Anyone have any they recommend? Short of going to the obvious good bike shops in the city, figured I check here. Thanks.
Richie Cortez does a great job and more importantly a truly stand up guy.
Best mechanic I’ve seen too. He’s good with aero cable routing so it’s out of the wind and can build a wheel in his sleep. See my profle pic.
thanks - where is he out of? bike shop? private guy? can you message me his info? thanks.
excellent - thanks.
Yes, what Nick said. Can’t recommend Richie strongly enough, and Max is great as well.
Another vote for Richie
Richie Cortez at Philly Bikesmith for fits. Still working on my fit with him even after he and Max moved on from Breakaway (which is the shop/team I race for), so it’s in no way a one time thing
Do the guys at Bikesmith do only bike fitting or do they also size you to know what frames would be the optimal fit? The only place I can find that will give you that type of fitting are in NJ, I think its Retul.
Both. Retul is just a branded and licensed fitting tool, as Richie will tell you, that is about as useful as the craftsman who wields it. Breakaway licenses Retul and my initial fit there with Richie was conducted with Retul. Subsequent fits were not since Bikesmith does not pay for Retul.
There’s a long, confusing, and somewhat philosophical post by Dan about fit bikes and what they mean, but ultimately I think he says that a) the fit system or fit bike is irrelevant if the fitter is not highly skilled and b) most mass production bikes of the proper size can be optimized for most people. Richie can probably look at you and tell you what size bike you need and whether it can be optimized for you, or, if you wanted, fit you using a bike from inventory before you buy one outright, but chances are it’s most bikes of the proper size. Richie/Max came from a custom alloy frame manufacturer, Elite, so they can speak to irregularities.
But then you are left with other considerations, like whether a P5 is simply faster or just the genius of marketing and groupthink at work…
At any rate, you should be aware the the shops in Philly are brand specific. Bikesmith has Giant, Breakaway has Trek/Felt, Bicycle Therapy has Specialized, and Cadence has Cannondale, to name a few. When you are buying a bike locally you are buying the brand and you are buying the shop.
Makes sense, thanks. I am probably about the most confused person going on this topic.
I’m not sure you OR Furlong are the best examples of who to be asking for a fitter recommendation…
Juuuust sayin.
And bite your tongue about the P5 and this nonsense of group think. LOOK AT THE DATA!
Do the guys at Bikesmith do only bike fitting or do they also size you to know what frames would be the optimal fit? The only place I can find that will give you that type of fitting are in NJ, I think its Retul.
Bike fit tools are irrelevant and inconsequential if the fitter using them doesnt know how to fit someone to a bike. You should be looking for people who are FIST certified to start (which is a fitting philosophy - not a tool - which is all retul is). Thing of it as you would a carpenter and his tools - just because one has better tools doesnt necessarily mean hes a better carpenter.
Or excuse my blatant advertisement and go see Jonathan Blyer in Brooklyn. Might be a trek but will be worth every dollar spent. And he’s master certified in Retul, uses a Guru fit bike and practices the FIST philosophy/has attended Dans fit school. Never mind Dan highly recommends him as well.
I’m not sure you OR Furlong are the best examples of who to be asking for a fitter recommendation…
Juuuust sayin.
And bite your tongue about the P5 and this nonsense of group think. LOOK AT THE DATA!
I think what you mean to say is that neither of us was necessarily fit to the most aero position. I don’t think Kiley and I would argue that. But we were definitely well fit (comfort wise). I definitely couldn’t have been fit to where I’m at now right from the get go.
Richie had me bring in my road bike before getting me on my current Speed Concept (Breakaway had them, I think Bikesmith deals with Orbea now). He fit me better on that, then used those measurements to recommend the SC and give it a starting point to be set up without me there. Then we did a proper fit on the SC to get my fit right. I forced him to go more conservative since it was my first tri bike and I was anxious about handling. He welcomes you back anytime to fine tune.
He is a great guy, I recently sent a friend to him and she has not stopped raving about his knowledge and customer service.
Errrrrr. You mean a road bike position/road bike like hip angles on a tri bike are comfortable?
I’d argue that you could have. As many do. Its very easy for people to jump on an ill fitting bike and become comfortable over time. That doesnt make it ideal. Now, whether their/yours/anyones fit on that bike is the most aerodynamic or efficient is another story…
Do the guys at Bikesmith do only bike fitting or do they also size you to know what frames would be the optimal fit? The only place I can find that will give you that type of fitting are in NJ, I think its Retul.
Bike fit tools are irrelevant and inconsequential if the fitter using them doesnt know how to fit someone to a bike. You should be looking for people who are FIST certified to start (which is a fitting philosophy - not a tool - which is all retul is). Thing of it as you would a carpenter and his tools - just because one has better tools doesnt necessarily mean hes a better carpenter.
Or excuse my blatant advertisement and go see Jonathan Blyer in Brooklyn. Might be a trek but will be worth every dollar spent. And he’s master certified in Retul, uses a Guru fit bike and practices the FIST philosophy/has attended Dans fit school. Never mind Dan highly recommends him as well.
Or am I being a tool for over thinking all this?
My confusion comes from having been to 5 or 6 LBS I’ve been told that a Cannondale Slice (54 and 52), Specialized Tansition and Shiv, Felt (B12 - I think) and a Cervelo P2 (54 and 51) all fit me by various people. Isn’t there a fair difference in those bikes between long/low and tall/narrow?
I’ve settled in my mind on Cervelo P2 but asked about Bikesmith to see if it was worth talking with one of the guys that was mentioned to make sure it wasn’t completely wrong for me.
The reality is, yes, you can probably “fit” on all of those bikes. But not optimally for some. why its always best to get fit first, by a reputable fitter, and take the numbers given to find a bike that nets out on your numbers.
Also, there is nuances to a fit that you want be able to figure out for yourself until you start riding. What extensions you prefer, do you prefer to roll your extensions, where do you like your pads to fall on your forearms, what height do you want your base bar at (close to your pads or with a bit of drop), etc. All the more reason to find someone you can trust with helping you net out on all of this. And who can explain the positives and/or negatives to setting your bike up a certain way.
Or you can just go buy a bike and ride the shit out of it and worry about all that stuff later.
I am sure Richie would be upfront and honest if you asked him. He gave me the SC and 2 bikes that Breakaway did not carry at the time as options to look at after seeing my road bike fit.
Right…I think a proper fit and an aggressive/fast fit are not necessarily the same thing. Ideally we want both. I know Richie worked with Andrew Yoder to get super aggressive, but at the expense of comfort, even after adjusting to it–his numbers were apparently pretty savage–and I don’t know where that tradeoff between comfort and aggressiveness is for me yet because I haven’t gotten there but I think having someone who will bring you down until you cry uncle with your comfort in mind is a good someone to have, and have locally. But admittedly I don’t see any evidence that suggests I am as aero as I should be, but then again I don’t really draft either, so hard to tell. The easier solution would be to just sit behind Adam sitting up and soft pedal the bike/save those hips for the run