Good morning folks,

Apart from hanging my head in shame that I’m seriously thinking about buying a road bike has anyone ever had one of these (retul bike fit) prior to purcahsing a road bike and found the process useful?

I’m kind of hoping that it’ll be able to tell me pretty much exact sizes and geometry to look for in order to get a bike that fits properly and (as much as possible) comfortable.

I’ve got someone round the corner from me who has ‘all the gear’ and thinking it could be a useful process?

Thoughts and opinions from people would be appreciated…

Sunday

I’m kind of hoping that it’ll be able to tell me pretty much exact sizes and geometry to look for in order to get a bike that fits properly and (as much as possible) comfortable.

It won’t. To be honest, you’d be far better getting a bike in the correct size according to manufacturer’s sizing chart and riding it for a while to get used to the position.

No fitting systems take flexibility into consideration, and if you’ve not had a road bike before, you’re not going to feel very comfortable for a while!

And modern road bikes are very flexible in terms of fit. If the frame is the correct size for you, you can get a wide range of positions by changing stems, spacers etc.

As Shibboleth says – and you’ll likely want to alter things as you settle into it anyway.

I had a full bike fit last week – not retul – and to be honest, the recommendations are utter tosh. It said I should be riding with a 140mm stem on my current set up – it’s currently VERY long and low with a 120!

I was being sized up for my new frame and there was very little useful info apart from confirming that I use the right crank-arm lengths and bar width… But I knew that already!

If you’re an experienced rider that wants to fine-tune position for optimum power and efficiency, it *might* have a value, but it’s not going to spit out a printout of the perfect bike.

Hmm, thus far based on the opinions above it doesn’t sound very promising?

However based on what you have said the manufacturers size guides (the ones I have looked at) I seem to come either at the top of one size or the bottom of another and was hoping this may take some of the ‘guesswork’ out of the decision?

Has anyone had a new bike and not almost immediately wanted to replace stuff for things more shiny 🙂

The purpose of Retul isn’t to get you the right size bike but to optimize the bike you have.In fact that goes for all bike fitting services.

A decent road shop will get you the right size,next step is to fit IT to YOU.

Reality is you’ll probably manage on a couple of sizes but experience will put you on the right one.The bikefit process then gets into the nitty gritty of bike fit and looks at the detail.

Sib if they’re suggesting a 140 stem then I’d guess you’re on the wrong size bike. And all quality bike fitting systems allow for flexibility, maybe you just had a poorly trained fitter?

Unless I’ve been reading stuff wrong there seems to be a lot of people that suggest/recommend having a bike fit prior to purchasing a bike and, it seems, based on the last 20mins of responses that this isn’t the case?

However I did ask for thoughts and opinions so should just keep my gob shut and read really…

Olie, I seriously question the measurements. It shows my measurements compared to the average for my height and it suggests that my arms are considerably longer than average which simply isn’t the case!
I even said to the guy, “you find me a bike in this shop that fits the measurements suggested”… He couldn’t.

If the OP is between 2 sizes, I’d always recommend going for the smaller size – I prefer nippier handling frames, and if you’re trying to scale a big bike down to fit, it’s probably not going to handle as well…

Unless I’ve been reading stuff wrong there seems to be a lot of people that suggest/recommend having a bike fit prior to purchasing a bike and, it seems, based on the last 20mins of responses that this isn’t the case?

Problem is, assuming you’re a mountain bike rider that hasn’t ridden a roadbike recently or regularly, your most comfortable position is going to be a mountain bike position! So if you try to get fitted now, you’re going to end up with a weird road bike – probably very high front end, short cockpit…

There’s a lot of kidology when it comes to road bike position – at the end of the day, the most flexible part of the setup is the rider and apart from saddle height (which is pretty critical) other variations are very easy to adapt to and they’re not going to affect your performance massively.

My advice would be to buy an off-the-shelf build, put all the spacers under the stem and flip it so it points upwards. Ride it for a few weeks, then lower the bars a bit at a time until you find a position you’re happy with.

In terms of performance, generally, lower and longer is better. But it’s a very uncomfortable position to achieve for a new rider. You’re better spending a bit of time improving your flexibility and easing yourself into a good position. If then you find you’re getting neck or back problems, get a bike fit to iron those out.

Road bikes aren’t comfortable. It’s about finding the best position you can tolerate! 🙂

That’s a load of bollocks promulgated by the “look at how hard we are” brigade.

People’s experience of bike fits range from “it was a total waste of money” to “I can now cycle pain-free for the first time in 30 years”. Whilst I do think there’s value in a bike fit I’d agree with the general theme on posts above that for someone totally new to road bikes then a retul fit is over kill. A decent LBS will be able to get you onto the right size bike and you can adjust from there, if you find yourself doing loads of miles and have little niggles (and have a decent core strength and flexible hamstrings) it’s probably worth then going for a retul fit.
Bike fits at LBSs can vary enormously though so it’s a bit of a minefield, some will just want to fit you onto a bike they have in stock. I’d at least want one that involved me pedalling on a turbo rather than just looking at my height then looking at me sat on the bike and saying “yeah that looks fine” etc.

That’s a load of bollocks promulgated by the “look at how hard we are” brigade.

It’s nothing to do with looking hard! The best theoretical position is to have your back perfectly flat so you reduce frontal area.

In the real world, this isn’t comfortable or practical, as things like lungs still need to work. So the goal is to get as close to that ideal without impeding lung function or creating a position reduces pedalling efficiency.

I’m kinda hoping that my flexibility isn’t too bad, have done a fair bit of martial arts/boxing over the years and still perform a lot of stretching now (had lots of problems with tight hamstrings causing odd problems as a teenager) so keeping on top of flexibility is IMO key to maintaining any type of fitness and comfort.

There is a bike shop in reasonably close vicinity which has got a very good reputation (life cycles in Bildeston) so may be worth going there to see what they say before committing to the full bike fit?

Thanks for the comments so far

I had a Retul fitting at Cadence in London 2 weeks ago and it was bloody brilliant. Best £150 I have ever spent. I was amazed how much detail they went into about previous injuries and pains when I am cycling. Loads and loads of questions and measurements before I even got onto to the bike. I had a road bike that I thought was the perfect position and to put things in perspective I have been riding for over 20 years and all types of bikes (I regarded myself as knowing a thing or two about bike) Anyway there were loads and loads of changes to the cleat position, seat position, stem length, bar height and even bar shape. Instantly the changes to the seat position made a massive difference to the ease of spinning and overall have ended up with a much more comfortable position. So will this help me buy a new bike. Well yes as I can send them a list of bikes I am interested in and they will tell me which ones best fit my shape with the least amount of changes. They can also tell me which size to go for, especially important as I am 6’3″ so often fall between sizes.

Compare this to a straight bike fitting that my brother had at the same time at Cadence. This worked out a generally good size that he would need and did include things like stem length / height and saddle position. Again he has been able to speak to them about the best bike for his shape and what size frame to go for. However what they don’t do is go into detail and take into account injuries or issues you have when cycling. I was also recommend a load of exercise to improve my core and therefore help to reduce a sore lower back.

So if you can afford it I would definitely say it is worth it. When I spoke to the fitter his view was that Retul is just an electronic way to record you on a bike. The experience of the fitter is key as any old numpty can use a Retul system so you can still get bad advice.

I went here and would recommend him

http://www.cadencesport.co.uk/

I would take any bike you ride a lot along and get them done at the same time, not cheap but I think worth it

I was talking to a guy on the Specialized stand at NEC – I was looking at an SL4 tarmac and he was trying to sell me their Body Geometry fit.

He made a big deal about how their system took into account discrepancies in leg length, shoulder height, any asymmetry. I asked him what he would do to compensate for differing leg lengths… He didn’t have an answer for that!

No fitting systems take flexibility into consideration

Sorry, but you are wrong. Part of the Retul fit is all about flexibility and also core and balance. You will be then set up on the bike with this taken into consideration.

Part of the process is all about the flexibility and core along with past injuries and niggles you are experiencing. YOu are also questioned on what you want to use the bike for, i.e. racing, sportives or just social riding. From there you will have the bike set up, with the help of your feedback on a 3d scanner whist riding.

Once done you will come away with a set of measurements that will help you choose the correct size frame.

Sorry, but you are wrong. Part of the Retul fit is all about flexibility and also core and balance. You will be then set up on the bike with this taken into consideration.

Sorry Mullet, I didn’t make myself clear. The system can’t predict where the OP is going to comfortable once he’s got used to riding a roadbike. It’ll fit him based on his flexibility right now, and if he’s used to riding mountain bikes, his position will change as he becomes more accustomed to the road bike position.

Ah some positive views, thanks for all the comments so far.

Sorry Mullet, I didn’t make myself clear. The system can’t predict where the OP is going to comfortable once he’s got used to riding a roadbike.

That’s true. The Retul system doesn’t predict anything. It’s all about the input from the fitter and rider. All the retul does is capturre your cycling motion and it is then analysed to help improve key areas.

For me it was about improving my pedal efficiency as I was getting flat spots at the bottom of my pedal stroke. To overcome this I had my saddle raised by 4mm, my stem was shortened by 10mm and my cleat positions altered. As a result of this my back angle changed from 38° to 40°. That’s the angle on the hoods btw.

I do agree with the mountain bike position against the roadie position though. Your body will need to adapt in key muscle area before you feel completely comfortable. Main areas will be your core and neck.

whatever happens, should you buy off the peg or get a fit such as the Cyfac postural system, do not buy according to a height or size chart.

Size charts do not give consideration to proportions. if you have very long legs for your given height, you will need to look at individual manufacturers geometry to see if that bike has a long headtube/short toptube for its given size.

also disregard the size printed on the frame, this will mean a wide range depending upon bike brand