Bicycle Fit Checks - Worth the $$?

Quoted message said:

I am searching for a new road bike and I am looking for advice on fit checks/measurements. I have
heard a range of things from a minimum of a quick visual check to limited measurements to an
extreme of paying $75 for a two hour fitting.

Is it worth paying this type of money for fittings? What questions should I be asking about their
measurements/techniques?

$75 for two hours of fitting consultation from somebody who knows what they're doing is hardly
extreme; that would qualify as one of the great buys in my book! That's not to say it's required
though; many shops do an excellent job of fitting as part of the sale of the bike.

Quoted message said:

From what I have researched, the key measurements are : frame size, seat height, seat location
(front/back) and handlebar to seat height difference.

Those might be the key measurements, but they're meaningless without context. Well, not exactly
meaningless, as they represent a starting point for the fit process. Anybody who tells you that
measurements alone are the answer doesn't have a clue in the world about being comfortable on a
bike. They might know something about how *they* ride, but this is about *you.*

Another thing to keep in mind is that even the best fit person in the world isn't going to be able
to anticipate everything. Fit is, in many cases, dynamic, and a proper fit sometimes takes a
number of readjustments over time. Make sure wherever you go that they aren't going to run away
from you later on.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles chainreactionbicycles.comchainreactionbicycles.comOpen ↗

"Mike" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I am searching for a new road bike and I am looking for advice on fit checks/measurements. I have
heard a range of things from a minimum of a quick visual check to limited measurements to an
extreme of paying $75 for a two hour fitting.

Is it worth paying this type of money for fittings? What questions should I be asking about their
measurements/techniques?

From what I have researched, the key measurements are : frame size, seat height, seat location
(front/back) and handlebar to seat height difference.

Thanks Mike

On 15 Feb 2004 20:41:46 -0800, [email hidden] (Mike) wrote in
message <[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

I am searching for a new road bike and I am looking for advice on fit checks/measurements. I have
heard a range of things from a minimum of a quick visual check to limited measurements to an
extreme of paying $75 for a two hour fitting.

Quoted message said:

Is it worth paying this type of money for fittings? What questions should I be asking about their
measurements/techniques?

It entirely depends how much you're going to pay for the bike, or whether (like my LBS) they give
you the money back if you buy.

I think the computerised bike fit systems in decent road bike shops are well worth the money. A
proper fitting from someone who knows what they are doing is even better. If the bike is going to
cost $2,000 or more it's a no-brainer.

Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
chapmancentral.demon.co.ukchapmancentral.demon.co.ukOpen ↗

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at the University of Washington.

"Mike" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I am searching for a new road bike and I am looking for advice on fit checks/measurements. I have
heard a range of things from a minimum of a quick visual check to limited measurements to an
extreme of paying $75 for a two hour fitting.

Is it worth paying this type of money for fittings? What questions should I be asking about their
measurements/techniques?

From what I have researched, the key measurements are : frame size, seat height, seat location
(front/back) and handlebar to seat height difference.

I'm very skeptical about bike fittings. Most of the parameters boil down to individual preference.
It would be great to have a completely adjustable bike that you could actually ride around on, but
even that wouldn't tell you how it would feel after a few hours. Besides, from what I've seen, most
shops sell bikes that are poorly suited to the rider's needs, fit is usually tweakable after sale,
models are not. You'd be much better off spending an extra $75 for a sales-droid with a clue.

Quoted message said:

I think the computerised bike fit systems in decent road bike shops are well worth the money. A
proper fitting from someone who knows what they are doing is even better. If the bike is going to
cost $2,000 or more it's a no-brainer.

The usefulness and joy of a bike doesn't come from its price, but rather from how fun it is to ride.
Why should somebody take advantage of being properly fit on a $2000 bike and not a $600 one? If we,
as an industry, did a better job of fitting people to $600 bikes, they'd spend a *lot* more time out
on the road, a lot less time in the garage, and, in the end, we'd sell a lot more $2000 bikes.

It's reasonable to expect a more detailed, finely-tuned fitting on somebody who has ridden a road
bike extensively already, compared to somebody new to the concept (because it's going to take a
while for the new rider to recognize what makes for a more comfortable ride, and to accomplish that
leap-of-faith required to believe that a skinnier saddle and road-type bars can do that). But it's
not reasonable to think that the $600 bike doesn't benefit as much, and possibly even more so, from
being fit properly to the rider.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles www.ChainReaction.com

"Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On 15 Feb 2004 20:41:46 -0800, [email hidden] (Mike) wrote in message
<[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

I am searching for a new road bike and I am looking for advice on fit checks/measurements. I have
heard a range of things from a minimum of a quick visual check to limited measurements to an
extreme of paying $75 for a two hour fitting.

Quoted message said:

Is it worth paying this type of money for fittings? What questions should I be asking about their
measurements/techniques?

It entirely depends how much you're going to pay for the bike, or whether (like my LBS) they give
you the money back if you buy.

I think the computerised bike fit systems in decent road bike shops are well worth the money. A
proper fitting from someone who knows what they are doing is even better. If the bike is going to
cost $2,000 or more it's a no-brainer.

Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
chapmancentral.demon.co.ukchapmancentral.demon.co.ukOpen ↗

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at the University of

Washington.

On Mon, 16 Feb 2004 21:37:30 GMT, "Mike Jacoubowsky/Chain Reaction
Bicycles" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
<[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

The usefulness and joy of a bike doesn't come from its price, but rather from how fun it is to
ride. Why should somebody take advantage of being properly fit on a $2000 bike and not a $600
one? If we, as an industry, did a better job of fitting people to $600 bikes, they'd spend a
*lot* more time out on the road, a lot less time in the garage, and, in the end, we'd sell a lot
more $2000 bikes.

Would you spend 20% of the cost of the bike getting it fitted? In my LBS it's not an issue, you get
the money back if you buy a bike.

Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
chapmancentral.demon.co.ukchapmancentral.demon.co.ukOpen ↗

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

Quoted message said:

Would you spend 20% of the cost of the bike getting it fitted? In my LBS it's not an issue, you
get the money back if you buy a bike.

If it made the difference between a bike that was fun to ride and one that wasn't, it might be worth
it. But it's academic for the most part; the fittings we do are part of the service we offer with
bikes we sell, regardless of price. Even a $500 TREK 1000 customer doesn't leave the door without
being properly fit (which means, at minimum, the various common measurements, along with checking
out his/her position on the bike afterward, looking for indications that something might need
further adjustment).

The biggest mistake comes when people make the purchase of that first road bike. The better shops
essentially subsidize that purchase, by putting in more time & effort making sure everything is just
right than makes sense economically. But it's worth it, because if we can get people hooked on
cycling, they come back for more and more and more. Jerseys, shorts, helmets, shoes, computers,
racks, seat bags, tools, pumps... The shop that just pushes a bike across the counter and
congratulates themselves on making a sale is a sad place, because not only is the shop losing out on
a continuing revenue stream, but the customer is losing out because they may very well add cycling
to that long list of things they spent a bunch of money on but didn't work out.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles

"Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Mike Jacoubowsky/Chain Reaction Bicycles said:

The usefulness and joy of a bike doesn't come from its price, but rather from how fun it is to
ride. Why should somebody take advantage of being properly fit on a $2000 bike and not a $600
one? If we, as an industry,

did

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

a better job of fitting people to $600 bikes, they'd spend a *lot* more

time

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

out on the road, a lot less time in the garage, and, in the end, we'd

sell a

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

lot more $2000 bikes.

Would you spend 20% of the cost of the bike getting it fitted? In my LBS it's not an issue, you
get the money back if you buy a bike.

Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
chapmancentral.demon.co.ukchapmancentral.demon.co.ukOpen ↗

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

"Mike Jacoubowsky/Chain Reaction Bicycles" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Would you spend 20% of the cost of the bike getting it fitted? In my LBS it's not an issue, you
get the money back if you buy a bike.

If it made the difference between a bike that was fun to ride and one that wasn't, it might be
worth it. But it's academic for the most part; the fittings we do are part of the service we offer
with bikes we sell, regardless of price. Even a $500 TREK 1000 customer doesn't leave the door
without being properly fit (which means, at minimum, the various common measurements, along with
checking out his/her position on the bike afterward, looking for indications that something might
need further adjustment).

The biggest mistake comes when people make the purchase of that first road bike. The better shops
essentially subsidize that purchase, by putting in more time & effort making sure everything is
just right than makes sense economically. But it's worth it, because if we can get people hooked
on cycling, they come back for more and more and more. Jerseys, shorts, helmets, shoes, computers,
racks, seat bags, tools, pumps... The shop that just pushes a bike across the counter and
congratulates themselves on making a sale is a sad place, because not only is the shop losing out
on a continuing revenue stream, but the customer is losing out because they may very well add
cycling to that long list of things they spent a bunch of money on but didn't work out.

Mike - I agree with you - that is part of the reason for my question. When I bought my first road
bike 10 years ago, I paid $400 for it but got a 1/2 hr fitting with a bunch of measurements just
like the guy that bought a $2000 bike. Unfortunately, the person doing the fit was a bike racer and
didn't take the time to understand how I was going to ride the bike and set everything up for racing
- I think that's part of the reason that I hated my old bike so much and eventually gave up riding
for a number of years...

Now, I am looking at a $1500 - $2000 bike and was suprised that they want to charge me an additional
$75 - $100 for a fitting at some places. Their contention is that the shops that aren't charging are
not doing a proper fit. That is what drove one of my other questions
- is there a basic set of measurements that should be done that I could ask each of the shops to see
if they are doing an apples to apples fit?

Thanks

[email hidden] (Mike) wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

- is there a basic set of measurements that should be done that I could ask each of the shops to
see if they are doing an apples to apples fit?

You can find a basic fit calculator at competitivecyclist.comcompetitivecyclist.comOpen ↗ This should give you a
starting point, if you're really careful about taking your measurements. Some things like saddle
tilt and handlebar height are mostly a personal preference issue. Other things like cleat position
need to be evaluated on-the-bike.

Ken said:

[email hidden] (Mike) wrote in :"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

- is there a basic set of measurements that should be done that I could ask each of the shops to
see if they are doing an apples to apples fit?

You can find a basic fit calculator at competitivecyclist.comcompetitivecyclist.comOpen ↗ This should give you a
starting point, if you're really careful about taking your measurements. Some things like saddle
tilt and handlebar height are mostly a personal preference issue. Other things like cleat position
need to be evaluated on-the-bike.

competitive cyclists have different fit concerns than guys who want to go for a spin in the
countryside. Humans are bewilderingly diverse in their shapes of their bodies and their agendas--you
wouldn't size a grandmother who was new to cycling the same way you'd size a Cat 1 amateur racer,
would you?

All the money in the world spent on having a bicycle fitted to you is wasted if you don't
participate in the process-and that means knowing immediately what's not comfortable, and
telling the 'expert' that....After all, it is *you* who's going to be sitting in the saddle, not
the bike-fitter.

-Luigi www.livejournal.com/users/ouij Photos, rants, raves

Luigi de Guzman said:

that means knowing immediately what's not comfortable, and telling the 'expert' that.

That is very important, and even more difficult. Doubly so on both for riders not experienced with
fitting themselves on similar bikes.
--
Rick Onanian

"Mike Jacoubowsky" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I am searching for a new road bike and I am looking for advice on fit checks/measurements. I
have heard a range of things from a minimum of a quick visual check to limited measurements to
an extreme of paying $75 for a two hour fitting.

Is it worth paying this type of money for fittings? What questions should I be asking about
their measurements/techniques?

$75 for two hours of fitting consultation from somebody who knows what they're doing is hardly
extreme; that would qualify as one of the great

buys

Quoted message said:

in my book! That's not to say it's required though; many shops do an excellent job of fitting as
part of the sale of the bike.

Quoted message said:

From what I have researched, the key measurements are : frame size, seat height, seat location
(front/back) and handlebar to seat height difference.

Those might be the key measurements, but they're meaningless without context. Well, not exactly
meaningless, as they represent a starting

point

Quoted message said:

for the fit process. Anybody who tells you that measurements alone are

the

Quoted message said:

answer doesn't have a clue in the world about being comfortable on a bike. They might know
something about how *they* ride, but this is about *you.*

Another thing to keep in mind is that even the best fit person in the

world

Quoted message said:

isn't going to be able to anticipate everything. Fit is, in many cases, dynamic, and a proper fit
sometimes takes a number of readjustments over time. Make sure wherever you go that they aren't
going to run away from

you

Quoted message said:

later on.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles chainreactionbicycles.comchainreactionbicycles.comOpen ↗

"Mike" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I am searching for a new road bike and I am looking for advice on fit checks/measurements. I
have heard a range of things from a minimum of a quick visual check to limited measurements to
an extreme of paying $75 for a two hour fitting.

Is it worth paying this type of money for fittings? What questions should I be asking about
their measurements/techniques?

From what I have researched, the key measurements are : frame size, seat height, seat location
(front/back) and handlebar to seat height difference.

If you ride a bike for 40 miles that doesn't fit right you'll think that $75 is cheap city. On the
other hand you can pay good money for poor advice. The FitKit used to be used by idiot bicycle shops
that didn't know how to fit anyone to anything and the results with the FitKit weren't perceptibly
better than without.

I would suggest going to a bike shop that's been around for awhile and being fit by someone that
knows what he's doing. That's a hell of a lot easier to say than to do.

I tried all of the fitting information and could never get a bicycle to fit properly. I walked into
an old shop and asked if he had a bike in my size and he took a hard look at me and built one up.
He took exactly one measurement - the distance from the point on my elbow to the center of the
wrist joint.

I've used the measurements of the bike he gave me ever since that day over 14 years ago and on two
dozen bikes and to get the same fit usually doesn't require changing his hard look measurements by
more than 1/2" in any way.

So it is hard to say you need a bunch of measurements but equally hard to say you don't.

Mike Jacoubowsky/Chain Reaction Bicycles said:

Quoted message said:

Would you spend 20% of the cost of the bike getting it
fitted? In my LBS it's not an issue, you get the money
back if you buy a bike.

If it made the difference between a bike that was fun to
ride and one that wasn't, it might be worth it. But it's
academic for the most part; the fittings we do are part of
the service we offer with bikes we sell, regardless of
price. Even a $500 TREK 1000 customer doesn't leave the
door without being properly fit (which means, at minimum,
the various common measurements, along with checking out
his/her position on the bike afterward, looking for
indications that something might need further adjustment).

The biggest mistake comes when people make the purchase of
that first road bike. The better shops essentially
subsidize that purchase, by putting in more time & effort
making sure everything is just right than makes sense
economically. But it's worth it, because if we can get
people hooked on cycling, they come back for more and more
and more. Jerseys, shorts, helmets, shoes, computers,
racks, seat bags, tools, pumps... The shop that just
pushes a bike across the counter and congratulates
themselves on making a sale is a sad place, because not
only is the shop losing out on a continuing revenue
stream, but the customer is losing out because they may
very well add cycling to that long list of things they
spent a bunch of money on but didn't work out.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles

"Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email hidden]>
wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Mon, 16 Feb 2004 21:37:30 GMT, "Mike Jacoubowsky/Chain
Reaction Bicycles" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message <[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

The usefulness and joy of a bike doesn't come from its
price, but rather

Quoted message said:

from how fun it is to ride. Why should somebody take
advantage of being

Quoted message said:

properly fit on a $2000 bike and not a $600 one? If we,
as an industry,

did

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

a better job of fitting people to $600 bikes, they'd
spend a *lot* more

time

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

out on the road, a lot less time in the garage, and, in
the end, we'd

sell a

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

lot more $2000 bikes.

Would you spend 20% of the cost of the bike getting it
fitted? In my LBS it's not an issue, you get the money
back if you buy a bike.

Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle
after posting. chapmancentral.demon.co.ukchapmancentral.demon.co.ukOpen ↗

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at
Washington University

I'll second this post (a bit late, but hey!)

I just bought a new bike (hardtail mountain for road and
trail use) from a shop that had the reputation as being
reputable, and it appears that the reputation was justified.
I've been back twice now for adjustments, and I'm about to
head on in again (I'm 50 pounds overweight and hunched up to
boot, and my hands are getting numb on a 15 mile ride; I
think I need the handlebars up even higher than where we
have them at).

I suspect that the shop has lost money on the bike sale to
me (it was a 2003 discounted), but the amount of money
I've dropped for accessories has (I hope) more than made
up for it.

Sam

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Mike Jacoubowsky/Chain Reaction Bicycles said:

Quoted message said:

Would you spend 20% of the cost of the bike getting it
fitted? In my LBS it's not an issue, you get the money
back if you buy a bike.

If it made the difference between a bike that was fun to
ride and one that wasn't, it might be worth it. But it's
academic for the most part; the fittings we do are part
of the service we offer with bikes we sell, regardless
of price. Even a $500 TREK 1000 customer doesn't leave
the door without being properly fit (which means, at
minimum, the various common measurements, along with
checking out his/her position on the bike afterward,
looking for indications that something might need
further adjustment).

The biggest mistake comes when people make the purchase
of that first road bike. The better shops essentially
subsidize that purchase, by putting in more time &
effort making sure everything is just right than makes
sense economically. But it's worth it, because if we can
get people hooked on cycling, they come back for more
and more and more. Jerseys, shorts, helmets, shoes,
computers, racks, seat bags, tools, pumps... The shop
that just pushes a bike across the counter and
congratulates themselves on making a sale is a sad
place, because not only is the shop losing out on a
continuing revenue stream, but the customer is losing
out because they may very well add cycling to that long
list of things they spent a bunch of money on but didn't
work out.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles

"Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email hidden]>
wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Mon, 16 Feb 2004 21:37:30 GMT, "Mike
Jacoubowsky/Chain Reaction Bicycles"
<[email hidden]> wrote in message
<[email hidden]>:

>The usefulness and joy of a bike doesn't come from its
>price, but rather

>from how fun it is to ride. Why should somebody take
>advantage of being

>properly fit on a $2000 bike and not a $600 one? If we,
>as an industry,

did

Quoted message said:

>a better job of fitting people to $600 bikes, they'd
>spend a *lot* more

time

Quoted message said:

>out on the road, a lot less time in the garage, and, in
>the end, we'd

sell a

Quoted message said:

>lot more $2000 bikes.

Would you spend 20% of the cost of the bike getting it
fitted? In my LBS it's not an issue, you get the money
back if you buy a bike.

Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle
after posting. chapmancentral.demon.co.ukchapmancentral.demon.co.ukOpen ↗

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at
Washington University

I'll second this post (a bit late, but hey!)

I just bought a new bike (hardtail mountain for road and
trail use) from a shop that had the reputation as being
reputable, and it appears that the reputation was
justified. I've been back twice now for adjustments, and
I'm about to head on in again (I'm 50 pounds overweight
and hunched up to boot, and my hands are getting numb on a
15 mile ride; I think I need the handlebars up even higher
than where we have them at).

Wouldn't it be even easier if you did that yourself?
Then you could try a lot more different settings in a
lot less time.

Quoted message said:

I suspect that the shop has lost money on the bike sale to
me (it was a 2003 discounted), but the amount of money
I've dropped for accessories has (I hope) more than made
up for it.

That's the way it usually works <Grin>.

--
Dave Kerber Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return
address before replying!

REAL programmers write self-modifying code.

David Kerber said:

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Mike Jacoubowsky/Chain Reaction Bicycles said:

>Would you spend 20% of the cost of the bike getting it
>fitted? In my LBS it's not an issue, you get the money
>back if you buy a bike.

If it made the difference between a bike that was fun to
ride and one that wasn't, it might be worth it. But it's
academic for the most part; the fittings we do are part
of the service we offer with bikes we sell, regardless of
price. Even a $500 TREK 1000 customer doesn't leave the
door without being properly fit (which means, at minimum,
the various common measurements, along with checking out
his/her position on the bike afterward, looking for
indications that something might need further
adjustment).

The biggest mistake comes when people make the purchase
of that first road bike. The better shops essentially
subsidize that purchase, by putting in more time &
effort making sure everything is just right than makes
sense economically. But it's worth it, because if we can
get people hooked on cycling, they come back for more
and more and more. Jerseys, shorts, helmets, shoes,
computers, racks, seat bags, tools, pumps... The shop
that just pushes a bike across the counter and
congratulates themselves on making a sale is a sad
place, because not only is the shop losing out on a
continuing revenue stream, but the customer is losing
out because they may very well add cycling to that long
list of things they spent a bunch of money on but didn't
work out.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles

"Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email hidden]>
wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

>On Mon, 16 Feb 2004 21:37:30 GMT, "Mike
>Jacoubowsky/Chain Reaction Bicycles"
><[email hidden]> wrote in message
><[email hidden]>:
>
>
>
>>The usefulness and joy of a bike doesn't come from its
>>price, but rather
>
>>from how fun it is to ride. Why should somebody take
>>advantage of being
>
>
>>properly fit on a $2000 bike and not a $600 one? If we,
>>as an industry,

did

>>a better job of fitting people to $600 bikes, they'd
>>spend a *lot* more

time

>>out on the road, a lot less time in the garage, and, in
>>the end, we'd

sell a

>>lot more $2000 bikes.
>
>Would you spend 20% of the cost of the bike getting it
>fitted? In my LBS it's not an issue, you get the money
>back if you buy a bike.
>
>Guy
>===
>May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle
>after posting. chapmancentral.demon.co.ukchapmancentral.demon.co.ukOpen ↗
>
>88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at
>Washington University

I'll second this post (a bit late, but hey!)

I just bought a new bike (hardtail mountain for road and
trail use) from a shop that had the reputation as being
reputable, and it appears that the reputation was
justified. I've been back twice now for adjustments, and
I'm about to head on in again (I'm 50 pounds overweight
and hunched up to boot, and my hands are getting numb on a
15 mile ride; I think I need the handlebars up even higher
than where we have them at).

Wouldn't it be even easier if you did that yourself?
Then you could try a lot more different settings in a
lot less time.

Quoted message said:

I suspect that the shop has lost money on the bike sale to
me (it was a 2003 discounted), but the amount of money
I've dropped for accessories has (I hope) more than made
up for it.

That's the way it usually works <Grin>.

With my previous bike, raising handlebars was trivial with a
quill stem (although the bike shop let me know that I had
exceeded the maximum extension), but with this new bike, it
means new handlebars, new stems, or a stem riser, none of
which I have.

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I just bought a new bike (hardtail mountain for road and
trail use) from a shop that had the reputation as being
reputable, and it appears that the reputation was
justified. I've been back twice now for adjustments, and
I'm about to head on in again (I'm 50 pounds overweight
and hunched up to boot, and my hands are getting numb on
a 15 mile ride; I think I need the handlebars up even
higher than where we have them at).

Wouldn't it be even easier if you did that yourself?
Then you could try a lot more different settings in a
lot less time.

Quoted message said:

I suspect that the shop has lost money on the bike sale
to me (it was a 2003 discounted), but the amount of
money I've dropped for accessories has (I hope) more
than made up for it.

That's the way it usually works <Grin>.

With my previous bike, raising handlebars was trivial with
a quill stem (although the bike shop let me know that I
had exceeded the maximum extension), but with this new
bike, it means new handlebars, new stems, or a stem riser,
none of which I have.

That's one of the major disadvantages of the modern
"improved(?)" bike technology.

--
Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in
the newsgroups if possible).

Sam Yorko said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

need the handlebars up even higher than where we have
them at).

Wouldn't it be even easier if you did that yourself?
Then you could try a lot more different settings in a
lot less time.

With my previous bike, raising handlebars was trivial with
a quill stem (although the bike shop let me know that I had
exceeded the maximum extension), but with this new bike, it
means new handlebars, new stems, or a stem riser, none of
which I have.

If you haven't got enough adjustability by flipping the stem
and moving spacers, you could get a long, 45 degree stem
like this: nashbar.comprofile.cfmOpen ↗ Such
a stem is great for finding your ideal height. Or, an
adjustable stem like
nashbar.comprofile.cfmOpen ↗ is good too.

This can give you more total height with any stem, as well
as lots of adjustment room:
nashbar.comprofile.cfmOpen ↗

It needn't be difficult to find your height, although it
might cost you $20. Of course, if you don't mind taking the
time to go to the LBS, it sounds like they're perfectly
willing to work with you until it's right, which is great.

Keep in mind that as you ride, you'll get used to the lower
height, even bearing your weight on it, as you learn to
bear your weight better and such. Change your hand
positions often; use your bar ends if a mountain bike /
flat bar (get bar ends if you haven't got them). If it's a
road bike, search rec.bicycles for messages listing drop
bar positions at groups.google.com...it's been discussed
millions of times.

In addition to handlebar height, consider handlebar reach
and also saddle tilt. A saddle tilted forward pushes you
into the bars, guaranteeing hand, arm, and shoulder pain.
Too short reach results in similar pushing, and too long
reach results in too much weight on your hands.
--
Rick Onanian