What a difference a real fitting makes...

[Kalidurga]

A couple weeks ago, I headed up to The Bicycle Escape in Frederick, MD, for a fitting with the owner, Tom Rinker. Last year, I had a "Fit-Kit" fitting from the shop where I bought my bike, and another in which I rode my bike on a trainer while the tech took a couple of measurements. This was a Serotta-certified fitting and wow, was it different. After three rides over the last two weeks, I have to say that Tom is a genius.

I've got some issues that made riding last year feel like my neck and shoulder vertabrae were crunched together. Not painful, but definitely not comfortable and made riding in the drops pretty difficult. It kind of felt like I was a turtle that couldn't extend it's head all the way past the edge of it's shell (sounds weird, but that's the closest simile I can think of). And I've had consistent problems with saddle pressure and soreness in the region of the "girlie bits". Plus, no matter how my saddle was adjusted, I always had a feeling of leaning heavily on the handlebars. So, the two main things I wanted to address in my fitting were stem length and finding a new saddle. I wasn't much concerned with increasing speed or power, I was looking to be more comfortable.

Tom schedules fitting appointments when the shop's closed so that he can have a good couple of hours with the client, interruption-free. It's a very thorough process that covers not only physical measurements, but also what kind of riding you do and what you want to get out of your rides.

In my case, we found that a shorter stem wasn't what I needed to improve my bar reach issues. By raising my stem just above saddle height to more of a touring position, my body weight became much more evenly distributed between saddle, bars and pedals. I also tested a couple of saddles to replace my 10-yr-old one, and had the cleats on my shoes adjusted. He kept my bike for a few days to play around with different steerer tube options, then called to let me know he had installed a steerer tube extender and the new saddle I'd picked out (Specialized Women's Sport BG2).

So far, I've done a total of 60 miles on three rides, one flat and two with rolling or sustained hills. Nothing extreme, but the difference while pedaling has been tremendous. These were my first rides since December and I have had NO saddle soreness. None. I would've expected major saddle soreness and at least some stiff muscles after being off the bike for that long. Instead, my neck and shoulders have been perfectly comfortable (I'm a long-necked turtle now ), I can ride in the drops with ease, and my "girlie bits" are totally pain-free. And the adjustment to my cleats is very obviously putting to use the big muscles in my hamstrings and glutes, making the hills I've ridden much easier than they would have been last year.

If there's a Serotta fitter in your area, definitely check it out. It's so much more thorough than the typical fit systems in most LBS's. (And if anyone out there in the DC/Md/Va/Pa area is riding with discomfort, I'd highly recommend giving Tom at The Bicycle Escape a call. The drive to Frederick could be well worth it.)