Been looking for a fitter. So far I’ve found SBR sports where a fist certified fit starts around $125, which is pretty reasonable. Paul Levign (signiature cycles) charges $375 or $450 in Manhattan ($75 less if you travel to his store) which I thought was a bit steep. I know he has a great reputation, but an afternoon with John Cobb only cost me $200.
So, any other recommendations or opinions on where to go to get fitted on a new bike in NY.
Cheers,
Justin.
By far the best up there is Jason Goldberg with Functionally Innovative Training. he can be reached at jason@fitcenter.net. He works out of Asphalt Green on the upper east side and RA Cycles in Brooklyn.
Been to R&A, Paul Levine and SBR. I got different fits and results from each of the fits. Save your money and save yourself the confusion.
Been pretty happy with SBR.
“I got different fits and results from each of the fits.”
That’s very interesting. Would love to see some sort of a double blind study using various fitters with the same subjects and see how similiar/different their conclusions might be.
“Save your money and save yourself the confusion”
By this, do you mean skip the fitting completely? And just do it yourself? Not a sarcastic question, honestly curious. I bought my first bike used and now realize (2 years later) it’s too big. I’m looking to actually spend real money and get a bike that’s right for me. Are you saying Levine, R&A, and SBR are all useless? Should I just go to will at toga?
I think there is some value to the fit. The problem I found with spending more than 300 dollars on a bike fit is that you don’t really know for certain if what they are doing is correct. Although there is an element of science to the fit, my experience from these three fitters is that it is really a very very subjective experience. They will tell you what gemotry will work best for you and design custom bicycles based on their assesments, but their methodology for deriving the angles and assesment is entirely subjective and based on trial and error and casual observation. You are not linked in to a powermetter and as such they are not truly seeing what your most optimal and efficient power production position is. They look at you on the bike, say that looks good, that doesn’t, measure a few angles and then say the rest is science.
Personally, I would go to SBR or Toga because they will include the bike fit in the purchase price of the bike. So if you are not happy with the fit, you can always go back to them and have them fine-tune it. I dont’t believe any of them will give you a really scientific or accurate measurement of your true optimal position. As such, I would rather not pay more than 300 bucks for info that may or may not be credible— you are forced with the decision of either having faith in his observations or to trust someone else, in which case you spent more than 300 bucks for nothing. If the bike fit is a bundled service at Toga or Sbr or R&A then i think that will be better than nothing and also better than spending $$$ on a so-called dyanmic/.scientific fit
I guess Paul Levine musta upped his prices?
I got fitted just under a year ago by him (at his studio/home), and I think it was $225? Oh, plus $40 for the new stem I needed to put me where I needed to be. Probably the best $ I’ve ever spent on bike-related stuff.
My $0.02 - I’m sure SBR will do a good job fitting you, and if you are already in the city, that might be your best “bang for the buck”. They really seem to have their sh*t together. I happen to live only about 30 mins from PL’s home, so I was easily able to go that route.
Altheus in Rye, NY (home of the Westchester Tri) also does fittings, I don’t know what they charge.
I had same experience in NYC as IronJ. Because there is an information assymetry between most triathletes and so-called bike fit experts, the latter group can really get away with salesmanship rather than science. A retailer may tell you that you are better off on one frame or another or one size frame or another based on their inventory. They may also pass off subjecticity or philosophy or incompetence under the rubric of experience or science. Similarly, a fitter that does not also make a living doing retail, may have an incentive either to tell you that you need a custom bike, or also to espouse puffery instead of fact. Because fits are not repeat goods and customers lack essentiall information to properly evaluate the services they are receiving, the seller of these services can really get away with almost anything.
Murphy’ Law,
Just sent you a PM.
I also used Mr. Levine’s services a year ago. I feel it was money well spent. Was the fit scientifically perfect? Seemed pretty thorough, although really, I have no idea if it was “perfect”. Would some other fitter reach slightly different conclusions? Possibly.
But so what? Odd’s are, for the bike I had chosen before the fitting, the frame size chosen would have most definitely been the same (Litespeed Siena, size small) regardless of the fitter. So really, as far as bike/component spec, you’re talking about crank length, handlebar width, stem length/angle, etc. There’s not an extremely wide spread on these variables to begin with, and there’s most certainly some degree of “flexibility” to be found in the numbers measured by different fitters. In the end though, it probably wouldn’t amount to much and I’d hazard a guess that you’d still have yourself a pretty comfy ride.
For a different perspective however, I was able to take the data provided to me by Mr. Levine, and confidently order a complete & properly fitting bike, online. This wound up saving me several hundred dollars versus the best price I could find locally. The price savings more than made up for the cost of the fitting.
So where would I go to get a fit while linked to a powermeter? How much will this cost, and is it worth it for the average AGer? I’m not so slow on a bike that’s too big for me with a position that I wouldn’t dare to post on this board. Should I just buy a bike in the right size range and figure out the rest? Why does everyone get so caught up in fit if it’s all just educated guessing?
Tryemedad,
I am not trying to take anything away from Paul or any other fitter. I think he is a great guy and extremely knowledgable. My only point is that consumers often rely on fitters to provide definitive conclusions about bike fit and instead receive one person’s philosophy, which is inherently subjective. It is not an objective measure. If consumers understand this going in to a fit, then more power to them. For me, I spent close to $400 dollars on a fit and I am not sure I received anything more objective than I could have, and subsequently, did obtain from other fitters who either did not charge me or charged me a small fraction of the cost. $400 is really expensive and for that price I would expect a more scientific approach. For example, Altheus in NYC uses the Serotta-fit but also does video analysis and, if I am not mistaken, also plugs you in to a power metter. I don’t know how anyone can tell you that a certain fit is optimal for you if they have no clue about your ability to produce consistent wattage at that fit versus another fit. I would expect more than being put on Serotta cycle for close to $400 bucks.
Your point is understood and well-taken. Although I was satisfied overall with the fitting process, I definitely knew going in that it was subjective - I do feel however, that Paul Levine’s “subjectivity” holds more weight than my own or the BMX kid at the local LBS.
I do wish that his fitting process included power measurements, only because that would be kinda cool and interesting. That being said, at my pretty pathetic competitive level, it’s going to be a loooooong time before the difference between a 9 cm stem vs. and 11 cm stem is my limiting factor for success.
I’ve never had a NYC fitting but I’ve been professionally fitted several times and also have been underwhelmed. The problem with hooking up to a powermeter is that the most powerful position is probably sitting straight up. The most aerodynamic is forward and the optimal is somewhere in between. The wind tunnel is the closest solution to balancing aerodynamics vs power but expensive so bike fitters try to eyeball comfort, power and aerodynamics. Of course eyballing can be subjective. See the Simon Lessing thread. I can’t help but think there are bad/wrong fits and then optimal is an evolving process. I had a thread asking this but the bike fitters did have some very good answers arguing for fit.
Pat
Tillini,
I tried finding the link you are speaking about anbd couldn’t. Can you please post it. Thanks.
I can’t figure out how. The heading was “Ultimate bike fit”. If you click on trillini and the click on view posts it’s on the third page. Hope that gets it for you.
Pat
SBR will give you a FIST fit. Paul Levine will give you a Serotta fit. They are different schools of thought, so you may very well receive a different fit.
And regarding a power meter, being put in a new position and expecting to immediately see higher watts is foolish. It takes time to train your muscles to output power in a new position. Paul will put you in a position that is biomechanically sound. That doesn’t mean you’ll immeadiately gain wattage. Especially if it is notably different than what you have been riding.
If you want the perfect fit, go to a wind-tunnel. If you want the next best thing, go see Andy Pruitt at BCSM. If you want the very closest thing after that, go see Paul Levine. He’s done more fits than SBR has sold gels. He doesn’t have the superior technology of a wind-tunnel or BCSM, but he has have more experience than probably any other fitter in the country. Certainly at least as much. He’s also not a salesman. He isn’t going to tell you your current bike doesn’t work (unless it really doesn’t) and sell you a Serotta. He is very professional.
$375 and up for a bike fit? That’s outrageous. No way I’d spend that much on a bike fit. $125 – maybe. But not $375.
RP
i’m with murphy’s law. paul levine is the man. i think he’s raised his rates (significantly) recently due to his new studio being done which has like 6 computrainers that he uses, in part, to help do the fitting.