Bike fit - any suggestions for questions?

cruff

Finally accepted that I need to get a fit to ensure I'm getting the best out of myself, so taking my race and TT bikes to Pedal Precision at the NCC in a couple of weeks' time.

I had a chat with the guy doing the fit and therefore have a decent idea of what's involved, but does anyone who has been fitted have any pointers or things I should be asking?

My main reasons for getting fitted are two-fold

Firstly, I have a couple of niggling problems with injury - namely a very inflexible lower back (historic problem going back years, related to being a fat b*stard for a long time) and a knee problem that flares up from time to time (related to a chronically weak left glute that no amount of sterengthening seems to help) - I'm looking to maximise power whilst minimising the risk of making these problems more serious

Secondly, my TT position is absolutely horrendous. I can't put out anything like the power I can on my race bike, so want at least a basic understanding of why that is before I even start thinking about aero fits with wind tunnel time and any of that jazz.

My extremely unscientific and imprecise method has given me a reasonable position on the race bike to begin with, so I'm not anticipating any massive changes there - but how much should I be expecting of the fitting on the TT bike? Is it taking the p*ss a bit asking him to look at making me more aero when in reality, because I'm so clueless about getting even a halfway decent position, any changes he makes are likely to improve me (they couldn't make me worse!)

Cheers, in advance

supermurph09

zebulebu wrote:

Finally accepted that I need to get a fit to ensure I'm getting the best out of myself, so taking my race and TT bikes to Pedal Precision at the NCC in a couple of weeks' time.

I had a chat with the guy doing the fit and therefore have a decent idea of what's involved, but does anyone who has been fitted have any pointers or things I should be asking?

My main reasons for getting fitted are two-fold

Firstly, I have a couple of niggling problems with injury - namely a very inflexible lower back (historic problem going back years, related to being a fat b*stard for a long time) and a knee problem that flares up from time to time (related to a chronically weak left glute that no amount of sterengthening seems to help) - I'm looking to maximise power whilst minimising the risk of making these problems more serious

Secondly, my TT position is absolutely horrendous. I can't put out anything like the power I can on my race bike, so want at least a basic understanding of why that is before I even start thinking about aero fits with wind tunnel time and any of that jazz.

My extremely unscientific and imprecise method has given me a reasonable position on the race bike to begin with, so I'm not anticipating any massive changes there - but how much should I be expecting of the fitting on the TT bike? Is it taking the p*ss a bit asking him to look at making me more aero when in reality, because I'm so clueless about getting even a halfway decent position, any changes he makes are likely to improve me (they couldn't make me worse!)

Cheers, in advance

Regarding the TT bike, it's natural to put out less power than your road bike so don't worry about that. Regarding your position on the TT bike it's really all about testing, a bike fit might get you in a comfortable position but it's likely not the most aero. Adding to that you could be put in an aero position that you can't hold when on the bike. A conundrum.

What you want is a position that makes you comfortable without having the aero qualities of a house brick, an experienced fitter should get you in something that is effective if not optimised. Either way it'll take time to adapt, so plenty of practice on the road and turbo in position.

Good luck.

cruff

Cheers!

In an odd way, I'm looking forward to it. Hoping I can find a position where I can put out decent power that doesn't make my back feel like crunchy lego.

supermurph09

Might be interesting for others if you can post some before and after shots.

smoggysteve

If you take 2 bikes expect to get billed twice as you don't get a one fit for all bikes. Especially if one is a TT as your position is very different from that of a road bike. My saddle is about a good 2 cm furth forward on my road setup and my stem is longer and lower. Couldn't translate that onto my TT bike at all.

cruff

SmoggySteve wrote:

If you take 2 bikes expect to get billed twice as you don't get a one fit for all bikes. Especially if one is a TT as your position is very different from that of a road bike. My saddle is about a good 2 cm furth forward on my road setup and my stem is longer and lower. Couldn't translate that onto my TT bike at all.

Yep, already agreed that with him - I wouldn't expect to get two for the price of one!

cruff

Supermurph09 wrote:

Might be interesting for others if you can post some before and after shots.

I'll see if I can get on the turbo tonight

cruff

So - had the fit yesterday and it was brilliant. Made a slight adjustment to cleat position to bring my heels out a bit, trying to get my pedal stroke a bit smoother (ankles were turned inwards, so knees compensating by flaring out on the downstroke).

On the road bike, tilted saddle back a bit to encourage me to sit further back in saddle as I was tipped a bit far forward, and raised saddle by another 5mm (I've raised it about 20mm over the years but still needed to go up a bit). Everything else was pretty good on that front, so after a couple of years of more serious riding, the adjustments I've made up to that point were at least going in the right direction.

The TT bike was a different story! I had it set up like a triantelope - set to push backwards rather than replicating my road bike stroke. The theory behind this, I thought, was to get more power out, but it's onloy really useful for triathletes (allows them to recruit more of the muscles used in running so they don't get jelly legs after the transition) so saddle moved back, flattened out, raised by 10mm and bars pulled forward to naturally lay me over a bit more. As a result, I could instantly feel more power through the stroke, felt more balanced on the aero bars and put out about 30 watts more power for the same RPE. It was good to hear my position itself wasn't that bad aero-wise - tweaking it allowed me to flatten out a bit of a bump in the middle and should make me more comfortable for longer TTs

Obviously, I won't see the benefits of any of this until TT season, but already on the turbo last night I did a couple of 5 minute threshold intervals @ my last FTP test result and my heart rate was about 5-7 bpm lower (which I guess is A Good Sign)

The whole process was really interesting. Having had a physio diagnose a relatively fundamental problem a couple of years ago (a basically non-existent left glute) and working hard towards trying to rectify that, it was good to see someone else note that there wasn't that much of an issue with it. All the agony with the foam roller was worth it Went into a bit of detail about previous injuries, athletic (haha) background and the like, and did a lot of work on the turbo with the slow-mo camera to analyse dead sports in my stroke and where my knees were doing daft things. Interesting to see how much difference even a subtle adjustment can make to the way the pedal stroke feels

Overall, definitely worth every penny. Obviously not all bike fits/riders will be the same, and some might not get as much benefit out of it as me, but I'd suggest anyone with serious doubts about their position or a niggling injury that doesn't seem to get better over time should consider getting fitted

MiddleRinger

Sounds like a comprehensive fitting appointment and money well spent.