Lots of good responses here so thanks everyone.

As one of the other posters asked, is there any chance of describing one or two examples of strengthening exercises and which muscles you target (for the preceeding stretch)?

Fulla - the toe in thing is apparently quite individual based, with some not having it done as much as he does others. Mine wasn't extreme, but noticeable. That has something to do (in his words) with being able to drive a stronger force through the leg (ie a stronger column that won't buckle) and not so much to do with injury prevention.

Cheers
Mike

Do not go to a bike shop for a fitting.....they do not know the boimechanics of the body. They can get you close, but if you ride ironman distances, close is not good enough. Call your local physical therapy clinics, and see if they have people who do bike fitting. You will be surprised as to what you learn, and it is completely worth the time and money.

Strikes me as utter poppy-cock.

Bike shops know how to do bike fitting. PTs know how to try to fix injury issues. Getting your bike fit done
by a PT likely means you're getting someone who dabbles in fit and is probably unqualified.

Are there PTs that are FIST/other certified? Probably. What percentage. I'm guessing the
number is <1%.

I'm guessing I wouldn't be suprised what I learn, and I don't profess to know a lot on the subject.

-Jot

Jot.

How many systems of bike fitting are here currently? Is there one which you would say is above the rest? Is there one bike better than the rest?

Exactly. A bike shop technician, while they may know bikes does not have a grasp as to the complexities of the human body. Biomechanics and Orthopedics classes are not given out in high school, or in undergraduate degrees. A trained physical therapist can identify and FIX problems. Bike fitting is a science and an Art. Training the body is the same way.

So if you choose to go to someone with a high school degree to tell you how your body should look on bike, that is your decision. But for my money, I would go to someone who deals in injuries and treats them on a regular basis. This individual is not a novice rider, nor do they need guessing. They need correction for a problem.

And yes, there are physical therapists who do actually know how to fit a bike. Some are actually quite good at cycling and bike fits. Hence why I mentioned going to a PT who is trained in bike fitting. Asking around and asking your own questions is a great method of finding out information.

How many systems of bike fitting are here currently? Is there one which you would say is above the rest? Is there one bike better than the rest?

1) Don't know. Probably fewer than the number of systems of PT there are. I'd guess there are less than 6.
2) Around here, FIST is the gospel.
3) Yep. The one that fits me the best. Or the one Lance is riding.

Exactly. A bike shop technician, while they may know bikes does not have a grasp as to the complexities of the human body. Biomechanics and Orthopedics classes are not given out in high school, or in undergraduate degrees. A trained physical therapist can identify and FIX problems. Bike fitting is a science and an Art. Training the body is the same way.

Not quite exactly.

1) There are PT BS degrees
2) I agree that a trained PT and identify and fix problems. Just don't think they can do bike fit reliably.

So if you choose to go to someone with a high school degree to tell you how your body should look on bike, that is your decision. But for my money, I would go to someone who deals in injuries and treats them on a regular basis. This individual is not a novice rider, nor do they need guessing. They need correction for a problem.

I've spent my fair share of time in PT. I see a lot more PT for golf injuries. So, I should go to those people for working on my swing?
Heck, the PT could NOT EVEN BE A RIDER. Also, I try never to confuse education with either intelligence or knowledge on a specific
subject, and yes I do have a college degree.

And yes, there are physical therapists who do actually know how to fit a bike. Some are actually quite good at cycling and bike fits. Hence why I mentioned going to a PT who is trained in bike fitting. Asking around and asking your own questions is a great method of finding out information.

You'll notice I didn't say there weren't. I did say I'm guessing that less than 1% of all PTs are certified in ANY bike fit system.

Look at how many people are considered good bike fitters. Now, determine how many are PTs. That number is going to be
very low. Now, look at how many PTs there are and how many are bike fitters. Since the starting number is high, it's going
to be over 0, but going to be less than good bike fitters.

Note: I'm not saying that YOU aren't competent. I AM saying that I'll be I could spend hours on the phone trying to find a
PT to do a bike fit and it would likely be a poor choice.

IMO.

-Jot

"Do not go to a bike shop for a fitting.....they do not know the boimechanics of the body. They can get you close, but if you ride ironman distances, close is not good enough. Call your local physical therapy clinics, and see if they have people who do bike fitting. You will be surprised as to what you learn, and it is completely worth the time and money. "


Total horse shit.

The "standards" for PT training in regards to bike fit are woefully inadequate at best.

A better description would be nonexistant.

I will go so far as to say that by a rather large margin the worst "professional" bike fits I see come from PTs looking to cash in on the "bike fit" craze, and figuring that they "know the boimechanics(sic) of the body," they ass-u-me they know something about how bikes should be fit. (insert sarcastic laughter)

There are some great folks out there doing fits without a PT certification, and there are some great PTs doing bike fits. What people should look for is a great fitter... period.


...a curious side note; I had over 20 separate appointments performing bicycle fit services for certified physical therapists last year. I am not a PT. Oddly enough, I just scheduled a session to teach bike fit to a group of PTs. Hmmm....







.

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Tech writer/support on this here site. FIST school instructor and certified bike fitter. Formerly at Diamondback Bikes, LeMond Fitness, FSA, TiCycles, etc.
Coaching and bike fit - http://source-e.net/ Cyclocross blog - https://crosssports.net/ BJJ instruction - https://ballardbjj.com/