I often get knee pain while cycling so I’m going to invest in a bike fit. Who is the best?

Road?

I think Condor Cycles in Holborn do bike fitting. They seem to be held in high regard for quality of service and product so give them a call.

http://www.condorcycles.com/

The Bike Whisperer

Yes, road I’m afraid 🙂

DTF, do you mean these guys? They look really good but Newbury is too far for me to travel…

I used these guys in South London. Cured my back pain on the road bike.

I had a full bike fit at Pearson Cycles. I was properly impressed. Full analysis of your position and flexibility then a set up on a full mechanical jig that uses the same bar/levers/saddle/pedals us the customers bike. Then a power and video analysis of your technique.

Yes, I’ve been looking at cadence online, they look really impressive 🙂

Pearson are a bit far but I’m temped to make the trek- I’ve heard a lot about them over the years, it would be good to check them out and take a look at their own designed stuff..

The Bike Whisperer is highly recommended, supposed to be the best in London and the South-East, I haven’t been personally, but I haven’t heard anything less than exceptional about them. It doesn’t get quite the same level of praise, but there’s also CycleFit in Covent Garden which is meant to be good, and I haven’t found a thing that Cadence do badly yet, so I would imagine the fitting must be pretty good.

Matt at cycle surgery Covent garden or the velodrome store, depending if you want BG fit or guru fit.

Or come see me at Giant Docklands in the new year 😉

Cyclefit are also very good, and Pearson’s in Barnes have one of the best fitters in uk

Full disclosure he’s a mate of mine and I’ve not used his services but Jon at Swift Cycles in Spitalfields used to do them.

DTF, do you mean these guys? They look really good but Newbury is too far for me to travel…

Yes. Although I’ve never been fitted by him. But if you want a proper job, then that’s the chap to see.

If you just want your saddle raising and some wedges stuck under your cleats, then choose any one of the other hundreds of options run by people who’ve just been on a training course.

A good way to whittle it down would be to discount anyone under forty years of age. How much experience do you think they’d have?

Or, just read Steve’s articles and do it yourself.

Team

You’ll end up with a better fit and you’ll be several hundred pounds better off.

BG fit or guru fit.

Also; avoid marketing bollox like this. A fit is a fit if done correctly.

As I said; Bike Whisperer.

Bike fits are fine if the issue is with the bike, not always so good if your body happens to be the issue, as mine was.The guys at Cyclefit were very helpful, eased some of the issues I was having, but persisting problems 2 years down the line led me to a local physio dealing in cycle fitting, who picked up on my problem in minutes, explained it in detail, proceeded to demonstrate it via exercises, and show me routines to deal with it (much improvement within days, and still getting better a few weeks on), all for £75 for the 1 1/2hrs he spent with me.

I’ve been to the Bike Whisperer – he’s now based at Greenham Common (/Star Wars Rebel Base) just outside of Newbury which was very handy for me.

He’s excellent – spends a lot of time on the person before getting on the bike, lots of tests of alignment, flexibility, proprioception etc. He admits some of it is a bit weird but he sometimes learns things from the less obvious tests – e.g. one is to stand with your eyes closed and arms crossed over your chest and to march on the spot. Most people rotate in some way which might indicate a difference between legs.

We also spoke a lot about the type of riding I do and what I’d be doing in the future. I tend to do long endurance stuff so there was an aspect of 8 hour+ comfort to be considered in the position.

Fitting then starts with shoes and cleats before adjusting other elements on the bike. I was very lucky in that I didn’t need any cleat or shoes wedges (which most do) as I’m naturally aligned. In the end only a few minor adjustments were made from my previous position (which had been done by Epic Cycles as part of a purchase 5 years before).

Everything is done by eye/experience – no fancy-pants lasers or computers involved.

Total time was about 6 hours including lots of chatting about cycling too.

Velosport in Putney are really good. I did a fit with Nick and definitely recommend him.

I had mine done with Paul Mill in Crystal Palace/Camberwell a few years ago.

http://www.elitecycling.uk/offer/bike-fitting/

I believe he’s well thought of around SE London.

Condor do one when you buy a bike, but not sure if they do them standalone as
well.

I’ve set up multiple bikes to Paul’s settings since 2008 and have never had any muscle or joint issues of any kind which for me is proof of the pudding…

I had mine done with Paul Mill in Crystal Palace/Camberwell a few years ago.

http://www.elitecycling.uk/offer/bike-fitting/

I believe he’s well thought of around SE London.

Condor do one when you buy a bike, but not sure if they do them standalone as
well.

I’ve set up multiple bikes to Paul’s settings since 2008 and have never had any muscle or joint issues of any kind which for me is proof of the pudding…

Cadence were very good and got a great facility.

Wife went to the bike whisperer and found it was to much talking not enough bike fit but gave it a go for 3 months but still felt uncomfortable so went to persons performance sheen and had great results after fit,think a shorter stem was put on….but he’s got good feedback from others so just unlucky?

I would recommend Velosport in Putney, or cadence as the two places in London I know of that are good.

As an aside, I do bike fits full time (in Bristol) and am not sure that this is entirely correct…

A good way to whittle it down would be to discount anyone under forty years of age. How much experience do you think they’d have?

I’m 24, but have 4 years at uni doing Sport and Exercise Science, 3 months shadowing a very experienced fitter, over 600 bike fits (and not encountered anyone who was unhappy with the results), and have been riding MTB, CX, road and TT bikes for over a decade- I know a few bits about bike fitting!

Steve Hogg’s book is very good. It is also pretty much standard BC orthodox fayre, not that this is a bad thing. The tough thing about bike fit is you can’t really measure yourself (sadly). A side on video helps, along with an app. But when you know the basics, it’s not so hard.

Cleats first (based on feet alignment, but generally straight ahead – not found wedges to be that useful, but they do make your legs track up and down vertically). Saddle position next, height (knee bend of 155 degrees or so) then fore and aft (kneecap roughly over the pedal). Finally handlebar reach and drop (elbow bend when on the hoods).

Scherrit is good guy, but there are plenty of others about.