

Note I said professional specialist. I'm pretty sure there will be some cowboys out there who have jumped on the 'bike fitting' bandwagon in an attempt to make some cash quick.

If anyone wants a bike fit then I'd recommend it. Just make sure the person you are seeing is a good one.

And if someone wants to spend their money on something, why should that bother you TTer?

NewTTer

LegendLust wrote:

NewTTer wrote:

NapoleonD wrote:

That's the thing. I couldn't have done it myself... After breaking my leg one leg is 2cm longer than the other. The shims have made a huge improvement. My saddle and consequently bars were several cms out. I had read up on fitting techniques and thought I was ok. Then after the fit it was much improved. So much so the next season i won a TT championship.
It's even more important since I broke my back and shoulder.
It's perceived value, you, having never needed one, perceive non. Me, having had my riding transformed, perceive it of great value.
Shouting in random capitals does not make your view any more valid than mine.
I wouldn't be riding now had I not had it done, that's for sure.

I note you totally ignored the questions about tolerances as these cannot be argued. And the capitals are to highlight the obvious foibles you are clearly missing. So your accidents actually prevented you from using some allen keys and tools along with the other injuries? So you have two shoes the same and one has inserts in to compensate for 2CM my that must be a fairly tight fit, what length cranks fo you use a 175 and 165, LOL he had you good and proper, and how do you compensate for the wear on you shoe inserts, after all such small measurements are critical! LOL you are a salesmans dream come true
PSST Want to buy a bike fit?
do you a good deal
LOL

I've no doubt that if you had loads of time to trawl Google, an understanding of bio-mechanics, and the time to tinker then you could find the perfect bike fit through ongoing trial and error. However I suspect most people, like me, are time poor and lucky enough to be cash rich.



And if someone wants to spend their money on something, why should that bother you TTer?

It doesnt bother me, and if you had bothered to read the previous posts properly I already stated that we spend on bling and the like, we dont really need so go ahead and spend away. Just dont preach that it is necessary as we all knwo that it isnt. But to quote "why should that bother you"
I too am time poor and cash rich, it doesnt make me a hero, so dont bother quoting it, I spend money on things I will never need, EG my latest Zipp Wheelset, but I am not on here telling people YOU MUST have these things. Paid for bike fit for the vast majority of cyclists is a luxury not a necessity.

LegendLust

NewTTer wrote:

LegendLust wrote:

NewTTer wrote:

NapoleonD wrote:

That's the thing. I couldn't have done it myself... After breaking my leg one leg is 2cm longer than the other. The shims have made a huge improvement. My saddle and consequently bars were several cms out. I had read up on fitting techniques and thought I was ok. Then after the fit it was much improved. So much so the next season i won a TT championship.
It's even more important since I broke my back and shoulder.
It's perceived value, you, having never needed one, perceive non. Me, having had my riding transformed, perceive it of great value.
Shouting in random capitals does not make your view any more valid than mine.
I wouldn't be riding now had I not had it done, that's for sure.

I note you totally ignored the questions about tolerances as these cannot be argued. And the capitals are to highlight the obvious foibles you are clearly missing. So your accidents actually prevented you from using some allen keys and tools along with the other injuries? So you have two shoes the same and one has inserts in to compensate for 2CM my that must be a fairly tight fit, what length cranks fo you use a 175 and 165, LOL he had you good and proper, and how do you compensate for the wear on you shoe inserts, after all such small measurements are critical! LOL you are a salesmans dream come true
PSST Want to buy a bike fit?
do you a good deal
LOL

I've no doubt that if you had loads of time to trawl Google, an understanding of bio-mechanics, and the time to tinker then you could find the perfect bike fit through ongoing trial and error. However I suspect most people, like me, are time poor and lucky enough to be cash rich.



And if someone wants to spend their money on something, why should that bother you TTer?

It doesnt bother me, and if you had bothered to read the previous posts properly I already stated that we spend on bling and the like, we dont really need so go ahead and spend away. Just dont preach that it is necessary as we all knwo that it isnt. But to quote "why should that bother you"
I too am time poor and cash rich, it doesnt make me a hero, so dont bother quoting it, I spend money on things I will never need, EG my latest Zipp Wheelset, but I am not on here telling people YOU MUST have these things. Paid for bike fit for the vast majority of cyclists is a luxury not a necessity.

Who's telling people they MUST have a bike fit? Not me for one. And what's heroic about stating a fact about being time poor, cash rich?

napoleond

NewTTer wrote:

NapoleonD wrote:

That's the thing. I couldn't have done it myself... After breaking my leg one leg is 2cm longer than the other. The shims have made a huge improvement. My saddle and consequently bars were several cms out. I had read up on fitting techniques and thought I was ok. Then after the fit it was much improved. So much so the next season i won a TT championship.
It's even more important since I broke my back and shoulder.
It's perceived value, you, having never needed one, perceive non. Me, having had my riding transformed, perceive it of great value.
Shouting in random capitals does not make your view any more valid than mine.
I wouldn't be riding now had I not had it done, that's for sure.

I note you totally ignored the questions about tolerances as these cannot be argued. And the capitals are to highlight the obvious foibles you are clearly missing. So your accidents actually prevented you from using some allen keys and tools along with the other injuries? So you have two shoes the same and one has inserts in to compensate for 2CM my that must be a fairly tight fit, what length cranks fo you use a 175 and 165, LOL he had you good and proper, and how do you compensate for the wear on you shoe inserts, after all such small measurements are critical! LOL you are a salesmans dream come true
PSST Want to buy a bike fit?
do you a good deal
LOL

My my....

Having a bike fit is way more than just sorting saddle and bar position.
The shims for the 2 cms are between the shoe and the cleat. Not inside the shoe, if you think that then you are pretty dim.
I tried changing various things to no avail to rid myself of the various pain I was being caused. The pain has since gone. Most of it was to do with knee tracking sorte by the use of angled shims and moulded inserts. As I said, I was since referred to a podiatrist and have similar inserts in my shoes all the time.
Tolerance wise I have no idea, I have it set at exactly what I need, to the mm. As my cleats wear they get replaced.
I see you have a poor understanding of the mechanics of pedalling if you are suggesting that one crank is linger than the other.
As I said, you see no value in it, I did. I paid a one off fee that was the same cost as a pair of tubular tyres and it has transformed my riding.
I went from being reasonable to winning a season long time trial championship.

With your LOLs and pig-headedness you are almost on a par with bigbee.

I don't need another bike fit thanks, the one I had is spot on.

Funnily enough, I had a set of Zipps, they increased my speed slightly over a 25 mile TT. Maybe about 5 watts over my chinese wheels? My bike fit gave me approx 10% more power. That was over 30 watts at 1hr pace.

NewTTer

Nap has someone hacked your user name, you used to post pretty sensible stuff, but recently you seem to posting total nonsense, not just this thread but others to. Take yourself away for a bit and come back as your old self. Its a bit like when you had thst online melt down after your racing crash.

NewTTer

Double post deleted. Why does that happen sometines?

napoleond

NewTTer wrote:

Nap has someone hacked your user name, you used to post pretty sensible stuff, but recently you seem to posting total nonsense, not just this thread but others to. Take yourself away for a bit and come back as your old self. Its a bit like when you had thst online melt down after your racing crash.

So, I have a different opinion to you, that makes it total nonsense? I see a benefit from a full bike fit. You don't.

I see you 'joined' in August this year, what was your previous pseudonym?

HasselHough

NewTTer wrote:

NapoleonD wrote:

That's the thing. I couldn't have done it myself... After breaking my leg one leg is 2cm longer than the other. The shims have made a huge improvement. My saddle and consequently bars were several cms out. I had read up on fitting techniques and thought I was ok. Then after the fit it was much improved. So much so the next season i won a TT championship.
It's even more important since I broke my back and shoulder.
It's perceived value, you, having never needed one, perceive non. Me, having had my riding transformed, perceive it of great value.
Shouting in random capitals does not make your view any more valid than mine.
I wouldn't be riding now had I not had it done, that's for sure.

I note you totally ignored the questions about tolerances as these cannot be argued. And the capitals are to highlight the obvious foibles you are clearly missing. So your accidents actually prevented you from using some allen keys and tools along with the other injuries? So you have two shoes the same and one has inserts in to compensate for 2CM my that must be a fairly tight fit, what length cranks fo you use a 175 and 165, LOL he had you good and proper, and how do you compensate for the wear on you shoe inserts, after all such small measurements are critical! LOL you are a salesmans dream come true
PSST Want to buy a bike fit?
do you a good deal
LOL

Lol out loud for thinking the shim goes inside the shoe and not between the shoe and cleat. YKNABF.