Anyone had any direct experience of any fitters in the north west? Especially for gravel or MTB; not road.
i’ve got persistent scapular and neck ache after about 20 miles on my large Camino and I’m increasingly concerned I’ve bought the wrong size. I have a 60mm stem and Ritchey Corralitos bars, with the all the spacers!
I'm also worried that a bike fitter will lean towards road/aero or more traditional or ‘outdated’ geometry suggestions but I’m sure that isn’t valid…
As an aside, if anyone has a Camino and struggled with it, I’d like to know. On average a large Camino is about 20-30mm longer than the equivalent size of other brands and I can’t get help but think that’s my issue.
Thanks in advance!
How tall are you? There's a Camino owners group on Facebook and it seems to me that 5'10" are better in medium than large.
5’11” - I was a little skeptical but Sonder were adamant large was the right size. I’m not on Facebook but might have to join if I end up trying to sell or trade sizes…
Interested in the Fairlight Secan seeing as they have a proportional geometry which is interesting
If you're having neck issues, what about a flat/alt bar conversion? Something like a Ritchey Kyote or buzzard bar would allow you to be more upright and the sweep on them is super comfortable for long rides.
5 foot 11 and definitely comfortable on a medium with slightly longer stem. The large felt like a boat and stretched me so my lower back was at an angle it couldn’t cope with. Im not very flexible though.
The Camino is long but the slacker head angle means you can run a shorter stem, as you have. You almost certainly need the bars higher. I didn’t buy one as they are too short on stack for me. Just beware of the Fairlights, in my size they have quite a steep head angle, steep enough that i concluded i couldn’t run a stem short enough without the handling being too lively.
This is a cheap way to get the bars higher
Well I would like to think you wouldn’t need to run too short a stem on the Fairlight if the size was right; they spec it with 100mm stem…Camino comes with 70mm
Hmm that steerer tube extension looks interesting but I’m betting it looks awful on the bike. These are the compromises I suppose!
Try Ryan Morley, based in Wrexham, worth a call to talk through issues and see if he thinks he can help. I used him for a road fitting but also aligned cleats up for road and MtB shoes for me. Definite improvement for me. https://ryanmorleycoaching.co.uk/
Try Ryan Morley, based in Wrexham, worth a call to talk through issues and see if he thinks he can help. I used him for a road fitting but also aligned cleats up for road and MtB shoes for me. Definite improvement for me. https://ryanmorleycoaching.co.uk/
Yeah I’ve heard of him but didn’t know anyone who’d actually seen him. Which level of fit did you go for?
It was the foundation one with a bit extra for the cleat set up. Was a good exercise, used cameras and overlays of body angles and you could see the difference after the changes.
https://www.ibfi-certification.com/find-a-fitter shows a couple not too far from Chester, no idea what they're like though (one is lvl 2 and the other lvl 3 so have at least passed some IBFI certifications)
Saw this a while ago.
Found it quite reassuring to see how bike fitting is moving on. Seems to be more focus on the physiology and making bikes fit people rather than the old days that felt like they were more about fitting people in an "ideal" way to bikes
Another vote for Ryan, he used to work in Alf Jones, but off to the military and he is now back coaching
I've got a medium Camino at 5'8" and think it's marginally too big. But, the first thing I'd check is saddle height. Think it would be fair to say current wisdom suggests your foot should be broadly level at the bottom of the stroke, not pointed down (which is how I rode for years). Reducing saddle height reduces reach too. Also, tilting your levers up a little made a decent difference for me (just a little bit mind).
I also like the BikeFitJames videos, like shown above. Worth a watch if you've got pain while riding or planning long distances.
I’ve got long legs and I actually think my seat was too low for too long which was exacerbating old knee issues.
Ive watched a few BikeFitJames vids; I think possibly my bars are too wide; so will be looking at that.
Theres good info in his vids but I struggle with his likely-lad mansplaining style!