bike fit, do you need it?

funkydisciple

Hey people,

I know a lot of people talk about getting a bike fit, how it makes riding comfortable or gets you performing at your best. I will be getting one but for the moment...which bike fit literature online, or even on youtube, have you found useful to give you a bike fit that you've been able to set up for yourself?

Lemme know...

kajjal

If you read up and watch a few videos on line you will get an idea of what to do and the effects different changes have. Then take your time to make considered changes so you can see how the changes affect you. At a basic level all you are really adjusting is the saddle and bar position to get you in a comfortable, efficient position with your weight correctly balanced. By doing this most people get on fine.

Others lack the time, have a specific need maybe due to injury or ride at high intensity needing a more accurate setup.

The key thing is you enjoy riding the bike and are confident in it.

Camcycle1974

funkydisciple wrote:

Hey people,

I know a lot of people talk about getting a bike fit, how it makes riding comfortable or gets you performing at your best. I will be getting one but for the moment...which bike fit literature online, or even on youtube, have you found useful to give you a bike fit that you've been able to set up for yourself?

Lemme know...

Check out Veloharmony on you tube. Some great info on there.

MiddleRinger

If you have any pre-existing injuries or niggling pains, or are planning a multi-day 1000's of mile adventure then yes, a bike fit is probably worth the money. If you're comfortable already then a bit of YouTubing, advice from club mates and general fettling will get you 99% of the way there without having to fork out the cash.

I've never had a bike fit. I'm "fast" and comfortable - but I always wonder if I could be even faster and more comfortable if I got a professional bike fit. Maybe one day.

Stuart46

I dont think it is necessary, as long as you have some knowledge which most experienced cyclists have.
More important would be a bike fit before buying a new bike.

StillGoing

If you want to ride comfortably to the best of your ability, then it is absolutely necessary. Visit Bike Dynamics web site. Mike has plenty of information of how to set your bike up yourself, but you really need videoing from all angles to get an accurate fit. You can use the Bike Fast Fit app on iOS with the assistance of someone else, but the average LBS "sit on the bike and lets have a look at you" isn't a proper fitting.

http://bikedynamics.co.uk

http://bikedynamics.co.uk/shop.htm

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/bike-fa ... 35084?mt=8

First.Aspect

philthy3 wrote:

If you want to ride comfortably to the best of your ability, then it is absolutely necessary. Visit Bike Dynamics web site. Mike has plenty of information of how to set your bike up yourself, but you really need videoing from all angles to get an accurate fit. You can use the Bike Fast Fit app on iOS with the assistance of someone else, but the average LBS "sit on the bike and lets have a look at you" isn't a proper fitting.

http://bikedynamics.co.uk

http://bikedynamics.co.uk/shop.htm

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/bike-fa ... 35084?mt=8

I guess that some of these online resources are a good substitute for asking advice in person, to get your bearings.

But a bike fit is necessary in the sense that your bike should fit. A formal fitting is absolutely not. It has only fairly recently become mainstream. More or less in line with the influx of middle aged, wealthy raphalites who "need" something special. Amazingly, people used to walk into bike shops, speak to the people working there and just buy a bike. This is why you see so many older cyclists with a stoop.

----

My concern with formal fittings is that they can meddle for the hell of it. A bit like a chiropractor - unless they find something that only they can see with their special skills, why do they exist?

A competent bike shop can get you the right size of bike and explain how to adjust it for yourself. If you cannot get comfortable or you have specific discomfort issues, seek further advice.

If you are a beginner, a bike fit at the outset will fit your non-cyclist body to a bike and it may not be correct a few thousand miles later.

l0n3rider

sharing my notes ..

https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthre ... ost2396371

hopefully it gives you some idea .. :-)

trekvet

Thanks l0n3rider, that's the first thing I was going to say - get cranks the right length first.

Years ago I went by an artcle in US magazine, Bicycling, so got saddle height, position, bar reach, and from Lance Armstrong's book "slammed" the stem according to flexibility and back strength. Now with split saddle to help prostate, good for 150 miles.

joey54321

I've had 2 retul bike fits (at different places). One was better than the other but both were very uncomfortable and made me slower. After about 4 weeks I pretty much reverted to my old position due to discomfort. I ride quite a lot, 2-300 miles per week and race too so performance as well as comfort is important to me.

norvernrob

joey54321 wrote:

I've had 2 retul bike fits (at different places). One was better than the other but both were very uncomfortable and made me slower. After about 4 weeks I pretty much reverted to my old position due to discomfort. I ride quite a lot, 2-300 miles per week and race too so performance as well as comfort is important to me.

I had a fit with Adrian Timmis a few years ago. We got talking about Retul etc as I mentioned to him that a friend of mine went for a fit, and it was abandoned after an hour as the fitter couldn’t get my friend comfortable. Adrian said that Retul is a fantastic machine, but it’s only as good as the person using it and if the customer doesn’t conform to the settings the machine throws out it’s then down to the fitters knowledge and experience. He said the issue was that anyone can go on a couple of days Retul course and call themselves a bike fitter.

FWIW I’ve still got the same ‘best bike’ frame, and it’s still setup exactly as Adrian did it for me over 3 years ago.

MiddleRinger wrote:

If you have any pre-existing injuries or niggling pains, or are planning a multi-day 1000's of mile adventure then yes, a bike fit is probably worth the money. If you're comfortable already then a bit of YouTubing, advice from club mates and general fettling will get you 99% of the way there without having to fork out the cash.

I've never had a bike fit. I'm "fast" and comfortable - but I always wonder if I could be even faster and more comfortable if I got a professional bike fit. Maybe one day.

That’s what I was always wondering, I’m not fast but the thoughts were always there. So I went to AT, had a fit (including custom made footbeds) that wasn’t cheap, but in reality cost £25 more than my saddle, and I haven’t altered a thing on the bike since. It did and still does feel perfect.

Considering it’s easy to spend 100 quid on a jersey, or double that on a pair of bibs, a good fit is surely value for money and I’m a bit confused when I read so many people saying they’d never pay for one. (Not referring to you MR).

StillGoing

First Aspect wrote:

philthy3 wrote:

If you want to ride comfortably to the best of your ability, then it is absolutely necessary. Visit Bike Dynamics web site. Mike has plenty of information of how to set your bike up yourself, but you really need videoing from all angles to get an accurate fit. You can use the Bike Fast Fit app on iOS with the assistance of someone else, but the average LBS "sit on the bike and lets have a look at you" isn't a proper fitting.

http://bikedynamics.co.uk

http://bikedynamics.co.uk/shop.htm

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/bike-fa ... 35084?mt=8

I guess that some of these online resources are a good substitute for asking advice in person, to get your bearings.

But a bike fit is necessary in the sense that your bike should fit. A formal fitting is absolutely not. It has only fairly recently become mainstream. More or less in line with the influx of middle aged, wealthy raphalites who "need" something special. Amazingly, people used to walk into bike shops, speak to the people working there and just buy a bike. This is why you see so many older cyclists with a stoop.

----

My concern with formal fittings is that they can meddle for the hell of it. A bit like a chiropractor - unless they find something that only they can see with their special skills, why do they exist?

A competent bike shop can get you the right size of bike and explain how to adjust it for yourself. If you cannot get comfortable or you have specific discomfort issues, seek further advice.

If you are a beginner, a bike fit at the outset will fit your non-cyclist body to a bike and it may not be correct a few thousand miles later.

I had my original fitting done with Mike at Bike Dynamics in 2010. He identified several things, one being my crank arm length was too long for me. Switching the cranks to shorter ones during the test to demonstrate the benefit opened my eyes. Along with other changes, I could do 100 mile rides with a slammed stem with no aches or major discomfort.

I've changed bikes many times since, but always transferred Mike's measurements to my new bikes.

joey54321

NorvernRob wrote:

I had a fit with Adrian Timmis a few years ago. We got talking about Retul etc as I mentioned to him that a friend of mine went for a fit, and it was abandoned after an hour as the fitter couldn’t get my friend comfortable. Adrian said that Retul is a fantastic machine, but it’s only as good as the person using it and if the customer doesn’t conform to the settings the machine throws out it’s then down to the fitters knowledge and experience. He said the issue was that anyone can go on a couple of days Retul course and call themselves a bike fitter.

FWIW I’ve still got the same ‘best bike’ frame, and it’s still setup exactly as Adrian did it for me over 3 years ago.

I agree I think retul is actually a negative rather than a positive. Fitters can get lazy and just use the tool to fit you into a box, pass the buck on to Retul and say "look, all the numbers and angles were green". But that doesn't mean the bike fits or that they have considered the individual in front of them.

funkydisciple

ah cheers everyone. I do have knowledge of bikes and been reading stuff over the years but everytime I;ve found something decent it kinda opened my eyes up to...wow never thought of it that way before...kinda feeling. so I carry on researching and I just wondered where you got your information from. I got my cleats spot on and I reckon i'm ok on the bike...it's just the niggling feeling that with a bike fit could I go faster? as someone has mentioned above.

bikes`n`guns

A bike fit will be the best money you spend on upgrades.

A bike fit for £80 will outperform most other upgrades in terms of performance on the bike.

What good carbon wheels when your pedalling is only working at 75% efficiency ?

l0n3rider

funkydisciple wrote:

ah cheers everyone. I do have knowledge of bikes and been reading stuff over the years but everytime I;ve found something decent it kinda opened my eyes up to...wow never thought of it that way before...kinda feeling. so I carry on researching and I just wondered where you got your information from. I got my cleats spot on and I reckon i'm ok on the bike...it's just the niggling feeling that with a bike fit could I go faster? as someone has mentioned above.

i was in similar situation before .. still continue learning what i found so far; the way we pedal our bike heavily influence how the bike fit to us

to me .. good pedaling is a major part of good bikefit. it provides a good platform for our riding experience, on and off the bike.

even though there were many pedaling technique studies show no real benefit in learning one .. however in my opinion the conducted studies were looking at different things than what i have learned.

from an another perspective; bikefit is the art of fitting a bike to our body needs. and that is depending a lot on how we balance our body on the bike and the way we pedal the bike. setting up a bike to accommodate your pedaling needs is BETTER than setting up a bike to force you to pedal in a certain way. fix the rider first, then fit the bike to the rider ..

Is pedaling a bike a natural skill to all?
i think body learns physical patterns, and makes them habitual. this is our baseline. and it is our job to improve it further. this is what we called "natural" but there is absolutely no guarantee that this learned habit is the best approach. look at other sports where we have to learn the strokes for tennis, the kick for football, etc. in cycling, whatever we do, the cranks will still move in circle. Hence, so many people think there is no need to learn, or it's a natural motion.

First.Aspect

Bikes`n`guns wrote:

A bike fit will be the best money you spend on upgrades.

A bike fit for £80 will outperform most other upgrades in terms of performance on the bike.

What good carbon wheels when your pedalling is only working at 75% efficiency ?

Interesting numbers. Completely arbitrary, but interesting.

chunkytfg

First Aspect wrote:

Bikes`n`guns wrote:

A bike fit will be the best money you spend on upgrades.

A bike fit for £80 will outperform most other upgrades in terms of performance on the bike.

What good carbon wheels when your pedalling is only working at 75% efficiency ?

Interesting numbers. Completely arbitrary, but interesting.

Bike fit for £80? Wow! seriously cheap making me a bit skeptical about the fitter tbh.

......

As has been said a bike fit is only as good as the bike fitter. Technology will only help if you fully conform to all the usual parameters.

i've had 2 bike fits, one for the road bike and one for my TT bike. On both occasions the technology was used to give a starting point and from there I was put on my bike on a turbo and adjusted bit by bit.

Road bike, I ride longer and lower with a higher saddle than I had previously and it's way more comfortable than my previous home grown fit using a mirror and a video camera.

TT bike, I'd got it pretty much spot on while down on the extensions but while on the bars in 'climbing' mode I was way to low so pad stack was reduced, headset spacers were added and I ended up with a bike I could actually climb with also.


Finding a decent competent fitter is a bit like finding a decent LBS. some are better than others but once you find the right one you'll stick with them forever!!

bikes`n`guns

Oh good god, my figures were simply to make a point.

Pedants. I`ll stick in a disclaimer in future, but you know what point I was making.

BikerGroveish

I’ve found any of the bike fits I’ve had to be worth their weight in gold. They’ve allowed me to wring every ounce of performance efficiently from whichever bike it’s been on. It’s also helped from an injury prevention point of view. I wouldn’t bother with a YouTube special. There’s too much that’s individual to me to take in to account for it to be of much use.

First.Aspect

Bikes`n`guns wrote:

Oh good god, my figures were simply to make a point.

Pedants. I`ll stick in a disclaimer in future, but you know what point I was making.

What point were you making?

bikes`n`guns

Go on, have a guess.

Or I`ll help you out if you like. Spending money improving your efficiency on the bike will be better value than most bike upgrades.

What is the point of fancy wheels, if you are sitting all wrong on the bike and are not in an efficient position.

simon_masterson

Bikes`n`guns wrote:

Go on, have a guess.

Or I`ll help you out if you like. Spending money improving your efficiency on the bike will be better value than most bike upgrades.

What is the point of fancy wheels, if you are sitting all wrong on the bike and are not in an efficient position.

It’s an absolutely valid point, but unless you have significant physiological issues, injuries etc to complicate things, you should be able to do a very good job on your own. Good enough that you can do everything you want to do without any issues, and that a fitter will make small adjustments to.

Also, it needs to be recognised that there isn’t a single perfect setup that you can just set and forget - different fitters will recommend different things.

bikes`n`guns

Simon Masterson wrote:

Bikes`n`guns wrote:

Go on, have a guess.

Or I`ll help you out if you like. Spending money improving your efficiency on the bike will be better value than most bike upgrades.

What is the point of fancy wheels, if you are sitting all wrong on the bike and are not in an efficient position.

It’s an absolutely valid point, but unless you have significant physiological issues, injuries etc to complicate things, you should be able to do a very good job on your own. Good enough that you can do everything you want to do without any issues,and that a fitter will make small adjustments to
Also, it needs to be recognised that there isn’t a single perfect setup that you can just set and forget - different fitters will recommend different things.

Soooooo, get a bike fit ?

mfin

Simon Masterson wrote:

Bikes`n`guns wrote:

Go on, have a guess.

Or I`ll help you out if you like. Spending money improving your efficiency on the bike will be better value than most bike upgrades.

What is the point of fancy wheels, if you are sitting all wrong on the bike and are not in an efficient position.

It’s an absolutely valid point, but unless you have significant physiological issues, injuries etc to complicate things, you should be able to do a very good job on your own. Good enough that you can do everything you want to do without any issues, and that a fitter will make small adjustments to.

Also, it needs to be recognised that there isn’t a single perfect setup that you can just set and forget - different fitters will recommend different things.

+1 ...most intelligent people are capable of working out a good fit themselves given some time and some experience in the saddle. Some people don't have the brain or inclination to do it though. I've seen lots of paid for bike fits turn out crap.

I'd also go so far as saying that even if a bike fit is done well by a 3rd party it can still be tweaked and improved in a lot of cases, by a few mm here and there.

de_sisti

I went for a bike fit with Adrian Timmis in 2011. He pointed out the my saddle height
was too high and that I was too stretched out towards my handlebars. I took two bikes
up there to be assessed on.I ended up buying foot orthotics and two short-drop handlebars.

All of my three bikes (I have another one) are now set up almost identically. I have written
down measurements (e.g. distance from tip of saddle to handlebars, distance from floor to
top of saddle), and am now confident of getting any subsequent bike of mine to fit comfortably*.

* All of my bikes have the same saddle, peddles, handlebars, cranks

joey54321

De Sisti wrote:

I went for a bike fit with Adrian Timmis in 2011. He pointed out the my saddle height
was too high and that I was too stretched out towards my handlebars. I took two bikes
up there to be assessed on.I ended up buying foot orthotics and two short-drop handlebars.

All of my three bikes (I have another one) are now set up almost identically. I have written
down measurements (e.g. distance from tip of saddle to handlebars, distance from floor to
top of saddle), and am now confident of getting any subsequent bike of mine to fit comfortably*.

* All of my bikes have the same saddle, peddles, handlebars, cranks

Be careful with measurements to the floor, different bikes have different bottom bracket heights which will affect your effective saddle height.

de_sisti

joey54321 wrote:

Be careful with measurements to the floor, different bikes have different bottom bracket heights which will affect your effective saddle height.

Not an issue here.