Couldn’t find any info immediately available on this forum but I’d like some input on the differences between a BG bike fit and Retul bike fit. Is one better? Or are they both essentially the same thing, just two different names?
Couldn’t find any info immediately available on this forum but I’d like some input on the differences between a BG bike fit and Retul bike fit. Is one better? Or are they both essentially the same thing, just two different names?
Interestingly, Specialized just bought Retul! http://www.slowtwitch.com/News/Retul_I_Am_Specialized_3073.html
-David
Retul is a fitting TOOL - not a concept or method. Its the software equivalent of a measuring tape. Specialized had their own software as well, but BG is really the method of fit, like FIST is Dan’s method of fit. BG has prescribed knee angles etc.
A bad fitter who buys the Retul software is not going to magically become a good fitter, he’s still going to be a bad fitter that will be able to measure your bad position on his fancy software.
A bad fitter who buys the Retul software is not going to magically become a good fitter, he’s still going to be a bad fitter that will be able to measure your bad position on his fancy software.
Well, even without knowing much, you can still do a decent fit as Retul gives all the measurements/angles. And you can literally just compare these numbers to the handy Retul chart and if they fall within the charts ranges, you know the fit is decent.
Gotcha. Some people I race/train with were talking about fits and since I haven’t had one I wasn’t sure what goes into them.
Retul is a fitting TOOL - not a concept or method. Its the software equivalent of a measuring tape. Specialized had their own software as well, but BG is really the method of fit, like FIST is Dan’s method of fit. BG has prescribed knee angles etc.
A bad fitter who buys the Retul software is not going to magically become a good fitter, he’s still going to be a bad fitter that will be able to measure your bad position on his fancy software.
I believe they use the prescribed angles when using Retul. That should keep even the unexperienced fitter from totally screwing up.
That is assuming of course that the fitter knows how to correctly place the retul markers. That’s a critical component of any motion capture system, the correct identification of the necessary anatomical landmarks.
Kevin
I have experienced both and much prefer Retul. My fitter was both FIST and Retul so used the Retul 3D analysis and FIST protocol methods.
I found BG to be more sales oriented…at least my fitter was…trying to sell BG components. He immediately swapped my saddle, trash talked my T70 shoes and pushed the BG insoles. He was a “Master” BG fitter…maybe shit luck that I ended up with a d-head but my experience anyway…
Retul/FIST corrected things for me and I am going back next week for positioning on my new road bike.
I went with a wobble naught fitter.
Well shit if they can’t get that right than they have no business pretending to try and fit you. Hopefully people like that don’t stay in buisness too long.
I think specialized need to talk to their dealers. There is a concept store in my city and I went in today to look at the shiv. He was talking to me about my bike and my fit and I said I had been fit on my Trinity Advanced by a retul guy. Not only did he mock my bike choice but also how retul was nowhere near as good as a BG fit and it was a waste of money. He didnt even know that it had been bought by specialized until I told him. Wonder what he thinks of it now
PS I dont"fit" the shiv as well as I fit my trinity
Not only did he mock my bike choice but also how retul was nowhere near as good as a BG fit and it was a waste of money. He didnt even know that it had been bought by specialized until I told him. Wonder what he thinks of it now //
And that is the biggest problem with a fit system designed around one brand. It seems obvious that it would completely cater to that brands specifics, but i guess a lot of people get fooled still. It’s fine if your purchase is a specialized, but that is one brand of a 100. And i don’t think there are too many shops that just sell that brand exclusively, so does not work well for the majority of people and shops. It will be interesting how they plan to integrate the retul purchase. It seems if they do not go with a more generic fit system, then they wasted their money, and if they do, they just trained a whole lot of dealers and fitters who are no obsolete. I suppose it could have been a fire sale and all they want are the tools involved, and will integrate their system to the tools. Now you have all those retul fitters without a church to worship at anymore…
Couldn’t find any info immediately available on this forum but I’d like some input on the differences between a BG bike fit and Retul bike fit. Is one better? Or are they both essentially the same thing, just two different names?
Interestingly, Specialized just bought Retul! http://www.slowtwitch.com/...pecialized_3073.html
-David
The irony of that is that Specialized has the first shot to get the Retul system before it became Retul. Spez passed and Todd did it without them. I’m sure they payed a pretty good amount for it now, something they could have had for a fraction of the cost if they had seen its value earlier… Good on ya Todd. Congratulations.
I’ve had BG, Wobblenaught, and Retul over the past 6 years. I think Retul put me in the most accurate position, the software, output, and feedback were great. Of course, the fit is pretty much as good as the fitter and mine had a lot of experience. I’d probably put Wobblenaught 2nd, it was pretty close to the Retul philosophy. I really like how Retul provides me my fit coordinates that I can easily pull up if I’m ever buying a new bike. BG was “ok” but now looking at that fit, I was in a pretty uncomfortable position for a long time.
Good to know. Yeah, I could save a few dollars by going with the BG fitter but based on what people are saying, it’s worth extra to go with the retul fitter.
“Well, even without knowing much, you can still do a decent fit as Retul gives all the measurements/angles. And you can literally just compare these numbers to the handy Retul chart and if they fall within the charts ranges, you know the fit is decent.”
if that is in fact the case, why not just buy a $60 goniometer? it will also give you body angles, just like retul. if you and your buddy each invest in half of a goniometer, you can fit each other. you can use our ranges and landmarks, or retul’s angles and landmarks. or BG’s angles and landmarks. presto, you and your buddy are both bike fitters.
“I really like how Retul provides me my fit coordinates that I can easily pull up if I’m ever buying a new bike.”
newsflash: if a fit session does NOT give you fit coordinates, you didn’t get your money’s worth. even if the fit session was free you didn’t get your money’s worth, because you had your time wasted.
this is now a commodity output, and it’s so commodity you have on your slowtwitch forum user profile the ability to archive your fit coordinates, both road and tri. (did you ever wonder what that gobbledegook was at the bottom of your user profile?)
now, what i AM heartened by is the fact that you value this. i wish more people valued this.
Thanks Slowman! I do use the coordinates/angles to compare my fit on a number of bikes. As you said, after a while, you get the fit as accurate as possible and then make adjustments by feel, time of year (given your strength/flexibility), etc…
The only thing that I would note it that every person that I have talked to who has done a Specialized BG fit has had problems, and everyone that I know who has done a Retul fit has loved it. Hopefully the BG fit adopts the Retul ranges and protocols. Specialized seems to have the product side of things down, hopefully the acquisition of Retul will make the service side as good as the product side.