Bike Fitting: keeping an open mind

It has been very interesting to read all the thoughts on fitting from what should be done to the cost. I do want to thank Tom for sharing his thoughts on what he is getting from the FIST camp. I have been fitting triathletes and cyclist for about 12 years along with providing coaching as well. My feeling is when it comes to fitting someone on a bike we need to look at the entire body with a very thorough detail. No two athletes are the same as far as physical structure. This means that fitting needs to be very personal along with taking into account their running style, is it a long or olympic distance triathlon, and what are any physical limitations of the athlete. Just are just a few areas that you need to start with when fitting. Any bike shop or coach that does fit triathletes needs to have an indepth understanding of the hman anatomy and how it works, is very open minded in terms of fitting the athlete and is willing to look at other ideas in the bike fitting world. This is one thing I can say about Tom is that he seems to very open to looking at other ideas in the fit world. This is what I do- any info that i find I read and consider how it would work for triathletes. There are so many ideas when it comes to bike fitting. We must be careful to not get ourselves locked to any one system. But to use parts of many systems as they all have something of value to apply to fitting. Let’s look at the first 3 men in kona this year. You find those 3 riding any where from a steep(78degree) to more laid back at about 75 to 76. Does this mean if we took the two riders at 75-76 and moved them forward to 78 that they would be faster? Who knows? But I am sure they have some sort of idea on that one. Remember over time the body adapts to training and the position of training. Good things can come by creating small adaptive changes in these areas. I will always remember talking with the coach of N.Badmann about her training. He told me that every season we change her program completely so training gains can continue instead of creating stagnation. The sames should be considered with fitting. When you do get fitted continue to monitor yourself with testing on a computrainer so you can track how the body is adapting to the new position. I would again finish with say thanks to Tom and Gerard for sharing their thoughts and ideas. That is the way we learn about our very unique sport.

Steve Fluet

Head Coach- ESTS/3S Triathlon

USAT Level 2 Expert Coach

Ironmanlive- tri Tips

i will write something here that i KNOW i will have to write 50 more times. you are very right in what you say. as an explanation, the FIST system does not advocate setting everyone up with a steep seat angle. it advocates qualifying the client and determining where along the gradient of “road” to “optimal tri” a person ought to be, which takes into account anatomy, physical limitations, goals, ability, etc.

that said, it is a truism that 80% to 90%–or more–of the world’s top no-draft triathletes ride in either a steep position (77 degrees or higher) as a bike set-up, or they AT LEAST ride in that configuration by virtue of where they sit on the saddle. therefore, IF it is determined that a subject is a candidate for an OPTIMAL tri position (not a universal tri position) then i’ll start with the assumption that a steep seat angle is called for, and i’ll move back from that if, during the course of the fit, it becomes apparent that a rearward position is more appropriate. i would do this in just the same way i’d move a subject rearward from 74 degrees during a road bike fit if it seemed appropriate.

i say this because, were i a bike shop owner, half the bikes that would go out the door to triathletes would be road geometry or very close to that. but almost ALL the bikes would be steep seat angle bikes for those customers that are able to accommodate an optimal position.

that said, i’m certain that a large number of people out there will assume that i think everyone ought to be riding at 80 degrees, because they aren’t interested in investigating what FIST truly advocates.