if the fitter knows what they're doing, and your current fit has room for improvement, and you can spare the bucks, yeah, probably.
if the fitter's just making it up as they go along, a bunch of lasers won't help them.
-charles

Post some pictures everything is in good fun I had my pictures taken while I was in prison. A good fit is always the best but maybe someone will see something that may really help and save you some bucks. That you can then spend on powercranks and newtons

I think you will find that you can get in a very slightly "better" aerodynamic position with all the fancy shit, but that it won't cure your problem of being unable to stay comfortable for over 4 hours. You may have to go less aero to do that (OMG, did someone really say that on ST?????). ST is a terrible forum or the AGer in addressing the realities of bike fit for the MOP person, in my opinion. If you don't have a Dave Zabriskie position, you will be criticized, yet few of us have the flexibility to ride that way. Hell, Stadler has a shitty position according to many here (way too high in the front) but the bottom line is that he is fast, AND he can digest his food and run after.

Save the money and spend it on some good nutrition so you can train longer.

Yeah dude, I used to have the same (silly) opinion you stated in your post. I road 150 mile rides and toughed it out with my buddies in the Catskill Mountains of NY. Until I got tired of neck pain, things going bumb to early, etc. My wife had went to Paul Levine (Signatures Cycles in NYC and Rockland County NY). I gave in and spent around $300.00 for a thourogh 3 hour plus fit session plus some free follow up sessions. I used to think what you thought, dude, that "fancy shit" can be done at home by the ST dweeb force telling me how high my seat is etc. Best money I ever spent. After seeing Paul all of these issues went away. That was a few years ago and still holds true today. A "shitty" fit on a $10,000.00 Record 10 Carbon BMC can never ever beat a good fit on a $600.00 eBay special, period.

I road 101 miles Thursday in the Catskills (6,500 feet of gain) and another 101 miles Sunday with 8,400 feet of gain followed by a hilly 15K running road (Woodstock) race today. I feel like I could go out and ride 150 miles Tuesday. Nutrition, while very important, is useless if your bike does not fit well and you cannot fit your bike well on your own. Very few here, albeit would not admit it, would never ever self-diagnosis for a serious medical condition but seem willing to post silly pictures for ST's to "critique" my bike position on bikes costing $5k and up when another $300.00 would not only help gain speed, power and comfort.

I agree with you on the importance of bike fit, but I think your case is different than his. I think there is a big difference between someone who, as he said, is "reasonably comfortable" and someone who has shit going numb. For you, it's clear you had major fit issues. I doubt this guy does. Sure, he may find a few tweaks that will cure all of his ills, but I suspect not. There's a big difference between adjusting a bike that fits poorly versus one that fits reasonably well in my opinion. But have at it if you have the cash laying around. It certainly can't hurt. I've been fit professionally 3 times, and other than the first time it was a waste really - very, very minor tweaks that had no noticable results. But, I figured things may have to be adjusted as I aged. It didn't in my case. But everyone is different.

Good points but I still stand by my assertion that regardless of your ability and current fit (assuming you have never been pro-fit) that it is the best money spent, instead of some $300.00 carbon skewer.

Peace out!

"I have some problems staying aero on longer rides"

Hard to say. My $ FIST fit came to about the same conclusion as my free previous self fit after reading Slowman's articles. If your fit is way off then it's money worth it, but if it was "way off" you'd be uncomfortable in a lot less than 4 hrs.

Most likely scenario is that you'll have to ride a little higher and sacrifice some aero to gain some comfort. Most people don't ride in the same position for a 20 kms TT as they would an IM.

Biomechanical analysis, lasers, scans, even FIST, they are all meaningless if the fitter is not up to par. None of the forementioned mean the fitter is any good, only that he bought toys or attended a course. Remember, what do you call the guy who finished last in medical school? ... Doctor.

---

Gerard Vroomen
3T.bike
OPEN cycle

I'm not sure you're going to get much help here. People who have spent $300 on anything are typically going to endorse that decision. Those who have chosen otherwise are going to argue otherwise.

My observation on fit is that good fit is an evolutionary thing. It's easy enough to get close by just following the (mostly good) advice you get here and elsewhere on the web or from books. Once you get close, it's then a question of millimeters, and sometimes it takes months, or even years to decide to make small changes. Only you can determine if these small changes are right or wrong.

Maybe it comes down to personality and inclination. If you're the independent, mechanically oriented type, fit yourself. If you're less mechanically oriented and follow instructions well, then get a pro fit.

All expensive fits are not equal. If you trust your fitter and the price includes follow up sessions, then maybe give it a try. For instance, if you'll be fit by the shop's founder/owner with 20+ years experience, that's great. If you show up and you're fit by some kid who just learned the craft, then that sucks.