Cycle Fit as the foundation to custom frame build

redballoon

Has anyone any experience of CycleFit who are now in partnership with Pearson Cycles? My thinking is, after my dissapointment with Rourkes, that I could you use cyclefit to analyse and optimise my postion and get the frame sizing spot on, then take all the details to a framebuilder, such a Kevin Winter, whose work I have seen and know to be of the highest standard. At the same time I would also learn stuff I would not otherwise know, such as pedaling style, cleat position etc. Looking at the numbers it would probably come in at the same price as a fitting and build at Rourkes

tenpasten

Hi there,

I'm afraid I don't have any experience of Cycle Fit but I'm interested in your mention of disappointment in Rourke Bikes. Was this an issue with the fit or difficulties getting hold of them?

Thanks for letting me know
TPT

mankybianchi

This is something I've wondered about too. Do long established builders differ in this respect (sizing of customer) to newer bulders such as Feather?

APIII

I took this route, although I used an experience fitter near to me rather than Cyclefit. I spent 3 1/2 hours there, testing various elements of flexibility (hamstrings, lower back, etc). I just didn't have full confidence in a framebuilder's ability to fit me correctly, so preferred to get it done by a professional. I'm sure some framebuilders are very good at fitting people to bikes, but I expect many do it on experience rather than any particular training. I ended up with some very minor changes to my bike set up, which I then rode for a few months prior to emailing the measurements to my framebuilder as the basis for my new frame.

ugo.santalucia

APIII wrote:

I took this route, although I used an experience fitter near to me rather than Cyclefit. I spent 3 1/2 hours there, testing various elements of flexibility (hamstrings, lower back, etc). I just didn't have full confidence in a framebuilder's ability to fit me correctly, so preferred to get it done by a professional. I'm sure some framebuilders are very good at fitting people to bikes, but I expect many do it on experience rather than any particular training. I ended up with some very minor changes to my bike set up, which I then rode for a few months prior to emailing the measurements to my framebuilder as the basis for my new frame.

I don't know... the frambuilder has several years experience in fitting people on bikes, while your bike fitter might be someone who was trained by the manufacturer to use one machine (as far as you know maybe a few months back). As much as we think much of it, there isn't a degree in bike fitting.
Personally I would trust the experience of a framebuilder over a bloke on a fancy piece of machinery

APIII

He didn't use any machinery, other than a tape measure and some medical protractor things(!) and in fact I was on the bike for less than half of the session. The point of getting a bike fit, is to be as comfortable as you can right now. A lot of people think it's to get the position they want to achieve. The 'fit' is largely determined by flexibility (hate to use the word, but bio-mechanics I believe) and testing/analysis of that is best left to people with appropriate training.

Monty Dog

You might want to search for opinions on CycleFit because views vary - they have a good rep for sorting people with fit / comfort / back problems but I know a few performance-oriented riders who have been less satisfied.

bikeit65

I had a bike fitting done at Cyclefit, and IMO it was a complete waste of time and money, I went there as i was having knee pain, they advised me to buy custom insoles and some Lewedges along with a shorted stem, after the new set up was complete the pain in my knees intensified 10 fold and i started to get severe pains in my hands, so after i sent several emails to explain this i never received a reply and in the end i had to ring them to be told go back to your previous set up and see if the knee and hand pain goes, if not book another appointment, crap service at an extremely high price.

giant_man

yes i have heard stuff along these lines, damn shame cos the sell some nice brands ie colnago, passoni etc.

Coach H

Brian Palmer at thewashingmachinepost wrote a favourable blog about Cycle Fit but if you run a search you should be able to find a couple of less then favourable threads on here. I remember one had numerous bad experiences.

Bear in mind though that this is the internet and far mor people use it to voice complaints than praise.
Around London you dont get many/any complaints about The Bike Whisperer though.