Bike Fitting Scotland

Nellymosser
Nellymosser Posts: 2
edited August 2015 in Road general
Posting this because I recently had a great fit and have been asked a few times who did it.

Garry Kirk in Milton of Campsie changed the way I ride. I've been on road bikes about 10 years now - done a few Etape Caledonias, a London-Paris and other long and short stuff. I always assumed there would be a bit of pain / discomfort on your bike. Until the fit.

Garry is a detail fanatic which he needs to be in this job.
He profiled my riding style on the bike and spotted some basic stuff like a hip slide on pedalling knee flopping out at the top of the pedal stroke but also subtler things like my movement in the saddle on the drops, how curved my back was and toes pointing down at the bottom of the pedal stroke.
He follows the style of Steve Hogg with three things being focussed on: pedalling, reaching and sitting. Handlebars were altered, suddenly becoming comfortable on my palms again. My wee, short legs had been pushing 172.5 cranks. Those were dropped to 155s, foot position was analysed and I took delivery of some lovely Speedplays which are easy to pop in and out of, as well as taking away absolutely all foot pain, tiredness or discomfort.

In the saddle, I now know that it is not good padding that makes you comfortable – it’s how your saddle holds you. My current saddle gave me numbness in my sit bone area after a few hours plus some soft tissue friction at the font. I had always assumed that was par for the course. Garry showed me the importance of the right saddle, set properly by altering mine moving from sit bones taking the weight, to the ischial tuberosity and forward to the soft tissue crush. I invested in a Selle SMP Dynamic. Once properly adjusted it now holds me comfortably up hills on the flat; on the drops – all the time. And it has precious little padding. The day after fitting I cycled round Arran in windy conditions – no pain whatsoever!

Now my reach is streamlined but comfortable, my saddle position doesn't get sore any more and the shorter cranks and better pedal alignment mean that going uphill is a smoother more efficient exercise. My flopping knee is gone – dead straight now.

Garry’s service was fantastic. The saddle was an expensive investment so he gave me a test version for a couple of weeks. While he can sell you the products he recommends he is also happy for you to buy and fit them yourself – his is an advice service not a drive to push products at you. He is obsessed with making your bike fit you and for me he has done a great job.

I don't usually post about bike stuff - normally just read it. However, getting a decent bike fitting has made the biggest change to my bike. It is absolutely worth the time it takes to get every detail right. In the long run cycling has become even more of a delight for me than ever. In fact I'm off out to get some wear on that dynamic right now! :D

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