Updated - Had my bike fit the other day.

SHADOWMATE

Hi guys just wanted to ask if anyone has had a bike fit recently? I wanted to know what happens and how much they cost etc. Been having a few pains and numbness and i wondered about a proper bike fitting to get as comfortable as possible and get the most from my rides. I looked on the forums and saw one from 2009 but wondered if anyone has been recently. I'm hoping its not just someone looking at me on a turbo from the side and saying i look alright.

Sprool

viewtopic.php?f=40020&t=12888452

SHADOWMATE

Cheers mate. Pretty much like the other thread with the outcome being different depending who u go to. Possible changes could be made to shoes and cleats, stems, saddles and seatposts etc. ranging from 75 quid to 200. From 1 and a half hours to 4 and a half. One had slow motion replays? Have enquired at my nearest place about what they offer but want to compare to others possibly further away but more comprehensive.

SHADOWMATE

Just got this email back detailing whats involved. Incredibly this shop is 5 mins away and it sounds pretty good.

"We run appointments of approx 3 hours which includes an initial consultation as to your goals, needs and history in cycling. We then assess your flexibility and posture. We take into account any injury history and assess your level of flexibility. The bike fit itself includes setting of saddle height, both fore and aft adjustment. Saddle width and support. Handlebar width, stem length assessment, position of sti levers. We assess feet and footwear, and align cleats. We also follow up this appointment to see how you are getting on with any adjustments made. Throughout the fit, we offer tips on stretching, core strength, training techniques to improve leg speed and cadence.
Obviously we would need your bike, but also your shoes and pedals you use. Cycle clothing is best, skin shorts so we can measure from specified markers on your body, (a cycle top is best to assess posture.)
We will provide you with data as to your optimum position at the end of the fit. We will advise you of any changes that would be best to change, but please dont feel that you are obliged to make those changes straight away! We use our own parts and specialist fitting tools to "measure" what is best. We are aware that you may have certain requirements as to component choice that we may not be able to provide or that you may want to purchase elsewhere. We will of course offer discount if you wish to purchase anything from us that helps with you position however.
Prices are normally £150. We do offer a discounted price of £120 for club members and £100 for members who have purchased their cycle from us. Should any major adjustments be needed such as replacement bars and stem, re taping etc, we would have to book the cycle in for workshop time and the labour of course would be extra. (If time permits I do try and fit this into your time!)
Hope this helps, please feel free to call me on 01482 446341 should you want to discuss things further. Appointments run monday tuesday thursday, 9-30 til 12-30 although I will try and accomodate other times if this proves awkward."

Have asked for an appointment so will let anyone interested know how it goes. My only regret is buying the bike first based on my height and distance from my elbow at the seat to the stem at my hand.

SHADOWMATE

Well i went today for a Bike Fit. After 4 hours plus i have to say i thought it was pretty thorough. I was told and shown such a lot that sadly i think some will be forgotten but it was brilliant.
To begin with we had an interview where he asked me a few things. I have done some cycling a few years back but then fell off it so we went through it all. It turns out that i have thankfully got the right bike size for me which i was glad to hear.

update - He also lined me up with lasers and showed me a shorter crank length of maybe 70 will be better as my knees are going outwards at the top.

There was no need to change the handlebars or anything which was also good. He told me off for not stretching before and after (neither) and he said my core strength was poor so he showed me some stuff to do. My core therefore affected my position on the bike and i was too tense and pushing back from the handlebars (as well as the wrong saddle which i was trying to get forward on) so i had back and hand problems with aches and numbness. Also my left leg is longer and my left foot naturally turns out more with a slight inwards roll (i didn't even think of it).

We then looked at my shoes and found that the LOOK pedal system didn't allow enough movement so have swapped out to SPEEDPLAY. Also the shoes i had were probably the worst i could have bought (£20 on sale from Sports Direct Muddy Fox. Apparently your shoe should be quite firm and solid soled rather than flexible like a ballerina shoe. He made me leave them there so i wasn't tempted to use them again lol.) Bought some Bontranger RXL's with the 2 piece mouldable foot beds which are great.

My STI's are not even either and he offered to adjust but i said i wanted to wait til my bartape was kaput (soon, its white too). As i weigh 16 1/2 stone with a belly that no cyclist should have makes it difficult for me to bend too far over so at the moment, I have 2 measurements for handlebar position. 1 for starting from and 1 to he wants to see me get to which is a good position. I have to gradually get down through the spacers on the headset until i return the flipped stem to a normal position. He told me to work on spinning up more and trying not to be a big stomper, meaning work on cadence.

I was surprised to see he wasn't trying to sell me loads of stuff and it was actually just me pushing for his advice on stuff. Bought some winter gloves and bibtights. The bibtights were explained as i have been favouring high waist shorts and lengthy tops which i was wearing because of being self conscious of my weight, so everything was bunching up around my waist and hindering me. (its amazing how much somebody observing knows about you without even realising yourself.

I got a good discount on everything i bought and i asked to demo a saddle that he thought was my best bet. Unfortunately its pink so people don't nick it. He told me that my turbo trainer is not as bad as i first thought, and he told me how to use it better, (as i injured myself the first day). He is in Hulls Ken Ellerker store and is called Daren, he is a triathlete. He was very nice and extremely knowledgeable. He has a few friends who do sports science things and physiotherapy etc and could bring some of that extra stuff into it too so that was cool. it is by far the best money I've ever spent on my cycling and would recommend it to anyone with a bike! Top bloke and cant say enough about him.

de_sisti

SHADOWMATE wrote:

FTFY

Well i went today for a Bike Fit. After 4 hours plus i have to say i thought it was pretty thorough. I was told and shown such a lot that sadly i think some will be forgotten but it was brilliant.
To begin with we had an interview where he asked me a few things. I have done some cycling a few years back but then fell off it so we went through it all. It turns out that i have thankfully got the right bike size for me which i was glad to hear.

There was no need to change the handlebars or anything which was also good. He told me off for not stretching before and after (neither) and he said my core strength was poor so he showed me some stuff to do. My core therefore affected my position on the bike and i was too tense and pushing back from the handlebars (as well as the wrong saddle which i was trying to get forward on) so i had back and hand problems with aches and numbness. Also my left leg is longer and my left foot naturally turns out more with a slight inwards roll (i didnt even think of it).

We then looked at my shoes and found that the LOOK pedal system didnt allow enough movement so have swapped out to SPEEDPLAY. Also the shoes i had were probably the worst i could have bought (£20 on sale from Sports Direct Muddy Fox. Apparently your shoe should be quite firm and solid soled rather than flexible lika a ballerina shoe. He made me leave them there so i wasnt tempted to use them again lol.) Bought some Bontranger RXL's with the 2 peice mouldable footbeds which are great.

My STI's are not even either and he offered to adjust but i said i wanted to wait til my bartape was kaput (soon, its white too). As i weigh 16 1/2 stone with a belly that no cyclist shoul have makes it difficult for me to bend too far over so at the moment, I have 2 measurements for handlebar position. 1 for starting from and 1 to he wants to see me get to which is a good position. I have to gradually get down through the spacers on the headset until i return the flipped stem to a normal position. He told me to work on spinning up more and trying not to be a big stomper, meaning work on cadence.

I was surprised to see he wasnt trying to sell me loads of stuff and it was actually just me pushing for his advice on stuff. Bought some winter gloves and bibtights. The bibtights were explained as i have been favouring high waist shorts and lengthy tops which i was wearing cos of being self concious of my weight, so everything was bunching up around my waist and hindering me. (its amazing how much somebody observing knows about you without even realising yourself.

Got a good discount on everything i bought and i asked to demo a saddle that he thought was my best bet. Unforunately its pink so people dont nick it. He told me that my turbo trainer is not as sh*t as i thought, and he told me how to use it better. He is in Hulls Ken Ellerker store and is called Daren, he is a triathlete. He was very nice and extremely knowledgable. He has a few friends who do sports sciency things and physiotherapy etc and could bring some of that extra stuff into it too so that was cool. it is by far the best money i've ever spent on my cycling and would recommend it to anyone with a bike! Top bloke and cant say enough about him.

SHADOWMATE

Thanks for that mate.
It took me ages to write, and I had just lost interest by the end of it myself, as my tea was ready. :P
As someone with not too much experience of forums, I had to google FTFY and found 2 definitions which to be fair could both apply. I'm getting there. Thank you.

de_sisti

Shadowmate, I hope you don't take umbrage with me. It's just that without 'white space', the item
becomes difficult to concentrate on after a few lines.

napoleond

Sounds like a good result

SHADOWMATE

De Sisti wrote:

Shadowmate, I hope you don't take umbrage with me. It's just that without 'white space', the item
becomes difficult to concentrate on after a few lines.

Nah mate no umbrage. I understood why you fixed it so thanks.

Have fixed it myself too now.

SHADOWMATE

After having my brilliant bike fit,I did a turbo sesh yesterday with my new setup and it felt pretty good, so i went out on "Ruby" today to try her in the wild.

As a fatbloke i was fearful of my new saddle as my other one was like a couch in comparison. Happy to say i was pleasantly suprised. Its a fizik summat or other, nicknamed "the bull". Just demoing it at the moment before going back onboard but will grab it again for when i'm back.

My new speedplay pedals are good aswell. Takes a bit of stomping on to get into though, and shoes still breaking in but apart from a little achiness in my left foot (which is the weird one so i expected it) I am happy with those too. I haven't done the footbed moulding yet though as my oven is crazy!

New bibtights are incredibly comfortable. Weird having them on for the first time though as i felt like a wrestler or something. At the end of my ride, the combination of my heart rate monitor and the bib straps were making my nipples slightly raw. Perhaps i have to tape them. Don't really fancy that though.

New gloves for winter felt like the outer and inner were not connected so inner felt like too much movement and sliding, And they were maybe too warm for the current temps.

Went without backpack for first time today too. Habit from my MTB days and a fear of not having something i may need i suppose. 3 pockets on jersey and 3 on the jacket was plenty for Innertube, multitool. Levers and puncture kit. Card, money, key, shades and charge pen. Was brilliant not having a sweaty back and there was more freedom of movement.

Bought my bike on 2nd of August and still fine tuning, but the bike fit feels like i have a proper base to go on from!

Harley35

Bike fit > Anything else cycling related for that kind of money