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Eliciting feedback from the new aerobar rider
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I am at about the 300 fit mark after a few years now and noticed that one aspect of my fits has evolved quite a bit over time. The balance between guiding the athlete and insisting upon certain things for the beginning aerobar rider.

I find that many simply can't separate how the bike should feel from their lifelong schemas of comfort and discomfort. Often I *know* that going lower will close the hip angle down from 120 degrees, and they will certianly ride more powerfully there, but as they are self-selecting that angle, they find it very hard to focus their awareness away from the simple perception that this is "really low and really different", and therfor not good.

In short, I insist more and more. I was wondering what experience others had in this regard? I want to guard against becoming the guy who knows he is right all the time, but I am also not interested in putting my name on bad bike fits because I let someone who is perceptually less developed guide themselves to bad conclusions.
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Re: Eliciting feedback from the new aerobar rider [Dave Luscan] [ In reply to ]
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When I come across these riders I usually will tell them that I just want to show them what it feels like to be super low in the front, I'll drop the bars on my fit bike way down to something absurd and make them ride there for a few minutes. Once I back off on the drop to something more realistic, it seems much better to them. Sometimes however, this doesn't work and we are back where we started.


I also like to pick up the resistance on the fit bike a bit as I experiment with drop so that people can really feel the benefits of a tighter hip angle, this also helps with finding the (real) limiters as they go lower.


In the end of the day though, your customer has to leave comfortable and happy with their position. If they truly are a comfort minded cyclist/triathlete, you aren't doing them any favors by setting them up with a more aggressive position than they want. Also, there is nothing wrong with explaining to them the benefits of going lower and telling them what you think they are capable of in the future as they get more (mentally) comfortable with their cycling.

Jonathan Blyer,
ACME Bicycle Co., Brooklyn, NY
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Re: Eliciting feedback from the new aerobar rider [jonblyer] [ In reply to ]
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My experience in the last year has been very interesting. I have found the old proverb (you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink), also holds true to bike fitting. As I see it it is my responsibility to promote the best position attainable for my clients according to their personal physical ability and/or limitations. I try to advise and reason them into what I consider the correct position for them according to the above criteria. Sometimes even though they believe you to be right they just can't get past the pre conceived ideas they have drafted in their mind. In these cases I never insist only advise and tell them to ride for a while in the as left position and come back if they want to take it to the next step. Usually they do come back stating they are more comfortable and/or faster than they thought they would be and want get even more aero. I run my own fit studio but also work part time at my friends shop. We often get people in that have a certain bike brand and model that they want to buy and are unwilling to listen about the bike that would really fit them correctly. In these cases the customer gets what they want. We fit the desired bike as best we can. Does this mean we gave a bad fitting? Absolutely not. As long as we did everything possible to get them on the correct bike. Don't worry about how other people might perceive or critique your fitting on a particular client. They don't know the specifics of the case and therefore have no busieness finding fault.

gene@fulltiltfitting.com
http://www.fulltiltfitting.com

http://www.fulltiltfitting.com
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Re: Eliciting feedback from the new aerobar rider [Dave Luscan] [ In reply to ]
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I fit them at Threshold power (with a power measuring device) and have them hold the position for 3-5 minutes before taking measurements. This and a simple explanation that aero is not better than power production brings them around.


Brian Grasky
Grasky Endurance: World Championship Triathlon Coaching; Professional Training Camps
RETUL fitter, Biomechanist, USAT Level 3 Coach, USAC Level 2 Coach
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Re: Eliciting feedback from the new aerobar rider [Dave Luscan] [ In reply to ]
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I’ve dealt with the exact subject with my fitters recently. With the ever-growing popularity of Triathlon, we’re seeing a different type of athlete entering the sport, and their athletic abilities are perhaps not what the sport has traditionally seen in the past, but they still wish to be fit to tri-specific bikes. We do the following:

As fitters to people who are new to the aero position, there is a minimum back angle we feel the athlete should reach if we’re to fit them to a tri bike. If they can’t reach that minimum on the fit bike, we usually tell them they’re not ready for a tri bike. That number is not absolute, and certainly different body types need to be taken into consideration, but we won’t fit a tri bike with 50mm of spacers and an up-turned stem. Of course, we’re not retailers, so selling product is not a priority to us.


On the other hand, we also “encourage” or “guide” our clients to go lower during the FIST process if we don’t feel as though they’ve reached their best position even though, mentally, they feel as if they’re too low. We often find there’s a bit of a “glass floor” we can break through and then the client suddenly feels both more comfortable and more powerful. It’s the most fun we have during a fit, actually, as the client realizes they can go low and watch their comfort and power increase.


For athletes new to the position, I also feel it’s the fitter’s responsibility to understand where the athlete may go with their position in the future. When recommending tri bikes, we need to have somewhat of a crystal ball to know that the position the client leaves the studio with during their first fit is not likely where they’ll be six months later. We explain this to the client during the process and, as gcappy, pointed out, it’s not long before they come back looking for a better position. On that note, three times we’ve had clients bring their measurements here to a specific forum thread and have been told by a manufacturer’s representative to buy a size/configuration other than we recommended…all three times they regretted not listening to us. Just one of the reasons I despise “forum fits” and why I don’t chime in. I simply don’t know enough about that athlete to recommend anything.


All of this, of course, assumes the issue is not saddle or crank-length related, and the athlete does not have any physical limitations.


Jim Manton / ERO Sports
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Re: Eliciting feedback from the new aerobar rider [JM3] [ In reply to ]
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JM3, I agree with what you say about forum fits. Read my last post on my blog page.

http://www.fulltiltfitting.com

http://www.fulltiltfitting.com
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