Fit printout? Any video? Pad X/Y? Fitter?

No video but added printout

Fitter was Karel Sumbal with TriMarni Coaching

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Team Zoot

I’m assuming “IM TT” is the ISM TT saddle. Glad you’re feeling more comfortable. However, in short; probably need shorter cranks (150-155 given your saddle height), definitely need more reach...then you’ll need to lower your pads. Just my opinion though; you’ll get more specific insight from Eric Reid, Trent Nix, David Luscan etc

He did say that but I have hip mobility issues so he didn’t want to push me too far. I will probably go back mid season. He emphasized sustainable versus aero and uncomfortable

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Team Zoot

Did he describe the type of hip mobility issues? Your fit is such that I’d suggest it’s the fitter and not your personal limitations holding the fit back (unless you tell me you’re operating with a reconstructed pelvis). Many get tied up in this bs aero/sustainability disconnect and fail to realize what’s causing problems on either end and definitely don’t succeed in finding positions that are fast AND comfortable (see the UK 100mi/24hr+ TT scene). I’d go get a refund but I’ll refrain from opining further and let the rest of the braintrust finish this off in a better way than I can.

When he was doing a physical assessment, (laying on my back) knees bent, tried to push each one to my chest. Unfortunately it wouldn’t come close. I assume this is where he got it from but I’m not positive. I did have a backward tilt to my pelvis and his goal was to get it rotated forward.

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Team Zoot

I personally think you look pretty good. Yes you could be lower/more aero but based on what you are saying, the assessment your fitter made and the fact you are comfortable I would take anything the slowtwitch 'experts' say with a grain of salt. If anything I would see how it goes in training and how well you run off the bike in racing. If you feel you could be more aggressive then lower your front end a little and see how it goes. I always start to aggressive and find myself raising the front to a more sustainable position. I think it would help if people knew what kind of bike splits you are doing for what distance you generally race and then understand as to what level of athlete you are.

The shiv tends to be pretty hard to get a great fit, hence why Crowie at 5'10 rode a small. As stated previously if it feels comfortable that's a great first step, but there are definitely some aero gains left on the table. A lot of the aerodynamics are limited by someone's physiology, if you can't get super low and hold it, then it isn't worth it. I tend to think of the body in terms of it in relation to the top tube. It seems like the great bike fits tend to the have the body in parallel to the top tube or a little bit acute. It appears that you have a significant upward angle. Again, if you're incapable of going lower, than that is the right fit for you.



Pretty parallel

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Team Zoot 2023

let's link the pic:

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

You'll get all sorts of feedback, but some of the more experienced fitters will tell you that your flexibility should not prevent a flatter, more forward and/or lower position. It is possible, for example, that you have the saddle quite a way back and that if it were moved forward and the bars adjusted (if not limited by the Shiv, which is a very tall bike) you could alter your position on the bike without changing anything at all that would be limited by hip mobility, simply by rotating your existing body position about the bottom bracket. After which, you might want to adjust hand position a bit.

Just for fun, and to illustrate the point, here's some very advanced photoshop editing I did. Note that your body shape is the same, just re-positioned in space.

Sight unseen, and knowing what I know about most improper bike fits, these are all excellent changes to make and I'm glad your fitter's philosophy was such that he recommended these changes and didn't take you in the other direction, which a lot of fitters sadly seem to be doing these days..


really this is what's most important, you feel great on the bike, and you will ride your bike and be more comfortable on the bike.... that's a huge win. Recognize though that "comfort" is just one part of the comfort/power/aerodynamic triad, and that those three are not mutually exclusive. You can have all three at no "cost".



You had a great interaction with your fitter, why not talk to him about it? Posting on ST is probably only going to get you responses that will contradict or interfere with your athlete/fitter relationship and might be counter productive.

Hope this helps,

Eric Reid

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

I just had this done on Sunday and am very confident in my fitter. He did say that there were other changes that could be made but he didn’t want to go that far - yet.

I just wanted to hear what others say, good or bad. I’m not going to make any additional changes at the moment. After several months of training and racing in this position, I’ll ask him “what’s next”?

Eric, he is sponsored by Ventum as well. Check out Karel Sumbal on SM. He just got a new paint job and it’s incredible!

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Team Zoot

good to hear. Keep training and keep us posted.

Eric

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

First, your fit isn't terrible, but a couple things stand out to me. As mentioned, the idea of specifically hip mobility and general flexibility limiting a fit is almost always nonsense. Also, a common theme is this idea of gradually becoming more "aggressive" (terrible word by the way, the right word is APPPROPRIATE). I don't consider this approach to be gradually becoming anything..... I consider it riding a lousy position until you decide to ride a good one. There is nothing in the way of this for you except lack of knowledge.

So while your fit isn't bad, it certainly isn't great because your fitter is apparently operating under two false assumptions. 1. Flexibility as a limiter and 2. The need to gradually adapt.

If you are in NC, I would bite the bullet and just give Eric Reid your money....as your fitter seems to be copying his idea of tilt without really knowing why. I know you already paid for a fit, but if you paid for two fits before getting it correct, you are way ahead of most folks who struggle with this for years.

That dude beat me at St. George last year by about 5 minutes 😤😯

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Ed O'Malley
www.VeloVetta.com
Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes
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