Bikefit worth it?

starbuck

I've read a few opinions on bikefits and seen both good and bad reviews.

Reviews I've seen of the retul bikefit seem to mainly be based less on the technology and more on the experience of the person using it.

I've seen a retul bikefit at a place not to far from me: http://www.vankru.com/#/retul-bike-fitting/4544144291 for £140. Anyone had a bikefitting here - what was the experience/end result like?

It looks good on paper (as it says they ask about the riding you do first, check your existing setup, get you riding then keep adjusting your bike until it's right).

They also do another one for £65 which uses traditional methods: http://www.vankru.com/#/premium-bike-fit/4544144355 - could that get me results as good/almost as good as the retul one?

I have a defy 1 (my first road bike (ridden mtb's for years) which I bought in Dec/Jan as part of c2w) and am planning on riding a few sportive type rides (have entered the new forest spring sportive at 58 miles, then the london to brighton ride at about 63 miles). Am also thinking about doing 2 other sportive rides, the long one (120 odd miles) and another at around 100 miles. At these distances, I need the bike to be comfortable all day.

Is it worth going for a proper bike fit like that or going through the many guides on the net to get in the ballpark and then fine tuning?

Nik Cube

Oh yes bike fits are the bomb without a doubt I provide a bike fitting service and without going into much detail I start by moving everything and getting you to ride around a bit and then resetting everything. It costs £350 lasts to three hours and I use my laptop iPad and my phone loads whilst I rip you off - sorry I mean sort out your position

ShutUpLegs

What do you think needs 'fine tuning'?

starbuck

ShutUpLegs wrote:

What do you think needs 'fine tuning'?

I don't think I even have the setup in the ball park yet (as I get sore wrists sometimes which could be saddle or bars). I'm guessing that once I get it in roughly the right setup, a little tweaking will be needed as I ride more with the new position.

zardoz

I had a bikefit with Garth at Vankru 2 weeks ago and its made a huge difference for me, some quite big changes were made to saddle height and position as well as shortening the stem. I did the full Retul fit - well worth the money as I'm riding a lot more efficiently and faster than I was (or not as slow!). I did have some minor niggles that prompted me to get a proper fit and all those have now gone.
Alan

colinsmith123

I have been considering getting a Retul bike fit. This week I rode my 2nd hand Cervelo R3 for the 1st time, set up as per the previous owner with the exception of the saddle height which I adjusted down 5mm to the same as my other bike. The first impression was how much more comfortable the riding position was compared to my Roubaix. I expected to be putting spacers under the stem on the Roubaix. Another observation was, when putting in an effort I found myself sitting slightly forward in the saddle, but decided to put this down to the Specialized saddle being a very different shape to my Prologo, or possibly still a bit high.

So this morning I compared set ups, measuring the distances through the three connection points; centre of saddle, centre of pedal axles and centre of bars / stem. Noting the difference on the R3, saddle height 0mm. Saddle to centre line of stem / bars -4mm. Pedal to centre line of stem / bars +5mm, thus completing the triangle and an additional stem to floor measurement -10mm.

I can adjust the saddle position, though visually the drop line from the knee (patella) through the axle is the same). What this does not account for, whilst riding on the tops,the bars are lower and yet the position feels more upright, similarly when riding on the hoods these are slightly lower on the R3, though this is more of a difference in the shape of the hoods. What appears to be the case is, either I need to either ride the R3 to bed myself in more, or adjust my Roubaix to the Cervelo.

I have two road bikes with the same length top tubes (albeit other differing geometries) and what appear to be similar set ups. Leaving aside the obvious benefits of an R3 over the Roubaix in terms of performance etc, should I not feel as comfortable on one bike to the other? And has left me wondering what a Retul bike fit do for me?