You could go see Dan in southern California.

I should have bugged him at Endurance Exchange!

Jess Bratus is a very good fitter and a gravel racer herself. she's in ann arbor. perhaps closer to you is Grand Rapids Bicycles. James Gunderman and Heather Flathau. also gravel-centric. all these fitters are good, and they all have invested in the right tools to get it done right.

i might add that in my own riding, one of the really helpful elements to gravel bike comfort is the right handlebar. it's way more impactful in gravel than in road.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

JMosey,

I have a whole bunch of reactions to your post and an attempt at an answer:

• Anne Barnes is so great, wonderful that you found her.
• The FIST Certification covers both road and tri and...wait for it... gravel. The teachers of the FIST fit school are Dan, of course, with Matthew Hill and myself assisting. All three of us are hardcore, passionate gravel junkies and we have been including gravel into the first 2 days of the 5 day cert for several years.
• From your first sentence it seems like you're looking for a fit school, but then it seems like your looking for a fitter to help you find a comfy position for this fall race.

You have a good tri position from Anne, cool. It's not logical to base a gravel position off of a tri position, but your road position can influence your gravel position. Do you have a road position that you love as well? I ask this because some folks ride a gravel position that is identical to their road position - and you can often get away with that if a) you ride kind of touring version of a road position (as apposed to a crit influenced road position) and b) if the gravel events being ridden are on the less technical side of things.

I'm about to list off some shops/people in the area of SW Michigan. I don't know any of these personally so I can vouch for them. Also, I'm listing references from FIST, Guru, and Retul that doesn't mean I believe that buying a stamp from any school equals good fitting.What I do believe is that education matters and if someone has invested time and energy into education that suggests some real desire that can drive experience and there's a probability of a good fit.

I'd call each and ask these questions:

• May I speak with your fitter? A good answer is something like: "yes, Jill is our fitter, I'll get her for you". A bad answer is "we all fit here, when would you like to come in"
• When you get a dedicated fitter on the phone ask them: "how long have you been fitting, where have you been educated as a fitter, do you own a dynamic fit bike, how many fits do you average a week in the summer?". A good answer is something like: "I've been fitting for 3-8 years, hold certifications from Fit Kit, Serotta, and FIST, yes we use a Purely Custom, in the summer I average 4+ fits a week". A bad answer is "I've been fitting for 20 years, I'm a former cat 3 roadie, I can fit off of a trainer or our size cycle but I'd rather just see you ride around the parking lot, and I do 20+ fits a week".
• When you find a fitter who doesn't give you a defensive reaction to your questions, seems to be educated, experienced, and has the tooling - someone you get a good feeling from... ask them about their experience with gravel. Don't expand on that query.. leave space after that question and make them fill it.
• Lastly, ask them about their guarantee. You'll probably ride in the position you find for about 12-20min with them. A month later you'll be riding into the 5th hour on a training ride - you need to know that you can come back for tweaks for free.

In the ST fitters database there's...

• Heather Flathau at Grand Rapids Bikes 616-682-2453
• Pedal in Kalamazoo 269-56-PEDAL
• Spin Zone in Granger, IN 574-243-4994

From the Guru site there's...

• Team Active in Battle Creek 269-962-7688
• Grand Rapids Bike shows up again
• Village Bike Shop in Grand Rapids 616-361-3661
• Spin Zone shows up again

From the Retul site there's...

• Mike Wood at Mikes Team Active in Battle Creek 269-962-7688
• Village Bike Shop shows up again this time with Anthony Rollins attached

Ian

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Ian Murray
http://www.TriathlonTrainingSeries.com
I like the pursuit of mastery
Twitter - @TriCoachIan

Sounds like you have a known, and worthwhile, entity.

You may hate driving to Chicago, but you'll really hate it after getting a potentially poor fit from someone else.

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I talk a lot - Give it a listen: http://www.fasttalklabs.com/category/fast-talk
I also give Training Advice via http://www.ForeverEndurance.com

The above poster has eschewed traditional employment and is currently undertaking the ill-conceived task of launching his own hardgoods company. Statements are not made on behalf of nor reflective of anything in any manner... unless they're good, then they count.
http://www.AGNCYINNOVATION.com