i made a fit app't!!

[elk]

A good friend just had a fitting done at the Bike Gallery & she is so happy. More comfortable & more efficient, a regular pedaling machine so to speak.

do you know which BG she went to?

[elk]

a little late night report on my fitting today....

1 the adjustments:
raised my seat almost an inch
moved my saddle back
changed my stem to a steep short one

I was "breaking" too high up on my back and hunching my shoulders...(partly because I try to keep my pelvis tilted)...stressing my shoulders, and not using my quadraceps enough...

2 he showed me some cool tricks to help keep the pressure off the ulnar nerve and on the pads of my hands when on the hoods (if you can, tuck your little fingers inside the curve of your bar OR wrap your ring finger under the shifter)

when we were done I felt kind of awkward and heavy on the bike...i was thinking....what???!!!

I got home and went for a spin. I was amazed. i literally spun up a hill i have struggled with and reached the top easily; my hands did NOT hurt; riding suddenly had an extra jolt of thrill , partly due to being higher on the saddle and having my tires pumped up.

felt like i could ride for miles.

I'll get some pictures. And add myself to the long list of TE'ers who say yay to getting a fit done. And report back after a longer ride this weekend.

I AM a little sore from engaging formerly unengaged muscles..but i was told to expect an adjustment period of 4 or 5 rides.



+...when i was paying my bill, a very juicy LBS guy went over to look at my bike, stared at her for quite awhile and then turned and said my bike was beeeyootiful; which she is...and that one thing i did not lack was taste...so i felt all proud and giddy...

[TxDoc]

I'll get some pictures. And add myself to the long list of TE'ers who say yay to getting a fit done.[/I]

Yeah! Glad you did it - see, it is really fun!
But yes - now we WANT new pictures

[elk]

i think it's interesting to look at my bike before and after i was fit...looks so SLACK! before....

Before and then After ( it's like "spot the differences

[TxDoc]

i think it's interesting to lok at my bike before and after i was fit...looks so SLACK! before....
Before and then After ( it's like "spot the differences

Very interesting indeed!!!
Thanks for posting the pictures

[Jiffer]

Very cool! Glad you have joined the "professional fit club" and have a happy report. I keep thinking my best two buds should get their bikes fit, but then again, that might make them even faster and I'm barely keeping up with one of them at the moment!!! Ha ha!!! But it's no secret. I told them all about the wonders of the right fit and all I learned.

Glad you have a new thrill for riding. That's what happened to me and it's only been a few weeks!

[elk]

Oh i forgot to say that he thought my bar choice was a good one (the Cinelli Little Wing, which by the way I learned is the same as the 3T Elle) .

It's amazing really how much I learn here......;-)

I'm not sure I learned a lot at the fitting that I could articulate; probably the tricks for staying on the fatty pads of your hands while on the hoods was the best tip I got...the rest was all in physical degrees.

[alpinerabbit]

So you actually have inspired me to go for a fit myself.

1-finding the correct saddle height - check. no change
2-finding the correct fore/aft position of the saddle check - 4 cm forward(!!)
3-figuring out whether you may need some tilt or you can ride a leveled saddle (most people can, some strange people like me cannot...) sorta check - my SMP undulates in all directions, hard to tell if it has a tilt at all
4-finding out if you need any stem adjustments check - he took out a couple spacers
5-finding the optimal position of your handlebar check- they were turned up a bit to make up for the whole shebang moving down.
A more lengthy (but much more useful) fitting process takes care of all of the above plus:
6-finding the optimal tension on your pedals - no need here
7-fitting the cleats in the correct position on your shoes. This is done with a powermeter . check- no power meter but he moved them so I actually have some float left towards the outside.
8-finding the optimal position of the brake levers/shifters on the handlebars. these were already good.
9-moving and readjusting cables depending on your riding style (% of time on the hoods, tops, drops) so that the equipment does not get 'in your way'. no issue there.
10-finding the optimal (most aero, less disturbing for your posture) position for accessories like waterbotle cages or cyclocomputer. no issue either
11-making you pedal for a while going through all your gears and reading the powermeter. no check on the power meter but he watched.

I described my little aches to him, he said it was most likely from sitting too far back. He actually told me to keep my right knee a bit more knock-kneed than I've been riding. For that reason he angled my cleats more inwards.

He emphasized that I should concentrate on the pull phase. I was also shown how to "pull" on my aerobars just so much to get a continuous arch of power down to my lower back, glutes, hamstrings. This to save my quads and calves for the run.

He said, and he said Cervélo had used data from 50'000 US and UK soldiers, that women and men actually are not that different in proportions than what lots of bike marketers tell you to push WSD...

I just went for a 25k ride and it feels good, I notice the lowered handlebars in my neck - but that will come along. My outer calves were burning, that's not what the doctor told me. Have to check with him.

he also taught me how to relax the feet and let them sink into the footbed (I don't know if I quite got it) and it felt better.

[TxDoc]

3-figuring out whether you may need some tilt or you can ride a leveled saddle (most people can, some strange people like me cannot...) sorta check - my SMP undulates in all directions, hard to tell if it has a tilt at all

SMP!!! Interesting!!! A little while ago a couple of mechanics in the shop were debating on where to level the SMP carbon, the back, the nose... it was a funny discussion

He said, and he said Cervélo had used data from 50'000 US and UK soldiers, that women and men actually are not that different in proportions than what lots of bike marketers tell you to push WSD...

Ha! That makes ME feel a LOT better, thank you!!! Every time I try and ride a so-called 'women specific' bicycle I find that the geometry does not fit me in any way. I don't know enough about it - but really I have always wondered about the WSD thing... Glad I'm in good company!

As per inspiring you to get a fitting service... here is some more temptation: my boyfriend decided to give himself the ultimate treat and we went and got him a wind tunnel session with the pro fitter. He wanted to check his TT bike setup to the millimeter!
Well, I was skeptical (never done wt testing before) but I have to say looking at the stats on the computer while they were testing him - a few mm made a lot of difference! It was quite expensive (about $1k for a few hours), but the back ache issues he had sometimes are completely gone, and he found out that he is much faster now. So all in all, he is very happy he did it.

[Eden]

Ha! That makes ME feel a LOT better, thank you!!! Every time I try and ride a so-called 'women specific' bicycle I find that the geometry does not fit me in any way. I don't know enough about it - but really I have always wondered about the WSD thing... Glad I'm in good company!

I think they should probably quit calling it WSD..... there are men out there proportioned this way too... They definitely should not stop making them though!!! I'm one of the people who totally benefits from it. I cannot get a decent fit with a non WSD bike - my arms and torso are way to short.

[alpinerabbit]

I once read (on Sheldon Brown perhaps?) that bikes used to really only have a variable seat tube. This means the smaller the bike, the proportionally overlong the top tube would get.

Enter my reasoning: Since blokes only go down to a 52 or so it does not hurt yet. But if you go down to a 44 or something the top tube is way too long, so they needed to shorten it, and since 99.8% of all small bikes are ridden by women, call it WSD (the 0.2% being vertically challenged men).

Re: the wind tunnel - I'm not good enough for that

[Eden]

I once read (on Sheldon Brown perhaps?) that bikes used to really only have a variable seat tube. This means the smaller the bike, the proportionally overlong the top tube would get.

Enter my reasoning: Since blokes only go down to a 52 or so it does not hurt yet. But if you go down to a 44 or something the top tube is way too long, so they needed to shorten it, and since 99.8% of all small bikes are ridden by women, call it WSD (the 0.2% being vertically challenged men).

Re: the wind tunnel - I'm not good enough for that

I've heard the same thing - though when this was true bikes generally only came in 2 or 3 "sizes" anyway..... with only a 52, 54, or 56 people on both ends of the spectrum were pretty well out of luck....

Bikes started coming smaller with variable tt lengths before the label "WSD", but they were still proportioned for people with longer torsos and arms and the very smallest sizes (yes generally used by women) were not around yet. My first 10 speed was probably about a 48- which yeah, I could stand over, but the top tube was about a 52.5, and I really need under a 50 - I now have a 49.5 and could really go shorter.

WSD does have some other connotations too - usually it means that the frame sizes will go smaller, and some other things, like handlebar width and crank length will be scaled down too. Some WSD bikes have short reach levers - but all of these things could just as easily be called "small people design" as "women's design"

[elk]

I'm a little confused by this WSD...I have notions about my shape...

He pushed my saddle pretty much all the way back on the rail, raised the post about an inch and also raised my bar and brought it in a bit closer.

Yet...he said the bike was as small I should go height wise....but a larger frame would be too long in the reach. So I'm at the edge of too tall for the frame, at the other edge of too short for reach.

I always thought I was just short everywhere, but apparently I have those longer girl femurs...