Specialized BG fit

[Seajay]

I like the BG fit. It is conservative in its approach. It pays a lot of attention to the range of motion YOUR body is comfortable with. It generally takes good care of knees, the base of your neck and shoulders. Obviously there are excellent and less excellent practitioners...but it's a good program.

[linzq]

I just got the BG fit done yesterday. Bear in mind that my experiences are coming from a brand new rider, who hasn't even been on the road yet with my roadbike.

The fit does a great job of looking at your physical abilities and limitations and then matching the bike to them. You're getting a good fit 'by the numbers'. If there's a judgment call between personal opinion and the official numbers, the fitter is supposed to go by the numbers. This may have been more of an issue where I was, because the fitters at my LBS are getting officially certified by Specialized and have to send in their final numbers for 20 different fits, and I was one of them.

After I was done, I was chatting with another guy (who's VERY experienced in fitting, just not the BG way, and whom I really trust), and he said he would have changed a few things in the final setup for me. You can end up with the same results (for example) with the seat further up, back and stem longer or the seat further down, front, and stem shorter. He would have chosen the opposite one of the BG official choice, because of his experience.

My partner also had it done, and he's been road riding (and racing) for years and years. The BG fit wanted to change his riding style, and one of the store mangers had to actually come by and say: "you can't do that! He's been riding like that for years!!!" to the change the fitter wanted to do.

Hope that helps! I'm looking forward to actually riding my bike to see how it feels, rather than just being on the trainer. The nice thing is that I'll have a record of the numbers, so that if I do decide to make changes, I can always go back to the BG fit in the future.

In terms of a workout - it's as hard as you make it. They ask you to "pedal for a while", and resistance/cadence/effort is up to you. My partner worked harder than I did to really feel how the bike felt - and was even out of the saddle to test a new knee angle thing. I just pedaled lightly. It was about 45 minutes total of riding.

[bluebug32]

I like the BG fit. It is conservative in its approach. It pays a lot of attention to the range of motion YOUR body is comfortable with. It generally takes good care of knees, the base of your neck and shoulders. Obviously there are excellent and less excellent practitioners...but it's a good program.

+1

I also like how I can return to my fitter after the initial fitting for little tweaks as the season progresses. Seems like a good system. I also like their footbeds.

[kermit]

So after a crazy two weeks at work I finally got my fit done. I gotta say it was pretty in depth and before I even get on the bike he tells me I have a 10 degree difference in hip flexibility (due to my fracture). After getting on the bike, he completely neutralized everything I had done, off with the cleat shims and evened out my cleats. Started from there and really got me evened out. I removed the SSM glamour aspide and replaced it with a Specialized ruby saddle. He discovered that my seat post was WAY low and he bumped me up about two inches. I was always having trouble on the left side, knee pain and chafing. I was told to do a one legged squat kinda thing and that gave him my foot and arch angle. I have a higher arch on the left foot that was not supported. He gave me Specialized super feet inserts and all the twisting was gone. I am super happy with the results and the two video cameras give all the angles and front and side views. I could see how finally straight I was. Also adjusted the stem angle, to a lower more straight 90. That brought my shoulders in and everything just works. I felt so much more even,comfortable... and more powerful. Instead of just my quads doing all the work, I could actually see in the video all the muscles in my legs working. I have decided to call in sick tomorrow from work and give the girl a workout. I must say it was worth the $300 bucks.

[nscrbug]

Great to hear that the fit went well and was well worth your time & money. I'm curious...was your fitter a "Master BG Fit Technician" or just a regular BG fitter? I tried to do a fitter search on their website, and the closest Master fitter is 127 miles away in Michigan (I'm in IL). I don't know what the difference is between a "Master" fitter and a regular BG fitter...perhaps some type of certification or something, I don't really know. I was just curious as to which you actually had. Also...you mentioned that the fitter lowered your stem to 90...are you referring to the angle or the length of the stem? I'm currently running an 80mm, 17 degree stem. Everyone (including my last fitter) says I should go steeper (20-25 degrees), but I'm beginning to question that logic and wonder if I should try the reverse by going lower and longer. Did your fitter explain his decision on the stem change? I'd be curious to hear his reasoning.

Linda

[kermit]

I had a 90 stem with I want to say a twelve degree rise. The 90 stem he put on has no angle but brought my reach in and down. I am much more comfy and not so stretched out.

[Velocivixen]

I had a bike fit, not sure what format they followed, however it was a 2 hour fit. They raised my seat, moved it aft and shortened the stem. I noticed the improvement while riding home after the fit and was happy I had it.

Enjoy your "new" ride.

[KnottedYet]

Everyone (including my last fitter) says I should go steeper (20-25 degrees), but I'm beginning to question that logic and wonder if I should try the reverse by going lower and longer. Did your fitter explain his decision on the stem change? I'd be curious to hear his reasoning.

Usually when you get to the point of playing with someone's stem, you are looking at the angle the upper arm makes with the torso. (generally folks are most efficient with a 90 degree angle - generally)

It can take a bit of riding to figure it out. A long enough "ride" (on the trainer or really riding) that the torso finds its happy place or the elbows find their happy place. Then you try to figure out where in 2 dimensions the bars need to be to get everything happy, and find a stem that will put the bars there.

When something is really off, it's obvious. But fine tuning can take a bit.

Bringing bars up and in can give you a 90 degree arm/torso angle.
Bringing bars down and out can also give you a 90 degree arm/torso angle.

Your torso/hip angle is different with each stem, though the arm/torso angle is the same.

Then we have to look at torso/hip angle. What kind of torso angle is best for you? Which one is more functional for your core strength? How much do aerodynamics matter for your riding style? What hip/torso angle gives you the greatest boost from your hip extensors? Do you use your hip extensors or your quads more when you ride?

Putting the bars down and out is going to bring your torso down. You will need more core strength in that position. Your hip extensors will be lengthened and primed for power, but the long head of your quad will be shortened and at a disadvantage and have less power. (the other 3 quads don't care about hip angle, they don't cross the hip) You will have less wind resistance. But if your best power angle is not the one you are at, the wind resistance at speed traded for power loss isn't worth it.

Having someone squat and jump a few times can give the fitter an idea of what hip/torso angle is most advantageous for their power (especially as they get tired). Or they can "set" themselves like they were about to sprint, and the fitter can check that angle. Everyone is different.

But no matter how fancy or finicky or functional we go during a fitting, what REALLY matters is what happens when the person goes out and rides the bike. Make sure you give feedback to the fitter. Sometimes things can look completely different during a fitting than they do in the real world.


ETA: oh, dear. I just realized I really didn't talk about elbow angle.