Bike Fit

[SimpleCycle]

Hi Everyone!

I'm a new poster and a new rider. I have a Raleigh Supercourse road bike that I've been riding for about two and a half months now. Unfortunately, I bought it from a bike store that doesn't seem to know much about road bikes. They're nice guys and all, and gave me a great deal, but when I asked them to help me with fit, they didn't really seem to know what they were doing.

Problem #1 has been the saddle - it has been really uncomfortable for me. I finally figured out the other day that I have been sitting too far forward on the saddle. When I sit in the right place, I seem to slide forward. Also, I can't achieve "Knee Over Pedal" (even though I know some people don't believe in this measure of fit) even with my saddle all the way foward.

Problem #2 - reach. All this sliding forward made me think maybe my bike was too long for my reach. Not really knowing what to do, I flipped my -7 degree stem so now it's +7 degrees (making the handlebars both closer and higher). This was in the right direction (reach felt better) but definitely too much (all squished up with too much weight on my arms now).

So I think I need a new stem, but I'm not even sure what length my current stem is, so I have no idea what I should get. Is this something I can figure out on my own, or should I go to a roadie bike shop and pay for a fitting? I'm afraid they'll just be out to sell me more stuff.

Thanks for the great forums!

[CorsairMac]

If there is an LBS in your area that will do a roadie fitting, I'd say pay for it. Treat it like taking your car for an oil change.....I don't know about ya'll but the oil changes places are Always trying to get me to buy something. I tell them I don't have the money right now, please write down all the things I need to purchase and I'll take care of it as I can. (of course...they NEVER write anything down.) Anyway, I'm guessing most LBS's won't try to sell you something unles you need it - but I could be spoiled by my LBS (where some of the times they don't even sell it to me, they just find an "orphaned" part in the back and take care of it for me!) You could also ask them why you need that gizmo and what it's going to do for you if you purchase it and see how they answer the question.

My concern is the bike itself, is there any type of return on it if the Bike itself is the wrong size?

[SimpleCycle]

I'm pretty sure the bike is the right size, as I test rode a whole bunch of bikes and pretty much every shop had me on a 52 or 53 cm frame. My bike is a 53 cm. My particular model has this set back seatpost that moves the saddle toward the rear from the center of the seatpost. So that might be the problem entirely.

I also know that flexability can make a big difference in how comfortable you are on the bike. I'm pretty inflexible and have tight hamstrings, so this might be making things harder.

At this point, the bike is non-returnable, I would say. I've scuffed up just about every component and ridden it quite a bit. It was also a 2003 closeout. I suppose if I complained loud enough, they would take it back, but I'm pretty sure it can be adjusted to fit me.

[LBTC]

Well, Simple...DH and I just got our bikes fitted last weekend. Wow!

I *knew* mine was way off. everything hurt all the time. DH's was too!

btw, in our town, there is no-one knowledgeable enough to fit a road bike. We hit 2 larger centers over a mini-vacation, and chose to go to the shop we could get to on a weekday instead of a weekend. We happened to know 2 road riders in that town, and asked where they would go. They both said the same guy at the same shop. We were not disappointed.

Here's some of the stuff we learned by getting someone who knows what they're doing to do it:
saddle height. we were both surprised that our saddles were way too high. the guy could tell because we were pointing our toes like pretty little ballerinas (and if you'd asked us, we'd both say we didn't do that!!).

saddle placement fore/aft. he did use a plumb bob to ensure the top of my tibia bone (the outside bone of the bottom of my leg where it meets my knee) was directly above the axle of my pedal. for DH he placed his knee 1cm behind the axle. He moved both of our saddles back.

Once that fit was done we moved to upper body. I can't remember precisely, and he was just eyeballing it, but the angle of arm to torso at the shoulder should be 90 degrees. and the angle at the hips should be 45 degrees....but that was different for women. he described how our lower center of gravity means we need to bend at the waist instead of at the hip flexors (I used to force myself to bend at the hips as I'd learned that's best in Yoga and stretching....one thing doesn't always translate....). I'm sorry, I don't remember the exact angle.

I needed to buy a new stem. mine was far too long!! Once he shortened the cockpit enough, all the pressure was off my hands, and it feels comfortable to ride in the hoods!!

I've only done one ride so far, but it was a good hour and it felt better than any 10 minute ride I'd had previously. Seriously, I felt like I'd had a workout, but not one body part felt sore!!

DH not only noticed the lack of soreness, but he is waay faster!! After 3 weeks of virtually no exercise and the corresponding loss of fitness, he did a standard route for him, hoping to come close to matching his previous best time of 58+ minutes. He did it in just over 55!! Now, that's results!!

The moral of my story is: get your bike fitted. Go with a friend who knows bikes really well, if you're worried about getting suckered into buying stuff you don't need. The thing is, you may need stuff and you may not want to wait for it! If you have to go out of town to get it fitted...do. The shop we went to is a 3 1/2 hour drive away! Ask your friends and fellow riders if they know anybody. You want to find someone who knows what they are doing!!

It's TOTALLY worth it!! Go for the perfect fit!!

Namaste,
~T~

[bikerchick68]

yes, absolutely get fit. the faster the better... not doing so can lead to physical problems such as IT Band Ligament Syndrome... which makes your knees feel like they're being stabbed! I DID NOT get fit when I was new and am now paying the price! I have been professionally fit since and also have begun a stretching and strength training routine... both are helping tremendously and last Sat I was able to ride 59 miles... 2 weeks prior I made it only 14 before the knee was excrutiating... it's definitely worth it to pay for a fit so you don't end up with a medical problem...

how tall are you? Inseam? and what kind of bike? top tube lengths vary (Lemond runs long)... I am 5'7" but have a 30" inseam (short legs... family curse) and I ride a 49cm bike... I have a friend who is almost the same height and rides a 51 tho... so you may be right on! Good luck with it and keep us posted OK?

[madisongrrl]

Definitely get fitted....and not just by anyone. Find someone reputable. I think the biggest mistake that people make is that they purchase a bike that is too big. The more I understand about bike fit, the more complex it seems....

I find that most bike shops who have you do a test ride will put you on a bike that is too large. The don't care about fit or quality...just sell the bike is the attitude. One bike shop in my area had my brother on 60cm bike....I told my bro that there was no way that he was a 60 and that we should exit the shop immediately. So we went to the best bike shop in all of Madison, WI (Cronometro) and guess what....he was fitted for a 54cm Cervelo Dual.

Here are a few good articles from Tom D's website..

http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/store/re-fit.shtml

http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/store/testdrive.shtml

http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/fea...itingfit.shtml

http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/features/shoes.shtml

[SimpleCycle]

Thanks for the advice! I got fitted yesterday and rode today with no problems. We'll see how it holds up on a longer ride tomorrow.

He said I was actually exactly where I should be, but moved my bars down just a little to get me at a better angle. He said it might take a few rides to adjust to the new position, but if it doesn't feel right come back. Since the whole thing took less than 15 minutes, there was no charge, so that was pretty nice. The guy seemed to know what he was doing too.

[madisongrrl]

getting a bike fit in 15 minutes...hmmmm....sounds suspicious, but I hope it works out for you...

[LBTC]

getting a bike fit in 15 minutes...hmmmm....sounds suspicious, but I hope it works out for you...

I agree
we must have been in the shop for 3 hours. that was for 2 bikes. we went back later that day to pick up our bikes....

and holy cow! what a difference!!



Namaste,
~T~

[CorsairMac]

Thanks for the advice! I got fitted yesterday and rode today with no problems. We'll see how it holds up on a longer ride tomorrow.

He said I was actually exactly where I should be, but moved my bars down just a little to get me at a better angle. He said it might take a few rides to adjust to the new position, but if it doesn't feel right come back. Since the whole thing took less than 15 minutes, there was no charge, so that was pretty nice. The guy seemed to know what he was doing too.

It was good to hear you rode with no problems........hopefully it was that simple of a solution. let us know how the longer ride works for you!

[SimpleCycle]

I agree that 15 minutes seemd pretty cursory, but I had been making gradual adjustments toward "ideal" position over the past month and had been "fit" by the non-roadies where I bought the bike.

The longer ride went well. I had some lower back pain the last few miles, but I know at least part of that is inflexibility. The arm pain and saddle pain are gone, and I was able to stay on the bike for 3.5 hours of saddle time without pain. I'm working on stretching my tight hamstrings and lower back, and if I continue to have problems, I'll either go back to this shop or try to figure out who the best guy in town is and go to him. We also have a sports-oriented physical therapy place in town that does fittings, so I may decide to go there.