Retül 3D Level 2 Bike Fitting

[Drago]

I'm not suggesting it doesn't work. In my profession I've encountered a couple of different systems, all of which differ and often contradict one another quite fundamentally, yet everyone I've asked who's tried any of them raves about them.

So I'm no clearer about a quite interesting subject. Bike fits are good are they? All of them? Even the ones that differ significantly in principle to each other?

 

[Nebulous]

It's an unusual person who'll admit that he has just blown £185 on something totally useless.

I'm afraid I'm quite hopeless as far as bike fit is concerned. I'm an unusual shape - shortish legs, longer back. The lbs insisted a 52 was for me, but it didn't feel right so I went for a 54. I bought the bike and pretty much didn't touch any of the settings. Even with the cleats, I stuck them on approximately under the ball of my foot and never moved them. Replacing them I mark round them with a permanent marker and put the new ones on in exactly the same place.

I'm not against getting fitted, but there always seem more pressing priorities for my cash. Not least a better bike!

 

[Lanzecki]

How would changing something affect the fit? For instance if you had to replace shoe's or pedals? Can you check you hav'nt thrown everything out? Or would you have to have a refit?

 

[black'n'yellow]

I was extremely skeptical of bike fits until one was bought as a present too me from one of the kids. Totally converted Adrian Timmis carried out the fit and the difference to comfort and smoothness were amazing.

what changes did he make..?

 

[Rob3rt]

How would changing something affect the fit? For instance if you had to replace shoe's or pedals? Can you check you hav'nt thrown everything out? Or would you have to have a refit?

They should provide you with a printout of the key measurements. It is up to you to be able to understand them and to maintain the relationships if you change something. It should be well within most peoples ability to do.

I fit my bikes myself using general rules and a bit of advice from club mates (who steered me away from paying for a fit unless it was absolutely required). I am not opposed to a bike fit though, I am sure they can be very good and if you are riding long hours, many miles, on a lot of money's worth of kit, the cost is well worth it if it makes you more comfortable or provides an increase in performance.

A slightly more thorough method you can do yourself is to ride the turbo trainer or rollers and video it from the side on with a tripod, this way you will settle more or less into your actual riding position rather than the freshly straddled position you go into when on the bike, you can then take the required frames from the video (cranks level, cranks vertical) and analyse them. If you have a power meter, you can be even more thorough (especially useful for TT position tuning, get as aero as you can whilst observing you do not overly cripple your ability to output power) by being able to quantify any gains or losses any changes cause and weigh this up vs the benefit comfort wise!

 

[ziggys101]

I've just had my fit this morning so its too early to say what differences the changes will make but the process was very interesting and informative. Some of the changes if I'm honest with myself I knew needed to be done through intuition but my lack of experience in riding held me back from making any changes as it felt OK and I had no real pain issues. The changes which were done to my fit really came down to two areas first which I probably knew was cleat position and the second more surprising for me was my saddle hight was way deemed to be way too high. (the fit is much more indepth but this is what it really boiled down to).

I'll make a post after the weekend with how the changes feel on the road with a good few miles but so far I'm pleased with how the changes feel whilst spinning on the turbo.

 

[screenman]

what changes did he make..?

Longer stem, seat set back, compact bars (big difference) lever set further up bars, cleat wedges and moulded to feet insoles.

Like many others I took lots of advice over the years, even from one of the top coaches in the country who advised me on training etc. All of this advice was pure estimation, it was the tape and measurement of finer angles that I feel made the difference.

 

[Boris Bajic]

Longer stem, seat set back, compact bars (big difference) lever set further up bars, cleat wedges and moulded to feet insoles.

Like many others I took lots of advice over the years, even from one of the top coaches in the country who advised me on training etc. All of this advice was pure estimation, it was the tape and measurement of finer angles that I feel made the difference.

Does one pay just for the fit, or is there a charge for parts and fitting of same, or do they not charge for fitting?

After all the parts, what was the cost?

I'm not asking as a grumpy old cynic (although I am one). I'm just curious.

As my children have grown over the years, stems have become one of my biggest single costs in bike updates as they move between frame sizes and grow.

I now have a huge collection for various 25.8 and 31mm bars. Most of which will never see any further use...

 

[screenman]

The cost with the moulded insoles was £125, for nearly 3 hours of work I considered it extremely good value. The new bars, stem and tape added another £50 again good value.

Be in there again soon to be fitted to the MTB.

 

[black'n'yellow]

Longer stem, seat set back, compact bars (big difference) lever set further up bars, cleat wedges and moulded to feet insoles.

sounds like he stretched you longer over the bike, but shortened the drop..?

 

[screenman]

Sounds about right, but before anyone says I ended up in the same position as before they will be wrong. From photographs I have ended up with a smaller profile and a position anywhere on the bars that feels like a comfortable armchair. One of the first things I noticed and which I have passed on to a few who have also noticed the benefits is that of putting the hoods a bit further up, a small twist of the bars in some cases makes a difference to that one.

 

[Boris Bajic]

One of the things I've noticed in terms of set-up is that what seems absolutely right might be good, but might not be the best at any given time.

I have a son slightly taller and still growing. Sometimes we leave his (or my) bike on a turbo and do consecutive sessions. A 'real cyclist' might say this is wrong, but I started to ride many years ago and there were no 'real cyclists' back then.

My son rides an old bike of mine (adapted to fit) and I occasionally notice things that I might alter on my own machine after a ride on his. Little things, but they all add up.

Occasionally, it helps to mark the position of everything and then put everything way out of adjustment and start all over again. marking is tricky in terms of the tilt of the bars and one or two other things, but many adjustments are 'markable', particularly if the components are old and have pinch marks in key places.

Once everything has been deliberately wrongly adjusted, the whole set-up can be done again.

Seat height, seat fore & aft, seat angle, bar height, stem length, bar rotation....

It is not always as it was.

Add to this the reality that some high-mileage riders like to have a little shift in set-up every now and again and the whole fit thing becomes more of a variable than a right-wrong equation.

Some people clearly get a lot out of having their set-up examined and set by a professional. I suspect my resistance might be fiscal prudence as much as it is pride.... But I still like the old 'suck it and see'.

 

[screenman]

I have found in life that I should never say I do not like something until I have tried it. Having tried both systems I much prefer the bike fit.

 

[Drago]

Which bike fit system have you tried, and why is it better than the others, some of which offer conflicting methods?

To simply say a 'bike fit' is good is to instantly contradict oneself. We may as well say "all TV programnes are good", or "all politicians are good".

See, the science bit in me likes the sound of this, but the sceptic bit in me can see that these methods between differing systems often conflict in detail, sometimes quite fundamentally.

 

[screenman]

Drago, are you talking to me?