Hello everyone,

its my boyfriend’s 30th birthday in January, and I am thinking about getting him down to cyclefit to sort out his bike. Is this a good idea and are cyclefit the right people to go to?

Any help would be really aprreciated.

BikeGirlfriend

Hi BikeGirlfriend, and welcome btw.

Ok then, lets open a can of worms…

IMHO I don’t think that getting a bike fitting for a mountain bike is necessary. The idea “of a perfect position” comes from the world of road cycling where you are covering a lot of miles, but can remain in the same position for a considerable length of time, ie, sitting in the saddle with the head in a tucked position, only changing position when you climb out of the saddle for brief periods. Incorrect bike setup in this situation, ie, seat too high, cranks too long, stem too high/long, can result in injury. In mtb, because you are moving around much more, constantly changing position for climbing, descending, cornering, etc, although the general principles of correct setup are the same (saddle height, brake setup, standover height, stem length) they will not have such a great effect on overall performance. Lots of mountain bikers will already know what the most crucial changes that they need to make are, for example, putting seat down a bit, moving saddle forward on the rails a bit, but these are things that you can do on your own without having to pay someone a lot of money. In reality there is no “perfect position” for a mounatin biker, it’s whatever feels comfortable to you. It’s like asking “what helmet / shoes should I buy ?” There is no right answer, it’s whichever one fits you the best.

I guess the only exception I would make for mtb, would be if you’re racing XC at elite level, in which case small advantages can get big results, but for an average trail rider, no.

Much better would be to get him booked onto a good skills course with a good coach, who would cover bike setup as part of general skills coaching. I can do no better that to recommend Jedi, who is pretty darn good on a bike (also in your part of the world).

HOME

Apologies for going on and getting on my high horse, but I think that it would be money up the wall, and it wouldn’t make the boyfriend a better rider.

TOD

Seconded – unless he is unhappy with positon, even then a good tutor can probably work out what’s wrong…

I agree. I seem to “know” what my MTB fit needs to be like, and the moving around whilst riding reduces the need for a “posh” fitting.

I am looking at buying a road bike in the new year, as I’ll be doing some triathlons etc, so I will be going to a local place (Bike Science Notts/Derby) who do bike fitting, as I have no clue about road bikes (do I need a race/sportive/TT/road etc.) And think that the longer time in one position on a road bike will benefit from getting a proper fitting.

The wife had a bike fit for her tt bike, it altered her position for the better and she carried the priciples of this through to her road bike (stem length, cleat shims, etc). She has not realy used any of this data on her off road bikes. I agree with the posts above, off road the riders position varies so much more over the course of a ride, even the seat hight with a dropper post that there may not be an optimimum fit, so a bike fit is less important. A skills course can be a very worthwile present, Mrs Kilo did a couple of these and she realy enjoyed them and improved her riding.

Great if something needs sorting but unless there’s a problem, I’d leave it alone. Works better on road bikes. I had a knee issue and it was a huge help. However, mike veal at bikedynamic is in my opinion, better than cyclefit.

tod, thanks for the recommendation