I may do that if I cant find a fitter near by.
I'm 5'9" shorter legs and a longer torso. Right now the seat is pushed forward about as far as it can go. and the elbow pads are back as far as they can go.
They were actually entertaining a 51 cm.
I don't know much about fitting but I imagine any changes to one will affect everything else.
Can a guy be fitted remotely on a fit bike and then adjust your bike accordingly? or do you need the bike also.

You can post pictures and video here and the filter will tell you what to change on your bike.

Yeah, I saw that saddle position, which is why I said it's not likely in the correct position. What saddle is it?

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Jim Manton / ERO Sports

Right now the best thing to do is to setup your bike on the trainer and post a video of you riding in aero position. Ideally with tight clothing (your race kit) on. The video should be shot perpendicular to you and at top tube height.

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blog

Its a Specialized Power Comp 143 mm

I think I know the shop - if it's who I think it is, nice folks with fancy certifications and equipment - experience is lacking. All you have to do is watch the owner on his very expensive bike.

I am in the same State with the same issues - couldn't find anyone close. I travel to LA a few times a year so ended up going to see Jim at ERO a few months ago on my last trip out and am doing some follow up with him via e-mail at the moment following my new bike purchase. If you can get to Jim, I would recommend it, but otherwise expand your search to places you might frequently visit.

For those who might know some fitters - he's close to Kansas City and Des Moines if that brings anyone to mind.

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"It's good enough for who it's for" - Grandpa Wayne

try a Fizik Mistica, slide it back, and go from there

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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 second this. I don't think it's too small. Saddle is all wrong- you need something you can sit on the front of, likely split nose with most of it behind your sit bones. it would have to slide back a ton, like probably 5-8cm from where the saddle nose currently is. So start with a new saddle ASAP. Then you have a silly short stem on your bike AND your forearm pads under your forearms (silly mistake, lol. A small bit forward might be more comfortable). Look where your elbows are relative to the steerer tube, then Google some elite athlete photos (Sebastian Kienle?) Aerobar extensions look too short. If you got a longer stem, it might work, but I'd want the pads closer to under my upper arm, closer to elbow. Stem length might change a lot, 110mm+? What size is on it now? Can you get a better picture of the cockpit? A longer stem might solve some things, but I still think the extensions are going to be too short.

It doesn't look unsalvageable to a solid decent or better. Heck, you might even end up with a few spacers coming out too.

Insert disclaimers here, like my.02, YMMV, etc.

The Power saddle might work just fine for you. You won't know that just yet. Try this...

1. Move your current saddle back 2cm, but keep the height constant.
2. Get a stem with a similar angle to your current stem, but 3cm longer. Get a cheap one because we're not sure this is what you need.
3. Once you've made the changes, take a video of yourself on a trainer pedaling with a race pace type of resistance. Keep the camera/phone steady and about hip high.
4. Post the video here.

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Jim Manton / ERO Sports

Sounds good Jim , i'll get busy on it.

I am similar build - 5'9 - approx 30" inseam - and went with a 51 cm P2, and I have a 120mm stem and good extension and I LOVE that bike. Listen to Jim and you will be amazed I think!

If I didn't like my self fit so much, I would go see him! Incredible amount of knowledge there. His posting is a blessing...

Brent

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DFRU - Detta Family Racing Unit...the kids like it and we all get out and after it...gotta keep the fam involved!

Did it look this bad on the Retul as well? Seriously far off. Shame on whoever did this. I have seen people on stolen bikes on Craigs List that have a better fit.

Yes sir, I feel pretty confident I can get this figured out with his help. If I were closer I would be making an appointment.
Lucky to have people like Jim available for sure!

I was never put on a fit bike. He used my bike on a trainer.

So to me, this is a bit backward. If this is a Retul shop, then put you on the Retul fit bike, find your optimal position, then transfer to the bike (and give you the right size bike, stem, bars, etc) right off the bat. Did you pick the bike and then get fit or did they sell you on the bike?? I am just trying to make sense of this.

Bike shops usually like to sell what they have in stock and worry about making it fit later.

thoroughly understood

I don’t mean to scold. But how can you be on this forum and ignore EVERYTHING I write protecting you from the experience you just had?

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

To be fair he's only been on since may. He probably doesn't eve. Know there are articles or such a thing as the front page. How long did it take you to notice there were articles in playboy?

iamuwere wrote:

So to me, this is a bit backward. If this is a Retul shop, then put you on the Retul fit bike, find your optimal position, then transfer to the bike (and give you the right size bike, stem, bars, etc) right off the bat. Did you pick the bike and then get fit or did they sell you on the bike?? I am just trying to make sense of this.

I just want to see the fit report.

Thing I've noticed frequently is that some shops are using fit bikes and Retul and then, strangely, not providing a report. I see the fits - they are terrible - and when I ask the rider about a report I'm told "they wrote down a list of bikes that fit me on a post-it note".

And, of course, there's no consistency or logic in the list provided, and the bikes on the list have big variance in geometry.

The dirty secret of most shops with fit bikes and fit systems is they fall into one of two categories:

• The fit bike and fit equipment is just a charade. They are whiz-bang tools that the fitter doesn't know how to properly use, but that impress the customer, who is supposed to be baffled by the BS.
• The fitter knows they aren't skilled and withholds fit report data lest they have their work scrutinized.

I really believe the majority of shops using fit bikes fall into the first category.

PSA: If you are getting a fit, you should be getting, at a minimum:

• Side profile fit photos (preferably before and after or, alternatively, a capture from the bottom of the pedal stroke and a capture from the top of the pedal stroke)
• Body geometry measurements (one side, both sides, whatever - just measurements captured by the motion capture or by the fitter using a goniometer or dartfish or something)
• Bike measurements (specifically where the contact points are in 3d space - I don't need top tube measurements, head tube length, trail, or whatever else that has nothing to do with the rider's contact points)
• An equipment survey - if I don't know what saddle was used and what the crank length was, the bike measurements aren't very useful

A skilled fitter can properly critique (and constructively use!) a fit that contains that data.

As has been pointed out many times, using good tools doesn't make you a good fitter, but you should expect a good fitter to be using good tools. And the best tool in my arsenal, at the moment, is slow-motion video on my iphone.

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Trent Nix
Owned and operated Tri Shop
F.I.S.T. Advanced Certified Fitter | Retul Master Certified Fitter (back when those were things)

yes. i get that. but i have two responses. three, really.

1. since this is slowtwitch.com/something, how are you never curious to see what this site is other than the /something?
2. this is the first thread about bike fit sessions gone bad? and i've never posted to those threads? with links to articles on the front page?
3. forgetting all of that, my interest isn't in chastising. it's in keeping this from happening. how do i do that? what's your counsel? because, what's the point in writing the articles? and responding to the threads?

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

I'm sure for every knucklehead like me you are helping 100 , probably more!

well, now we need to get you out of this mess.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

To be fair...I made an appointment with a Retul fitter and first thing he said on the phone was to bring my bike in...well it's totaled so that was worthless. Although he began licking his chops when I said that since he obviously wants to make a sale.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

let's take a quiz. if you think like me, what are the 5 most important things to remember, to guide you, to insist upon, after you've decided to get a bike fit and you're choosing your fitter?

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman