Bike Fitting

I'm new at this too and would like to know...

Think about it this way, would you buy new shoes or a new Bra without a fitting? :eek:

Pretzel said:

I am thinking about having my LBS fit my bike for me. It is really worth it?

YES!

I have been riding off and on for 30 years. I have been through quite a few bikes. With every bike my "fitting" was to stand over the bike and see if the top tube hit my crotch. When I rode - even on a short ride - something always hurt . . . my arms, my rear, my feet . . . you name it. It hurt.

Two months ago I bought a bike from the local bike shop. The owner insisted on a proper fitting. It took about and hour and a half but he checked everything. Now my rides are about 20 miles and NOTHING hurts! It was worth it to have a bike fitting!

Ok thanks. I wasn't sure if it was going to be worth it to have the guy at the LBS adjust some stuff for a hundred bucks... but the more I think about it, I think I'll set up and appointment.

gclark8 said:

Think about it this way, would you buy new shoes or a new Bra without a fitting? :eek:

How does one go about getting that second job? 😉

I always buy shoes without a proffesional fitting. But I go through shoes quite often... With a bike, you are (hopefully) only going to get a new one every five years minimum; so a proper fit is essential. But you can certainly do it yourself if you know what to look for.

I am still not convinced of the benefits. one can follow a detailed fit guide at somewhere like slowtwitch.com for their tri fit and a bike store is just going to do the exact same thing and charge $90-200 for it.

markred

Skoorb said:

I am still not convinced of the benefits. one can follow a detailed fit guide at somewhere like slowtwitch.com for their tri fit and a bike store is just going to do the exact same thing and charge $90-200 for it.

A good shop will watch you ride your bike and make tweaks to your position based on asymmetries and flexibility (or there of) that are particular to your physical structure.

This objective analysis is well worth the price and something no on-line fit guide can do.

Dave

If you are buying the bike there, fitting it should be done at no charge, and they should swap out parts like stem, bars, cranks, etc. to the proper sizes you need at no charge.

If you bought the bike somewhere else expect to pay for the fit, plus pay for any parts you may need to get the proper fit, and labor to install the parts.

Before the obvious "yes" response to OP's question, one really need to ask about the quality of the fitter at the LBS. There's a variety of standards out there and some of them are just a waste of money while others are priceless.

I'd suggest the OP doing some google searches on bike fitters around the area and then make a decision.

sogood said:

Before the obvious "yes" response to OP's question, one really need to ask about the quality of the fitter at the LBS. There's a variety of standards out there and some of them are just a waste of money while others are priceless.

I'd suggest the OP doing some google searches on bike fitters around the area and then make a decision.

+1. Fits can go from great to suckworthy, and the cost of the fit and what all it entails are not necessarily indicators of how good the fit is.

A good fitter needs to pay attention to what you say and what's going on with you on the bike. Cookie cutter fitters aren't worth a cup of ball-sweat.

I guess the tough part for a beginner rider is that he/she doesn't know what's comfortable and what's not. For a beginning rider, I'd say that the LBS should provide a basic fit service for free as part of selling the bike ie. A mechanical fit by theory. The value of a professional fitter comes, at least in my mind, is after one has ridden for a while and is familiar with the road bike ride position. Then with the input of a pro fitter, a much better ride could be obtained for the longer term.

gclark8 said:

Think about it this way, would you buy new shoes ... without a fitting? :eek:

I certainly would not pay extra for the clerk to tell me the shoes are too big or too small - I can figure that out on my own, as I have owned shoes before!

Similarly, if you are new to cycling, and you don't have confidence in knowing whether something feels right or not, get a fitting. If you know what feels right, take free help but otherwise don't pay for it.

I already spoke the guy at the LBS, he sounds like he knows what he is doing, and according to the shops website, they feature bike fitting as their speciality. You guys can tell me what you think.

krebcycle.comindex.cfmOpen ↗

Thanks

ToffoIsMe said:

If you are buying the bike there, fitting it should be done at no charge, and they should swap out parts like stem, bars, cranks, etc. to the proper sizes you need at no charge.

If you bought the bike somewhere else expect to pay for the fit, plus pay for any parts you may need to get the proper fit, and labor to install the parts.

The place I orignally bought the bike from I later discovered was not a good LBS, and I didn't know enough about bikes to know that I was getting a bit ripped off in my purchuse. Subsequently, I actually don't live in the same state I bought the bike from. =(

Pretzel said:

I already spoke the guy at the LBS, he sounds like he knows what he is doing, and according to the shops website, they feature bike fitting as their speciality. You guys can tell me what you think.

krebcycle.comindex.cfmOpen ↗

Hehe... Just looking at the name, the owner likes biochemistry. 😉

It's hard to tell from a web site. The next option is to ask the fitter for some references.

Pretzel said:

I already spoke the guy at the LBS, he sounds like he knows what he is doing, and according to the shops website, they feature bike fitting as their speciality. You guys can tell me what you think.

krebcycle.comindex.cfmOpen ↗

Thanks

After inspecting their website and consulting with some of my former co-workers, they appear to know what they are doing. I think that I would trust them to do an initial fit for me, if I didn't think that I could do a better job myself.🙄