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Fit Bike as Clientele Generator
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I run an independent fitting studio in Seattle. I'm fairly new but have been met with some nice success. As of now I am only doing fits on bikes that the client already has.

I am planning on attending slowtwitch training in September and am curious about how many extra clientele I can expect by having a fit bike for sizing. I realize this is a pretty impossible question to answer, but if I could get a few rough ballparks it would shed some light for me.

Something as small as 2 or 3 extra clients a month would pretty quickly overcome the opportunity costs I am grappling with. Any thoughts?
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Re: Fit Bike as Clientele Generator [Velopez] [ In reply to ]
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Yep, you nailed it on the head. It is impossible for any of us to predict how many clients you will gain with the addition of any tool you purchase for your business. That is entirely up to you and the services you provide that make a customer come in your door. some services can only be provided on a sizing cycle, so if you don't have a bike you can't offer those services and therefore can't get that client booking.

I will say that to be a modern dedicated fitting studio you must have a sizing cycle of some kind as part of your essential tooling. You will get a better understanding as too why once you go through the FIST certification process or Retul or Serotta (if it is still available) or other certs out there. I do not track the additional business I gain from owning a sizing cycle but I do track the business I would lose without it. For some studios every fit is performed on a sizing cycle at least initially.

have a good trip to the ranch, Monty's beef tips are my favorite and he makes plenty so eat tons.

Phil

Retul Certified Master Fitter, FIST certified fitter, Owner of Hypercat Racing http://www.hypercat.com, and friend to the animals.
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Re: Fit Bike as Clientele Generator [Velopez] [ In reply to ]
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I have an Exit Fit Bike and a Retul setup at the front of my store, Benbrook Bicycle. It generates a lot of questions, but not much in paying customers. There are new to cycling customers who think it's over the top needless (expensive) to the serious riders who don't want to be told they are riding the wrong bike. I think in 4 months it generated 2 paying fit customers. Experienced riders are surprised I have it, even though I advertise it. The knowledge of the customer about the value of a good fit is low. Business gets generated by word of mouth. Once fitted customers tell others how much it made a difference word slowly spreads. You need to ask customers to talk it up on group rides, possibly place a sticker on their bike for some kind of discount.

As you'll find out, doing fits on the bike isn't really doing a fit. You just reposition a client on the geometry available to you. The bike frame limits what you can do. Sometimes you can't match a bike to what the customer wants on the fit bike. You have to know the limits of manufacturer frames so you don't promise what can't be bought. Especially for the short rider.

http://www.mybicyclefit.com
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Re: Fit Bike as Clientele Generator [Velopez] [ In reply to ]
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IMO, what equipment you use will not drive business. Word of mouth that you do good fits will. That said, I just went from a Serotta Size Cycle that I used for a few hundred fits to a new Retul Muve, and the difference is well worth the price of entry for quality and ease of fits. I do 3-5 fits / week, up from about 1 / week a few years ago.
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