Bike fits?

Anyone had a bike fIt and its been a total waste of time?

Got some lower back pain going on when road riding.  Thinking of a getting a bike fit but don’t want to waste £200 if it doesn’t work

No but I’ve had a bike fit and it was worth every penny after experiencing some really bad knee pain on a new road bike.

If you can get to Worksop, Andy Bishop will sort you for a lot less than £200.

I’ve had 3 bikes fitted with him. Never regretted it. Everything just feels as though it’s in it’s natural place.

Funnily enough I am in for my first bike fit tomorrow, not for my lower back but cos I keep losing my feet to numbness which is only amplified when riding indoors on a trainer, after trying several pairs of shoes seemed to make sense to get checked as opposed to keep trying all the sizes and brands! Will report back.

Equally for bad back, I’ve had that, used to come in on longer rides. Movement to release such as single knee to chest when laying on my back, side to side bent knee drops and then cat camel. Will then strengthen via hip bridges and superman’s.

I’ve also had good results recently with banded knee to chests for strengthening my hip flexors. I was given stretches for my hip flexors which did nothing so tried strengthening and felt the difference nearly immediately!

Mine was a waste of time. “Oh, you’re flexible, you’ll be ok to ride anything.” Which wasn’t quite the point. Only £70 though from my LBS. Seemed surprised I wanted a copy of the results.

Mine was £200 well spent – knee pain gone and ~15% more power

Mine was with Kate from hackney bike fit

 Only £70 though from my LBS. Seemed surprised I wanted a copy of the results.

Underlines that this is probably one of those ‘depends on the bike fit’ / ‘depends on what’s causing your lower back issues thing’? I was getting a sore lower back and sorted it out with a combination of lowering my saddle slightly and fitting one of SQlab’s active saddles and shorter cranks, but if it had persisted, I’d happily have invested in a proper bike fit with someone good.

My partner’s cousin was knocked off his bike by a car driver a while back – quite badly banged up and was having proper ‘going to give up riding forever’ discomfort afterwards. A few hours with Phil Burt meant that he could ride his bike pain free again, which he reckons is some of the best money he’s ever spent.

Anecdotally, some people are super adaptors and can tolerate bad bike fits quite happily, others are really fussy and will notice very small changes. I suspect I fall into the latter group, all my bikes, it turns out, have pretty much identical saddle heights and the same stretch from saddle to bars etc. I guess the more sensitive you are, the more you’ll benefit from a (good) bike fit.

Mine was a waste of time. “Oh, you’re flexible, you’ll be ok to ride anything.” Which wasn’t quite the point. Only £70 though from my LBS. Seemed surprised I wanted a copy of the results

Yeah, that’s one of those “here’s a posh looking set of measuring tools and a half-day course, now you can call yourself a bike-fitter” things.

A few bike shops have various iterations of these, there are several brands out there providing these and to be fair, they’re probably OK for most people on most bikes, certainly the average “customer in a bike shop” demographic.

But for any physio / injury / recovery problems that go deeper than that, a proper fit with a knowledgeable person who has a background in cycling, physio, medical etc can solve problems that no bike shop could come close to.

I had one a while back just for a bit of peace of mind really rather than I had niggles. Result was no much was changed in my position but I kind of expected that. If you do have back, knee neck issues then I’d say it’s more worth it but might not be a silver bullet. Also be clear about the sort of riding you do, the fitter should factor that in rather than just have a generic ‘optimal’ set of angles etc. they’re checking against

Mine meant that I didn’t elect to actively pursue surgery where they were going to slice into my ITB at several points to make it longer.

It did mean that I bought myself a new frame that was less compromised for me in terms of fit. This was over 15 years ago though, and headtube lengths on most road-bikes have moved to more suitable lengths for the average punter.

I went for the full works, as if it meant I could elect not to go under the knife anything was worth it*: Jules at Cyclefit…later went on to work with some guy called Cancereallllaarera or something.

That said I still do have ITB issues….but I manage it now rather than thinking ‘I need to give up biking’, ‘My body is not right’ etc etc. A proper bike fit gave me confidence that I had done one of the many things that I can do to minimise it.

Yep – I had one with a supposedly renowned fitter a few years back @ £200 who mainly suggested lower saddle height which then resulted in significant knee pain until redressed.  I might have been a little out of condition a little as well but the best thing about the fit was the coffee.

Not sure that is typical.

Had one ages ago and it sorted a few issues out, for the £200 I paid it was well worth it, certainly compared to the cost of the bike itself and any new components to make it fit.

Bike Dynamics was who I used, formerly Leamington now Hinckley.

Back from the bike fit (SW based) don’t feel robbed and have some things to try with regards to shoes and insoles or a few rides before going back for an included review.

Went in with my bike and cycling gear, had a chat about my issues that led me to a bike fit, then my bike went into wahoo trainer, measured using lasers, jigs and a ruler. I then hopped on and did some pedalling whilst being recorded and eye balled. Off the bike for a foot measure and further physical assessment before changes made of saddle down and forward,  bars down, cleats adjusted and insoles I came with removed.

Back on the bike for more pedalling and checking of stuff with saddle down and forward, bars down and different insoles being given a try.

Got me to a point I felt happy, I didn’t take the different insoles I tried and instead will do some rides with the insoles I came with and the standard insoles before my review session.

Interesting session, think it was worth the money.

I’ve had 3 bikes fitted with him

Surely you have one bike fit and then change the contact points on the bike to suit your numbers/change bike or have you changed shape/dimensions 3 times?

Where are you based?

Surely you have one bike fit and then change the contact points on the bike to suit your numbers/change bike or have you changed shape/dimensions 3 times?

Depends on the bike and the riding?

The same person would have completely different touring/training, road racing and track bike positions. My track bike is an inch steeper, has an inline post, and the reach is an inch longer than my road bike for example.

Which is fine because the longest I’ve ever had to ride is is about 20min before needing to vomit.  It’s purely setup to get my shoulders as low as possible. There’d be no point setting it up to match my road bikes position and my commuter would need a reversed seat post to replicate it!

I really need to get my road bike/position sorted. I think I’ve finally concluded I need to go up a size, or at least pick one longer/lower as I’ve got stubby legs for my height.

Had 2, 1 at bike shop that was so so.

Another from qualified physio / bike fitter that basically said:

Shorten cranks

Add washers to bring out pedals slightly

Lower and change saddle

Pull back cleats

Do recommended flexibility exercises

To be fair it made a pretty decent difference.

You have to budget for the fit and any upgrades / changes. I was riding a lot and training for enduro at the time so was worth it, the most expensive change was the saddle.

Where are you based?

Gloucestershire.  There are a few options in my area.

Think I need to do some core conditioning stuff which I’ll do for a few weeks to see if that helps witht the back pain

I’ve had good results recently adding in hip flexor strengthening to my daily few mins of mobility and strength movements for my lower back.

Surely you have one bike fit and then change the contact points on the bike to suit your numbers/change bike or have you changed shape/dimensions 3 times?

It can vary a lot between bikes. Road bike, TT bike, touring bike, gravel bike…

There was a revision to the common trend of trying to replicate your road bike position on a static trainer bike – if you’re not moving forwards and your head is up looking at a monitor for Zwift etc then you don’t need to replicate the aero position of a road or TT bike, you actually need something much more upright to open up the lungs and avoid straining your neck.

It can vary a lot between bikes. Road bike, TT bike, touring bike, gravel bike…

Aside from that, people age, lose or gain mobility, change crank lengths, want a more or less aggressive riding position, develop new niggles or exasperate old ones etc. As per my earlier post, my partner’s cousin’s ability to ride in his original riding position went out of the window after he was badly smashed up in an accident, so it’s not unusual  to have more than one bike fit.

It can vary a lot between bikes. Road bike, TT bike, touring bike, gravel bike…

It can… But if the fundamentals are right for, say road, you won’t need another fit for the others. Just some simple knowledge. Seating position over bottom bracket doesn’t change much with the exception of TT (where the whole body is rotated with a lower and more forward saddle). Track is same saddle, but longer reach to go lower at the front (if you can! I ride a 140 stem on a 56 top tube, compared to 120 on my road bikes). Gravel a bit more upright with perhaps wider bars for more control. Wider bars mean a slightly shorter reach.

I had a fit once. Was completely average dimensions. saddle was too high and too far back giving me ITB band inflammation and knee pain. Corrected with lower and more forward saddle. Bike fitting is part of the BC coaching course.