Bike fitting – any cheaper than £120?

I have never been comfortable on my road bike and to a lesser extent my MTB. So I’m looking into a bike fit but I can only find ones costing £120 (West Yorkshire).

Any cheaper options? I don’t mind paying for a quality service but I can’t justify £120 at the moment.

Thanks.

Half price at Planet X if you buy a bike, for a Retul fit. Normally £185.
Do you have a Planet X, On-One or Titus?

I’ve had 2 on-ones and a planet-x, but not one currently.

Did they not fit 😉

robdob – see if you can get a discount for 2 as I reckon I could do with a proper bike fit for the roadie. (Also live in West Yorkshire) 8)

Paul Hewitt in Leyland charged £50 last time I enquired.

£120 is about the going rate, it would defo recommend it.

£90 at York Cycleworks, haven’t had a fit there myself but have heard good things.

Tredz in South Wales charge £20 per hour. Mine lasted an hour and a half, and virtually everything was changed – so so much better.

Literally best £30 ever spent (and yes I know this doesnt really help you in West Yorks, but thought I’d share anyway 🙂 )

I had a bike fit at Planet X and it was really poor, would not go there again. Didn’t make a single adjustment to the bike.

Go to somewhere more specialist

toxicsoks – Member

robdob – see if you can get a discount for 2 as I reckon I could do with a proper bike fit for the roadie. (Also live in West Yorkshire) 8)

An even better deal for 3 would be good – I’m in Hudds

I had a bike fit at Planet X and it was really poor, would not go there again. Didn’t make a single adjustment to the bike.

Go to somewhere more specialist

So they deemed your bike to be perfect already? What’s the problem? Should they have made it worse?

My advice is to read this before parting with your hard earned cash
http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/fitting.htm

Around £100 to fit you on a bike?

Hmmm… Is it for roadies only or for MTB as well?

Just to check – what’s the output or takeaway from this? A sheet with numbers? A list of bike models with stem lengths?

Find it really hard to digest the thought of spending £100 to adjust stem length and seat position.

I’m very sensitive to all cockpit adjustments on my MTB but in all 9 years of cycling was somehow managing on my own. I may be really missing something still and happy to accept this. But £100?

Please tell me what I’m missing here.

I had a retul fit. Made a massive difference for me being comfortable on the road bike. Changed stem length, angle, saddle angle, height and cleat position. You get s print out of all the important measurements. I am no where near as sensitive on the mountain bike I think this is because I move around much more on the mountain bike

Please tell me what I’m missing here.

road bike:

cleat position. seat position. seat angle. Seat height. crank length. Q factor. shoe wedges. stem length. bar reach, drop & shape. bar/stem height. Bar rotation. brake lever height, brake lever rotation. brake lever reach.

I think that (about) covers it.

globalti – Member

Paul Hewitt in Leyland charged £50 last time I enquired.

I was just speaking to someone today about this and said it was the best £50 he’d ever spent.Plus if you buy your bike/frame from Paul he knocks the 50 quid off

I was thinking of trying a fitting to see if it could help the achilles tendonitis I was suffering from, but didn’t want the full monty so it seemed a bit pricey.

Instead I tried wearing an extra pair of socks and, hey presto! job done 🙂

cleat position. seat position. seat angle. Seat height. crank length. Q factor. shoe wedges. stem length. [/B]bar reach, drop & shape. bar/stem height. Bar rotation. brake lever height, brake lever rotation. brake lever reach.

So on top of the £120 bike fit, you may end up needing to buy new Bars, new Stem, new Crank Arms or Chainset, Bottom Bracket and some Shoe Wedges.

Seems like it could get V expensive 😐

Please tell me what I’m missing here.

I think there’s an element of marginal gains, an element of “must have”, and a proportion of people to who’m it’s really usefull.

If you’ve made it 9 years without any injuries or aches and pains then well done. But plenty of cyclists develop RSI’s or flexibility issues over time. So £100+ on a bike fit might either prevent these or highlight them early, or help with the recovery. I think cyclefit in London have a recomended physio they send you too if they find something they can’t deal with by the normal fitting procedure.

Personaly I’ll probably go for one once I’ve worked on some of my flexibility issues (which I blame partialy on badly fitting bikes!), bought some new shoes (old ones are wayy past it) and found a comfortable saddle. Plenty of anecdoptes/reviews out there from people who’ve had aches and pains that they’d just put up with for years as part of cycling, had some minor (or major) tweaks to their position and found they’ve gone, I’d happily pay £100 to not have achey knees and a sore back!

So on top of the £120 bike fit, you may end up needing to buy new Bars, new Stem, new Crank Arms or Chainset, Bottom Bracket and some Shoe Wedges.

Seems like it could get V expensive

You missed ‘new bike’ :p

I think the idea is you do it before you spend the money on the shiney stuff.

road bike:

cleat position. seat position. seat angle. Seat height. crank length. Q factor. shoe wedges. stem length. bar reach, drop & shape. bar/stem height. Bar rotation. brake lever height, brake lever rotation. brake lever reach.

I think that (about) covers it.

listing things that can be adjusted on a bike doesnt answer the question, which was

Just to check – what’s the output or takeaway from this? A sheet with numbers? A list of bike models with stem lengths?

Do they give you an explanation as to what is “right” for you and why, and a list of measurements you can transpose onto any bike, or just sprinkle their snake oil over that one bike, whilst selling you loads of new parts?

the main thing to take from bike fitting is that although its cost you alot of money – its not necessarily correct off the bat. – its a starting point much closer to fitting you but it might still need to be modified to suit you.

Do they give you an explanation as to what is “right” for you and why, and a list of measurements you can transpose onto any bike, or just sprinkle their snake oil over that one bike, whilst selling you loads of new parts?

You can make any bike (that’ the right size to start with) fit. Most seem to set your bike up for you (which may require some new bits) and give you the measurements so you can adjust other bikes to the same fit. But I think you’ve missed the point that you most of these places are higher end shops and the price is often discounted from the cost of a new bike.

One of my work colleague reckons he took his Triban 5 into a Specialized concept store and got a fitting for ~£80 but he did also buy a new seat, pedals and shoes from them off the back of it (apparently they chucked in the wedges for the shoes as part of the fitting).

I was sort of surprised they did a fitting on another brand of bike, but then they did shift some proprietary kit and charged him for the service so it seems if your buying stuff from them they will do it.

nope dont believe that for a second –

take two road bikes 1 comfy 1 not comfy , make all the contact points match the comfy and make them the same distance and height apart as on the comfy bike …. still feel nothing like each other and the uncomfy bike remains un comfy 😉

Most people(who are not high level racers) i find complaining of poor bike fit are infact suffering first of all from lack of fitness, second of all lack of core stability and third flexibility and just want to throw money at it.

there are of course exceptions.

Most people are willing to drop well in excess of £120 for a new component that ‘may’ give them some performance gain. A bike fit will more than likely give you performance gain and comfort, trouble is you don’t get a new bling thing to show off. Perhaps the bike fitters should give you a bling sticker to put on the bike to show that you have had it done ❓
I had my first bike fit done last week by Gareth at Brian Rourke cycles, it was for a new Rourke frame so I din’t know the standalone cost from them but considering it can take several hours you can see that the £120 doesn’t go far.
As it turns Gareth said that the bike was pretty well set up but he did adjust my cleats, move the saddle back and level it, lose 10mm of spacer up front and add 10mm to the stem length. My current bike is now set up like that whilst I wait (a long time) for the new frame to be built). On paper I thought that the extra stretch and drop to the bars was going to be a real strain but yesterdays 50 miler showed quite the opposite and I came back without any hand or shoulder pain for the first time in years.

Ohhh, and answering the OP’s question, should you be looking on price alone? You wouldn’t get a portrait painted* by the lowest bidder, you’d get a recomendation of a good artist from a friend. Similalry bike fitting’s part science, part art/oppinion. Any monkey in a bike shop could call themselves a bike fitter, but some are probably better or more experienced than others.

*deliberatly obsucre analogy

A lot of older style shops will do do an informal bike fit as part of the sale if you are buying upper end bikes. Those outfits that have invested in a “Fit” system will have to charge you to cover their outlay. It might not nescessarily be as scientific the old way…… but if you’ve been riding and/or in the trade for a while, there are certain basic pointers for the regular rider problems which should help. You just gotta find the right shop/right assistant at a quiet time.

With a little bit of thought, 1/2 an hour either on the net or with any of the books available in the library, you can fit yourself.

Having learned in this way, you can then go on to alter your position as you develop or change as a rider, learning more and adding to your knowledge about you and about your cycling.

By doing it yourself, you can experience the changes, you can aim for a certain position, you can alter your position and understand why the change does what it does.

Paying some one to fit you is essentially paying for one set of prejudices over another, and paying for what will only ever be a starting point is not something I would consider spending money on.

It seems to be very popular all of a sudden, and is the stock/lazy answer to any question about position on the bike, but it’s not as good as learning how to do it yourself.

I’ve just checked that the words “snake” and “oil” are already in this thread. They are, so my contribution is complete.

I’ve already tried loads of different positions, changing things slightly each time. Still get various knee/neck/back pains. If I know my position is ok then its some other thing I need to look at, hence a bike fit could be money well spent if it cures the issues, if it doesn’t then I’ve got to look at something else.

I’m going to try a couple more slight adjustments before I hand over the cash.

Most people are willing to drop well in excess of £120 for a new component that ‘may’ give them some performance gain. A bike fit will more than likely give you performance gain and comfort, trouble is you don’t get a new bling thing to show off

I am not averse to spending on intangibles, I AM sceptical when there appears to be so much subjectivity to it. I’ve had a skills day with Tony “jedi” Doyle and it was money well spent- he might not have a formal qualification or be teaching to some scientific “system” but I had heard sufficient testimonials to consider it a worthwhile risk.

My issue with bike fits is summed up by Crikey

Paying some one to fit you is essentially paying for one set of prejudices over another

the right fit should have some scientific basis as its down to biomechanics, but I wonder how consistent different fitters are and how much is based on their idea of what is right? I also think as others have said that fitness, flexiblity and core strength (and lack of) are huge factors that the rider can influence. I am a recent road convert and my position has changed as Ive become used to riding road bikes and have made a conscious effort to work on core strength, and even some stretching for the first time in 20 years.

I still think it is a good idea if you aren’t sure, it helped me immensely. I was suffering from calf cramp on the roadie and turns out it was down to my position. Despite trying different things I never would have gone from a 100mm 6 degree to a 80mm 16 degree stem. It was my first road bike so I gave it 6 months / 1500 miles before I accepted defeat and asked for a professional. Bike has been much more comfortable since the bike fit.

On the mountain bike I am much less sensitive to aches and pains but conversely I notice changes to handling and control much easier than the road, I think it is just down to experience. I am happy setting up my mountain bikes as I,ve had several but not roadies.

Ssome of my riding buddies never complain of a sore back or dodgy knees so I doubt they would benefit from a fit, but others like me are blessed with all sorts of nigglies.

Jesus H Christ. 100quid? Please tell me thats a joke?

Yes I know the selling points /benefits however 100?

Jesus H Christ. 100quid? Please tell me thats a joke?

How much do you think 2-3 hours of someone’s time is worth? Don’t forget to consider training, premises, insurance, equipment (including deprecation), bla bla bla.

The bleating about the cost is the joke here. If however much something costs doesn’t fit into your particular value system then so be it, if others are happy to pay then what does it really matter?

Jim – I have some holographic wristbands here if you want to buy one…

If you’ve spend £1000 on a bike, £100 to be able to enjoy riding it isn’t really that much. A bike fit takes 2-3 hours, and often uses a fair bit of specialist equipment/software. You can’t get anyone remotely skilled’s time for less than £20 an hour, so it’s not unreasonable.

Jim – I have some holographic wristbands here if you want to buy one…

How much? I read that there’s a lot of knock-off Chinese ones going around at the moment so I won’t consider anything less than £30 🙂

If people want to buy them and it makes them happy then why should I give a ****? Or am I just missing the necessary superiority complex?

Most people(who are not high level rau[*]cers) i find complaining of poor bike fit are infact suffering first of all from lack of fitness, second of all lack of core stability and third flexibility and just want to throw money at it.

+1

If people want to buy them and it makes them happy then why should I give a ****? Or am I just missing the necessary superiority complex?

+1, but sadly Jim, Colin will just be happy he got a bite.

robdob – see if you can get a discount for 2 as I reckon I could do with a proper bike fit for the roadie. (Also live in West Yorkshire)

Discount for 3 please.

Since starting cycling again a few years ago, I have a real problem with spds, they make my knee feel like it’s about to break after 20m or so, I would love someone to properly understand what’s causing it. In my yoof there wasn’t a problem.

Docs have confirmed everything fine and I’ve done alignment as well as I can, so I would happily pay £100 for someone to tell me what’s wrong, as it’s clearly a set-up issue.