what if...

[batsheva]

sorry you feel like you have been treated badly - but i think this might be a miscommunication from what you say-

yes, you do just hop on bikes and ride them until you find one that feels right - only when you have bought a bike do they then do a 'fit' and finetune and tweak little things like saddle position, handlebars, seatpost etc to make it perfect - it would not be normal to do a fit to SELECT at bike-- you select a bike by just hopping on and trying them out and getting the feel for different ones - a fitting is then a finetuning to optimize things -

so it sounds to be like the first place you liked was spot-on - just ride the bikes and see which feels better for you, and when you have made a decision and bought the bike they 'fit' it by tweaking the small details - you do no choose a bike by having a fitting first--

hopefully this was just a misunderstanding of what a fitting is and you can go back to the first shop and just hop on those bikes, confident that when you find the one that feels best to you, they will fit it to you at that point so you absolutely LOVE to ride it!

batsheva

[ny biker]

This is not true. Before I bought my road bike, the guy at the lbs measured me using a fit kit to determine what size frame I should get as well as other basic measurements like handlebar size. From there we picked out a couple of bikes to try, and he told me to go ride them around the neighborhood for a while to see which one I liked best. Then after I decided which one I liked, I paid him for it.

After that, we made some changes (e.g., handlebar and seat height). Over time based on specific issues we made other changes.

But I was measured before we did anything. They measured things like inseam and arm length.

[batsheva]

that's pretty basic - measuring you up - a fitting i think takes about an hour or so--

[bluebug32]

Check out cycle-cny.com

It's a great forum and I've ridden with some of the members. They will, no doubt, have a good shop recommendation for you.

[SadieKate]

There are bike shops that will measure you first. A good experienced fitter can often size up someone's body build, flexibility, etc., and be able to recommend brands and sizes that are more appropriate. So, they may start with some measurements or putting someone on a fit bike to help narrow the search right from the beginning.

The body is a greatly adaptable thing and will tolerate much for a short period, so what feels comfortable in a 20 min. test ride may be painful on a century.

You don't have to go this route to find the right bike, but it is an option.