I have my bike shipped to them when a I am in town. They have always been very kind and helpful. They have a fit studio and from what I have been told are top notch when it comes to fitting. I am not sure if they do a triathlon (FIST) fitting or not. I would give them a shot. Their prices are pretty reasonable for fittings also. I can't remember what they where off the top of my head, but it was fair.

Don't know about Bicycle Ranch, but come down to Tucson and head over to TriSports.com.

Seton is F.I.S.T. Certified and Rudy is Serotta Certified, plus they are a great shop that does a lot for triathlon.

~Tucker

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Shop at: TriSports.com

"Stick to the facts man, they are good enough, no need to go making stuff up." - STP

I didnt know they did fittings at trisports. I do buy lots of stuff from them...Great service!

Thanks

They are very good fitters - if your a roady or a mtn biker. For a tri-fit, I'm not so sure, here is my story: When I got my P3 fitted there, I brought it in with the seat in the forward position, nose in a plumb line with the bb, and about 15cm of drop from saddle to arm pads. They flipped my seat around, and performed the old Knee Over Pedal Spindle routine to set my saddle fore/aft. Thats when I realized that were not on the same page as I was regarding tri bike fit. They put in a bunch of spacers, flipped by neg 17 deg stem to a positive 17, and set me up like a big sail. To their credit, I'm sure I would have been very comfortable had I kept this position. If you ride slack, they may be more your style, but if you want to ride steep and low, this is not your shop.

Give 'em a call (888) 293-3934 to check on pricing but it was very reasonable when I had my last fitting done there. The great thing is, they have so much stock that if you want/need to change out parts, more than likely, it's there.

Tell 'em Tucker sent ya.

~Tucker

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Shop at: TriSports.com

"Stick to the facts man, they are good enough, no need to go making stuff up." - STP

I sent them a e mail asking if they do tri fitting and they told me that persons wanting a tri fit is their biggest customer base.....Hmmmmmmmmmmmm!

I think they may be trying to improve their "tri" image. I live about 3 miles from the shop and get a lot of my parts and supplies from them. I bought my bike at another shop (was $200 cheaper) and was fit by my cycling coach.

I really like the people at Bicycle Ranch, always great service, great group rides.

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  I had a relatively negative experience with Bicycle Ranch. Last spring, I was in Phoenix for business for 5 days and brought my tri bike. I called BR to see if they could schedule me for a bike fit and was willing to come in anytime. I even offered to pay extra since they had this "great" reputation, at least locally. They told me that they were booked and would call me if there was a cancellation. They also said they could schedule me the following week when I would be back home and stated that people fly in from all over the country for a bike fitting (hard to believe). Bottom line I did get fit by BR. As a business person I have learned that as much as you might like to say "no", you need to do your best to accomodate the customer. I found their attitude to be pretty arrogant. I give them a "thumbs down."

i know one of the fitters at BR and they have a very good reputation. I have not been fit by them but some of the people i work with / train with have been and were very pleased.

Yes they are very busy - they have a well deserved reputation - but if you schedule the time they will do a good job. The shop is small and a bit crowded but have lots of good gear as well.

I have purchased 5 bikes from them- 3 mtn bikes and 2 road bikes. over the years they have gone after the high end cyclist (serotta, seven) and I don't think their prices are particluarly competitive. I would say they are very knowledgable- Pariac who is manager and Glenn who is the owner (also world masters track champion) are smart and know a lot. They just happen to have chosen to pursue customers with lots of $$ moreso than entry level. THey are not as knowledgable about triathlon- in fact don't think any triathletes on the staff. I bought my tri bike elsehwere and get a nice dicscount on clothing etc as a result- BR does not discount at all despite my $10,000 in bike purchases over 8 or 9 yrs.

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don't just do something..... sit there

I had a fairly similar experience to the one Shaner recounted above.

I went into the BR last Feb. after having a horrible race the day before at the Desert Duathlon. My first run was fine, but my ride was terrible and my second run mirrored the ride. I took my bike in and we set it on the trainer and did some video work. I had spent the winter trying to get lower, but I was also riding a Thompson set-back flipped forward on a very steep frame.

He flipped the seat around to the back and raised me up with a +17 rise stem (also went from 90 to 120 mm). He also took the spacers above my stem and put them back below the stem. He liked the position but said he would go even farther back from there but my bike was too steep. When I rode the bike back to my car it felt like a lazy-boy, but over the next few weeks I found that I was riding much better. I eventually traded out the Thompson for a straight post that moved my seat a little farther forward, not back like he recommended, but otherwise the position worked quite well for me. I had been so low and cramped in the front that my lungs couldn’t expand fully and there was a huge curve in my back.

My spring races were my best ever, but were I to post a pick, I’m sure I would have a bunch of people tell me I needed to go lower in front.

Ironically, had I taken the frame builders advice, Ves of Yaqui Bicycles, I would not have changed position from how the bike was meant to be set up when it first arrived and I could have saved myself the cost of the stems I bought to go lower and the cost of the stem and fitting that put me right back where I started.

Chad



P.S. One of the most useful things the BR fitting did was diagnose a 10mm leg-length discrepancy. I put some spacers under the cleat on one shoe and fixed an imbalance in my stroke that a number of people had pointed out in the past.