Many of you might disagree but as a noob, I feel the whole process of getting a new, decent bike just plain sucks and is extremely intimidating and confusing. Reading up and posting on this forum, you’re supposed to get a good fit and based on that get a bike that works for you. The problem is that most fitters work in a particular LBS, so they’re obviously going to sell you one of the bikes in the store, not a bike that might fit you better but is sold at another LBS. You might get the fit, and then decide on a bike sold somewhere else, but then you don’t get the discount they offer for the fit and end up getting shafted.
I want a bike, I know my budget and I have my eye on a bike I like, but actually buying it has been super frustrating.
I’m going in on Tuesday to get a fitting and I’m sure they’ll make the Felt B16 I like work for me, but I’ll always wonder if the SC 7 was better, but they don’t sell it and there’s no way I’m paying for two fittings.
You clearly haven’t read much because if you had you would know by paying for 1 fit you get something called fit coordinates. From that you can figure out what works for you.
Many of you might disagree but as a noob, I feel the whole process of getting a new, decent bike just plain sucks and is extremely intimidating and confusing. Reading up and posting on this forum, you’re supposed to get a good fit and based on that get a bike that works for you. The problem is that most fitters work in a particular LBS, so they’re obviously going to sell you one of the bikes in the store, not a bike that might fit you better but is sold at another LBS. **You might get the fit, and then decide on a bike sold somewhere else, but then you don’t get the discount they offer for the fit and end up getting shafted. **
I want a bike, I know my budget and I have my eye on a bike I like, but actually buying it has been super frustrating.
I’m going in on Tuesday to get a fitting and I’m sure they’ll make the Felt B16 I like work for me, but I’ll always wonder if the SC 7 was better, but they don’t sell it and there’s no way I’m paying for two fittings.
Or they could spend an hour of their time with you for $0, fit you properly and then you go somewhere and purchase a bike elsewhere and they get shafted.
What do you propose is a better solution?
For what it’s worth, a good shop will have a selection of different bikes and assuming they know what they’re doing, the likelihood that you can’t find a 99% properly fit bike at just about every good shop in the country is doubtful.
Sounds like you are frustrated before you’ve even begun. Get the fit and ask questions about different bikes once you have your coordinates. Even if that means you go somewhere else and buy a different bike (i.e. spending more money), you will have a bike you know fits and you will be happy with the purchase. Sadly, there are certain parts of Tri that will cost you money, it is not a cheap sport if you are planning on buying things new. Best of luck on the fit, it will only set you up for success in the future.
On a side note, why are you stuck on the SC? If you are new (as stated), you won’t benefit as much as you think by switching between the Felt or the SC. The best advice I got when I first started was to just train…just train. I didn’t let this sink in until I got my ass handed to me by a couple of locals who were super fast on shitty tri bikes from the 90’s…they were fast because they rode the living shit out of those bikes and trained like they were getting paid…they were not fast because of the bikes they had. Just my $0.02, listen to it or don’t.
For a first bike, I’d recommend getting an idea what size frame you should ride. Then find a nice and pretty used bike. Despite the common thought here, as long as you are ball park on frame size, any bike can be made to work for you. While your adjusted fit might not be 100% Slowtwitch approved, and you might be losing 2 whole grams of drag, you wont notice the difference.
Save some money by buying used. In a year or two when you really know what you are looking for, you can buy something top dollar. And remember, contrary to popular belief, the rider makes the bike go fast, the bike doesn’t make the rider go fast.
.On a side note, why are you stuck on the SC? If you are new (as stated), you won’t benefit as much as you think by switching between the Felt or the SC. The best advice I got when I first started was to just train…just train. I didn’t let this sink in until I got my ass handed to me by a couple of locals who were super fast on shitty tri bikes from the 90’s…they were fast because they rode the living shit out of those bikes and trained like they were getting paid…they were not fast because of the bikes they had. Just my $0.02, listen to it or don’t.[/
I’m not stuck on the SC. The Felt is the bike I like. And I understand it’s all about the engine. I spent this whole year racing on a POS aluminum road bike with clip on aero bars. I decided I like the sport and after months of saving am buying a decent tri bike to use for the next 5+ years.
I agree. It’s an annoying process.
What I will say is that there are a lot of similarities btwn bikes, and a lot of differences btwn bike stores. Yes, bike shops want to sell you the bikes that they stock. But I would really, really recommend not buying a bike from a store that you don’t want to keep going back to.
Many of you might disagree but as a noob, I feel the whole process of getting a new, decent bike just plain sucks and is extremely intimidating and confusing. Reading up and posting on this forum, you’re supposed to get a good fit and based on that get a bike that works for you. The problem is that most fitters work in a particular LBS, so they’re obviously going to sell you one of the bikes in the store, not a bike that might fit you better but is sold at another LBS. **You might get the fit, and then decide on a bike sold somewhere else, but then you don’t get the discount they offer for the fit and end up getting shafted. **
I want a bike, I know my budget and I have my eye on a bike I like, but actually buying it has been super frustrating.
I’m going in on Tuesday to get a fitting and I’m sure they’ll make the Felt B16 I like work for me, but I’ll always wonder if the SC 7 was better, but they don’t sell it and there’s no way I’m paying for two fittings.
Or they could spend an hour of their time with you for $0, fit you properly and then you go somewhere and purchase a bike elsewhere and they get shafted.
What do you propose is a better solution?
For what it’s worth, a good shop will have a selection of different bikes and assuming they know what they’re doing, the likelihood that you can’t find a 99% properly fit bike at just about every good shop in the country is doubtful.
Not possible, at least with the local fitters. They all ask for $300 for the fitting.
you are correct about the conflict of interest. you can get around that by going to fitters who don’t sell bikes, there are a few.
but you usually don’t have to, since any bike should fit, you just need to find the right size.
or fit yourself.
bikes are adjustable, its rare that someone would fit on a b16 and not a trek sc. don’t stress too much
Many of you might disagree but as a noob, I feel the whole process of getting a new, decent bike just plain sucks and is extremely intimidating and confusing. Reading up and posting on this forum, you’re supposed to get a good fit and based on that get a bike that works for you. The problem is that most fitters work in a particular LBS, so they’re obviously going to sell you one of the bikes in the store, not a bike that might fit you better but is sold at another LBS. You might get the fit, and then decide on a bike sold somewhere else, but then you don’t get the discount they offer for the fit and end up getting shafted.
I want a bike, I know my budget and I have my eye on a bike I like, but actually buying it has been super frustrating.
I’m going in on Tuesday to get a fitting and I’m sure they’ll make the Felt B16 I like work for me, but I’ll always wonder if the SC 7 was better, but they don’t sell it and there’s no way I’m paying for two fittings.
Not possible, at least with the local fitters. They all ask for $300 for the fitting.
Most of the shops I’ve dealt with will charge you for the fit to get you those coordinates and not charge you for it if you end up purchasing the bike there. You’ve got to see the rationale in this?
As jack mentioned, don’t overthink this and unless you have some odd shape, just about any bike will fit you.
So if you own the bike shop, what do you propse is a better solution?
I kinda feel your pain.
I was able to find a fitter that only provides fits (and trains on the side as well).
This Saturday i’m going for a prebike purchase fitting. He’ll take my co-ordinates and provide me a list of bikes that he recommends based on my fit.
Maybe this is something to look for too.
Accept that a fit costs money. Get past losing the discount and focus on the end game. A good fitter will be able to give you your fit coordinates without you having a bike. You then take these coordinates, use the ST database to buy a bike that is going to work for you and then fine tune it to hit those coordinates (or go back to the fitter and have them do this).
Alternatively you can try to work it out for yourself. This can be done by buying bikes and selling them when they don’t fit. You also need to be handy with a wrench. I managed it in 3 bikes, 6 stems, 2 cranks, 4 seats and 2 sets of bars. The first route would have been cheaper.
X2
Unfortunately I have a bike fetish, but nick is right. Local studs around here are on Cervelo P2’s and older. Getting my ass handed to me on a P4 is somewhat embarrassing.
Buying a bike should be fun. If its not, you’re doing it wrong. Get fit coordinates first. Post measurements on here and summon Jordan, superdave, Carl, he’ll, even jack. They will let you know what will work for you. Get the list of workable bikes and pick the one that makes you smile the most.
Roger that. So if you are planning on having it for 5+ years, get the fit and go from there. Only look at bikes that will fit you and hopefully they sell one at the shop that you are interested in. As pointed out, post your coordinates on here and see what the ST illuminatti think. If you wind up buying a bike from the shop that fit you, win/win. If you go somewhere else and have to miss out on the potential discount, still a win for knowing that the bike you have will properly fit you.
Dec 1, you start a thread asking if you should buy a bike now or wait.
Dec 4, you’re whining about getting boned by the LBS who, you speculate, will sell you a bike out of their stock even if it is not a good match for you.
So if you don’t trust your LBS to be honest and you don’t know enough about bike fitting to avoid being sold a bike that is not really a good match for you, yet you go ahead and purchase anyway after your fit session on Tuesday…who are you going to blame on Wednesday?
you are correct about the conflict of interest. you can get around that by going to fitters who don’t sell bikes, there are a few.
but you usually don’t have to, since any bike should fit, you just need to find the right size.
or fit yourself.
bikes are adjustable, its rare that someone would fit on a b16 and not a trek sc. don’t stress too much
Many of you might disagree but as a noob, I feel the whole process of getting a new, decent bike just plain sucks and is extremely intimidating and confusing. Reading up and posting on this forum, you’re supposed to get a good fit and based on that get a bike that works for you. The problem is that most fitters work in a particular LBS, so they’re obviously going to sell you one of the bikes in the store, not a bike that might fit you better but is sold at another LBS. You might get the fit, and then decide on a bike sold somewhere else, but then you don’t get the discount they offer for the fit and end up getting shafted.
I want a bike, I know my budget and I have my eye on a bike I like, but actually buying it has been super frustrating.
I’m going in on Tuesday to get a fitting and I’m sure they’ll make the Felt B16 I like work for me, but I’ll always wonder if the SC 7 was better, but they don’t sell it and there’s no way I’m paying for two fittings.
Thanks, this makes me feel better. My current road bike has never been comfortable, so I’m worried the same will happen with the tri bike, especially when I’m spending a lot of money which took me a considerable amount of time to save up.
Buy a used a bike and fit yourself. It’s not that hard. Put the seat as far forward as legally possible, maybe get some smaller crank arms, and then play around with your stack and reach.
My current road bike has never been comfortable, so I’m worried the same will happen with the tri bike, especially when I’m spending a lot of money which took me a considerable amount of time to save up.
Can I make a suggestion. Figure out the road bike fit first. Get that dialed in and if you are serious about the sport of triathlon and getting faster, just start putting in the miles. The whole tri-bike thing and the fit just complicates things. If you have a road bike, sort it our first before moving onto the tri bike. Bike fit - for tri or road, is one of those things that you can make as complicated or as easy and simple as you want.
Ask lot’s of questions here - some of the best people in the sport in this area frequent the forum.
When I had my ex fitted, they recommended a bike that they didn’t sell. Sure, the fit wasn’t the full-on $150 tri fit, but she did get a bike that fit her.