Where do you live?

My local shop will do a fitting without even asking you what bikes you are looking at. They give you a sheet of 20 or so numbers that you can take to other shops and compare to geometries on line. They consider themselves bike fitters, not salesmen. They probably make as much fittings as they do on bikes: 2 dedicated fitting rooms busy all day long every day of the week.

And, practically, having worked in retail for much of my younger life, any business that does a good job serving you knows you'll be back - if not to buy you bike right now, then next time. If you feel screwed, then you will not ever return and you'll tell all your friends to stay away.

Use common sense. There are popular shops here that I would not go to. Ask what a fitting entails. If they say they will have you straddle the bike then run...

And my shop is historically really roadie. I got a great fit on my Dual.

John, I live in Post Falls, ID- near Spokane WA. It isn't that I think my LBS is a total rat, you know, but. . .

Maybe what I should do is make a couple of phone calls and ask what getting fit means to some of the local shops, I guess is what you're saying?

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

In the real world...

First you try like the dickens to get an employee of the LBS to recognize your existance. Realize that this is an existential impossiblity so you pull a bike off its stand. They rush over b/c you're messing with their stuff. I'll gaurantee they tell you that you've pulled out the wrong one and they show you the "right" one.

You straddle the bike, if there is about an inch of clearance, then you sit on the bike and the if you can't see the front hub b/c it is obscured by the handlebars then it fits. If you are in a really nice shop, they have a string with washers tied to it. They hold it up to your knee while looking at the pedals, regardless of anything they see, they'll call it a good fit.

Sorry, but unless you are lucky enough to live in close proximity to a fantastic shop, you're on your own. If you've got a bike now, take digital pictures, print them out and analyze with a protractor. Make modifications, even if it is not rideable, but get to the point where you can make your own measurements. Get on the web and find bikes in your price range that fit.

I realize I am lucky. People come from all over the midwest to get fit at this one LBS in my town.

Is there a really good shop that you can road trip to?

FYI, my shop fit me on a Serotta size cycle, not an actual bike (because I am really tall and they did not have any that would fit - and also because they do mainly custom frames). They figured out my "ideal" geometry from the size-cycle.

But it was more than that. They asked me about my flexibility, riding experience, injuries, what I wanted to do with the bike, etc. They wanted me to come in with my shoes & cycling clothes and had me on a bike or the size-cycle for about 2 hours while they watched and adjusted and watched and adjusted...etc. Then it was another hour after they received and built my bike so they could fine tune everything and switch out stems and get the bars just right.

Take a look at the fitting info at http://www.cronometro.com. It will give you an idea. My guess is that Tom D.'s process is similar.

"Sorry, but unless you are lucky enough to live in close proximity to a fantastic shop, you're on your own."

I agree. I've become bike fitter for myself, wife and a few friends out of necessity. Living in the boonies there is nobody else within a three hour drive. Even so, I'd still view a bike fitter as a consultant more than somebody that I would ever put blind faith in. IMO, ultimately you are your own bike fitter for the fine tuning based upon what your body tells you. All the pro can do is put you in the ball park.

What I suggest you do is 1) read all slowman's articles on bike fit several times. It is excellent stuff. 2) read Tom D's couple of articles on his site, also excellent reading 3) read the basics on the Colorado Cyclist site 4) do a google search and read, print off and bookmark everything you can find dealing with bike fit. Make yourself an educated consumer. If you then aren't confident to set up your own bikes, then at least you will have the knowledge to ask intelligent questions if you get a pro to set it up for you.

You guys are not as encouraging about this as I had hoped. ;)

My concern is that once I do get a tri bike, I don't want to end up with a frame that is totally wrong for me. If it's a matter of moving the seat forward or back, or up and down, and adjusting the bars, and all that, no problem, I figure I'll eventually sort that stuff out. What worries me is that I may spend two grand on a bike that will never really fit me because the frame dimensions are wrong.

Anyone know a reliable fitter in Spokane? Seattle?

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

I find your post kind of funny -- my first posting on SlowTwitch asked very much the same question (http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...search_string;#52249). I didn't really get a good answer. And I still haven't. I think it comes down to a leap of faith that the fitter you find is going to get it right. While whoever one might end up with would probably do a good fitting and recommend the proper frame/bike, it's still very unnerving to hand over a huge amount of money knowing you don't really get a second chance.

In the end, I went with a TitanFlex where _everything_ (well, almost everything) is adjustable. Great bike.

Rob