Was your bike fit worth the money??

jazgill

joshvoulters wrote:

Spent quite a lot of money with Scherrit, a.k.a. the bike whisperer- hands down best money I've spent in cycling

Me too, have to agree. Had a really odd hip pain on one side which was cured after spending about four or five hours with Scherrit.

MrLion

+1 for scherritt the bike whisperer - best money I've spent on cycling. Two shims and a centimetre on the saddle and the stem - but I wasn't paying by the centimetre I was paying for pain free cycling. I went from having foot and knee pain over 45 mi to doing a century comfortably.

nbalcombe

Some really interesting discussion here and something I might consider (I'm plagued with leg pain and wear orthotics 24/7 as it is). Does anyone know of anywhere decent in the Chester area? We've got the Specialized one, any experience with them?

Schleck's Chain

For me, being able to keep cycling without the pain I was getting made my bike fit worth it. Maybe I had to have it because I was hopeless at getting my bike position right but I've no pain since having the bike fit (so far). If I had the knowledge to get my set-up right myself it obviously wouldn't have been worth it but I don't.

My bike fit was done by the University of Worcester. Obviously I've got no experience with other bike fitters but it worked for me.

lawrences

I had knee pain so I moved my own cleats now I don't have knee pain and I have £200 quid still in the bank.

Grill

nbalcombe wrote:

Some really interesting discussion here and something I might consider (I'm plagued with leg pain and wear orthotics 24/7 as it is). Does anyone know of anywhere decent in the Chester area? We've got the Specialized one, any experience with them?

Don't go to Spec. Their BG Fit 'experts' have no idea what they're talking about, especially when it comes to the morphology of the foot.

What sort of pain and where? Also, what sort of orthotics are you wearing in your cycling shoes (drop-in, 3/4, custom full-length, etc.)?

N0bodyOfTheGoat

lawrences wrote:

I had knee pain so I moved my own cleats now I don't have knee pain and I have £200 quid still in the bank.

Don't forget to raise your saddle and move the saddle rails rearward in the seat post for extra value for money.

nbalcombe

Grill wrote:

nbalcombe wrote:

Some really interesting discussion here and something I might consider (I'm plagued with leg pain and wear orthotics 24/7 as it is). Does anyone know of anywhere decent in the Chester area? We've got the Specialized one, any experience with them?

Don't go to Spec. Their BG Fit 'experts' have no idea what they're talking about, especially when it comes to the morphology of the foot.

What sort of pain and where? Also, what sort of orthotics are you wearing in your cycling shoes (drop-in, 3/4, custom full-length, etc.)?

I have incredibly flat feet and have NHS orthotics that I wear all the time. Never really considered putting them in my cycling shoes for some reason until I started getting pain at the top side of my calf on longer rides. I do a shed load of stretches before and after riding as it is. Bought some Superfeet insoles off the interweb to try them and slotted them into my shoes in-place of the existing flat insoles. This has made a world of difference but now I seem to be struggling to get the power down.

I do feel I'm a special case as I've seen loads of specialists and physios just for walking, so getting my cycling setup sorted could probably do with the same sort of rigor.

Grill

Footbeds for sports such as cycling and skiing are completely different than those you'd use for walking or running as gait isn't an issue. The support is formed based on a flat even press, so your typical podiatrist is pretty useless for these type of sports specific applications (I've had many footbeds for podiatrists- they have no clue).

Flat feet come in to two flavours; truly flat which is very easy to sort, and flat due to collapsed arches which is typically accompanied by hyper-mobility). Superfeet make fantastic footbeds and you're definitely on the right track. Which colour did you go with (yellow is useless)?

What exactly do you mean when you say you struggle to put the power down?

lawrences

NitrousOxide wrote:

lawrences wrote:

I had knee pain so I moved my own cleats now I don't have knee pain and I have £200 quid still in the bank.

Don't forget to raise your saddle and move the saddle rails rearward in the seat post for extra value for money.

Maybe if my arse ever hurts.

nbalcombe

Grill wrote:

Footbeds for sports such as cycling and skiing are completely different than those you'd use for walking or running as gait isn't an issue. The support is formed based on a flat even press, so your typical podiatrist is pretty useless for these type of sports specific applications (I've had many footbeds for podiatrists- they have no clue).

Flat feet come in to two flavours; truly flat which is very easy to sort, and flat due to collapsed arches which is typically accompanied by hyper-mobility). Superfeet make fantastic footbeds and you're definitely on the right track. Which colour did you go with (yellow is useless)?

What exactly do you mean when you say you struggle to put the power down?

I went for the carbon Superfeet, wasn't sure what they were like but thought I'd give them a go. Really like them and might get another pair for Snowboarding as I currently use my NHS ones for that too.

I have collapsed arches, one considerably more so than the other. It pulls my calf out and I end up getting really tight hamstrings and calfs unless I stretch loads.

Regarding power, I just feel I have no strength in my legs at the moment when cycling (compared to before I had the insoles). I probably need to fettle my cleats to be honest as I don't feel I'm riding as efficiently as I could. With that in mind, plus the issues with my feet I thought seeking pro advice would be a big help for someone like me.

Grill

Only two fitters in the UK I trust are Colin at Solutions4feet and Hamish at Profeet. From what you describe, it's actually very simple to sort with proper footbeds.

The Superfeet will be better for snowboarding.

The insoles have stabilized your feet, but in doing so your feet will sit farther back on the pedals and you'll be a tiny bit higher. Moving the cleats back will improve power. Do your legs feel dead as a whole, or is more the quads?

nbalcombe

Grill wrote:

Only two fitters in the UK I trust are Colin at Solutions4feet and Hamish at Profeet. From what you describe, it's actually very simple to sort with proper footbeds.

The Superfeet will be better for snowboarding.

The insoles have stabilized your feet, but in doing so your feet will sit farther back on the pedals and you'll be a tiny bit higher. Moving the cleats back will improve power. Do your legs feel dead as a whole, or is more the quads?

Cheers for the info Grill. Where are the two guys you mention based? When you say move the cleats back, is that towards the heal or the toe? I was thinking that it felt like I needed to move them towards the toes (which I would call forwards).

I seem to feel the effort in my quads more in general but lately it's my whole leg that just seems to be feeling dead. Mind you, this could be a whole host of other factors causing this.

Grill

Colin is in Bicester and Hamish is in London.

I was thinking towards the heel as the footbed would stop your foot from sliding forward in the shoe, but if you feel that it's more comfortable towards the toe then it's worth a try as everyone's different.

Could be DOMS or a few other things. A few months ago I had a week where I just had no power and could barely turn the pedals. No idea what it was but it got better.

feltkuota

I've had one and thought it very worthwhile. Changed a few things. Whilst none of the changes were hugely significant in themselves, put together makes for a far better position/comfort etc.

Although this is mostly a financial issue "what price peace of mind"?

rosavillewill

Grill wrote:

Only two fitters in the UK I trust are Colin at Solutions4feet and Hamish at Profeet. From what you describe, it's actually very simple to sort with proper footbeds.

Sadly Hamish, the owner of Profeet, passed away some time ago. However they still have other good fitters for footbeds but their Retul bike fitting service is long gone

Will

Grill

rosavillewill wrote:

Grill wrote:

Only two fitters in the UK I trust are Colin at Solutions4feet and Hamish at Profeet. From what you describe, it's actually very simple to sort with proper footbeds.

Sadly Hamish, the owner of Profeet, passed away some time ago. However they still have other good fitters for footbeds but their Retul bike fitting service is long gone

Will

Jesus really? It seems like I was talking to him just last year, but come to think of it it must be going on 4.

ai_1

W12 lad wrote:

I had a great day (7+ hours, I kid you not) with the bike whisperer.
Before the fit, two thoughts came to mind and the reality is I and most people would be much closer to the first.
1. I hope he makes loads of changes so I haven't wasted my money.
2. I hope he makes no changes which shows my understanding of fit is correct.

My saddle was raised 6mm, that was it.
That was due to my left cleat being 'shimmed' 5mm (left leg shorter than right after being broken).
So, I was 1mm out on my saddle height pre fit.

To be fair, the shoe changes definitely make a difference (some wedges in both feet) but I still felt as though I'd dropped a lot of money with not much to show for it.

If I'd known before, that so few changes were to be made, I definitely wouldn't have bothered, but that's impossible to know.

I'm glad I did it though, mainly because now I don't worry about it.

To be fair to him, it's not his fault that no changes were really required.
I'm sure a more dodgy fitter may have invented a couple of changes to justify his
payment..... maybe.

When I did a bike fit, I ended up with just a minor fore/aft saddle adjustment. I was rather pleased to find that I'd managed a pretty decent fit on my own. I wasn't having any major problems and did the fit because I was able to get it done cheaply through my club as they brought in a fitter for the day so that several of us could get fittings done and the fitter dropped his rate significantly. I wanted a second opinion, that's all.
If you have specific problems then it would make sense to want the bike fit to reveal problems which might help. However, it makes no sense to me to want to make changes just because you paid for a fit.

StillGoing

Yes, worth every penny. Had mine done by Mike at Bike Dynamics. His commentary and explanation throughout gave me an insight into fitting.

eric_draven

Had a dartfish one,at a bike shop,but the person who did it,didn't even cycle,so it may come as no surprise to you all,it was a complete waste of a 100 quid,i really did want to walk out about half way through

bikes`n`guns

Yup
Had one done at Criterium in Edinburgh and Paul was superb.
It was definitely money well spent, and not even that much money either

rafletcher

Another "yes". Mine was a Retul fit, carried out by Dean @ fit-me-up.com, based in the middle of Hatfield. He's a physio, and also a cyclist - has done the etape on several occasions, plus Paris-Roubaix etc. So he's able to overlay the Retul info with his own experience. I actually had 2 different fittings - initially a basic "bike-fit" to determine best frame geometry to go for (frame size, stem length, crank length), then the Retul once I'd got the bike. The main change was to move me down (4cm!) and forward - this to get my legs (knees) to have the currently accepted 35'ish degree bend in at bottom of pedal stroke, and to bring my knee over the pedal spindle. This stopped the over extension of my ankle that was resulting in Achilles pain. It also meant muscles I ought to have been using but wasn't hurt like hell initially - I wonder if this is why some people feel their fits were "bad", because they had more pain than before, even if it was the result of an improved position. After all no-one gets straight on a racing cycle and finds it a natural position!

It was also instructive to watch the video - I always thought I wasn't "ankling" when pedalling, but in fact (probably due to being "too" high for years) I do it quite naturally. And my knees follow a pretty straight up-and-down too, which is good.

The only other change was a slight tilt up on the bars - it would have been better to move the levers, but the FSA wing bars I have didn't allow it. Stem, bar width remained the same. Cleat position was spot on, but I've had plenty of practice in what works for me, and Dean subscribes to the ball-of-foot-over-spindle position that I've customarily used.

So, although not a lot was changed, I got the right frame size (and it was a "treat" Argon 18 Gallium Pro, so I didn't want to get the wrong size!), got a good position for what I wanted to do (leisure and sportives), and had a great chat and learnt a few things about how bodies work.

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