How much should a fit cost and then how much attention afterwords should that initial cost be for a check up fit? What if you have to purchase a seatpost, footbeds, stem, aerobars, and so forth. What if that fit actually hurts and sidelines the athlete, what should the responsibility of said fitter be? I would like to get to know what some fitters have charged clients and their feedback on customer service from this year of fit.
free with bike…but I think you know that b/c if I’m guessing right you were at my fit last year.
Jamie
Fitting from John Cobb ran ~$300, and, plus the gas & hotel to Tyler, it was worth every penny.
Just wondering if foot beds, saddles, seatposts, stems were considered something that had to be replaced or a consideration for future purchases? Were they just installed without somewhat of a discussion to the client or something that was installed from him just because they “had” to? If the fit costs $300 alone without the other purchases, now add footbeds $40 and up, seatposts $80 and up, stems $40 and up, cleats $20-$30, maybe pedals due to fitter not supporting the system $150 and up, saddle $100 and up, and so forth the normal fit could wind up costing over a thousand dollars. I am wondering if anyone has gone through a fit and wound up spending way too much then what they thought they were going to spend for it and what were there thoughts. I am just trying to research how athletes think a fit should go and “if” if something went wrong how a fitter should deal with said problems? Also, if anyone had problems (injury, knees hitting bars, and or just major discomfort) how was it dealt with; did someone tell you that it takes time to adapt; because sometimes it does, and leave it in the new position.
I am wondering if anyone has gone through a fit and wound up spending way too much then what they thought they were going to spend for it and what were there thoughts.
I’ve never encountered such on a fit but would imagine it depends on the shop/person doing the fitting, where/when the bike was purchased, etc. With my Cobb fitting, the shop from where I purchased the bike (Cdale Slice) did a good job of matching my previous fit coordinates which, mercifully, were very close to the tweaks made by Cobb.
Well I can tell you that my fit cost $150. I did not purchase my bike from the fitter (eBay) so the cost covered only the ‘basic’ fit. I ended up needing a new stem, new seatpost, and a new cabling job due to the longer stem. I was givin a couple of options for the post, but wasn’t for the stem. In all I had two sessions because parts were ordered, but there was no charge for the additional session. I also believe that a re-check was included, but i never needed it.
If you’re like me, paying retail for a post and stem is like pulling teeth, so I wasn’t perticularly happy about that, but I did understand that it was part of the deal. Had I purchased the bike form the fitter he would have exchanged stems, posts, saddles etc for little or no cost (If I had wanted new bars there was a trade in program) as part of the bike purchase.
I think like any service the customer has to empower themselves to decline the $1200 aero bars, or request a less expensive item. The fitter ideally shoudl have two priorities, 1. Make sure the fit is as perfect as possible. 2. Make as much money as possible by trying to move the expensive gear (where the gear is needed). Yeah, if you tell the fitter you don’t want the $250 stem and would like the $50 version he should follow your instructions, but he has no obligation to bargin shop for you.
As for the fit, I believe that it is a two way street. Obviously it can take some time to adjust to a new position, especially if it is your first Tri bike, but you also have to be able to say that “this is not right” and get a check up. If the fitter can demonstrate that you are positioned correctly occording to their doctrine then the rider may have a morphology or other physical limitations that would then need to be accounted for by refitting.
LBS around here charges 50 for a road bike, 75 for a time trial/tri bike. or free if you buy the bike from the shop. I recently got a bike there and got a very thorough fitting (adjusted all aspects of the bike, and even the cleats in my shoes… very professional)
iirc, if you needed any new parts, they would swap them from a new bike for only the difference, or give you like 10% off new stuff. the fitter had a talk with me before hand about my riding habits, the kinds of riding and racing I intended to use the bike for, and if I had a history of injuries that he needed to work around. needless to say, I was quite impressed.
My LBS is at about $300ish right now. Start to finish it will last several hours. Follow up sessions are free. If you purchase a bike from them, I think its 50% off. Not positive. They offer discounts through several local clubs so I think you can get that down to 250 or so.
Extra parts cost $$ but they’ll set up the bike in the final position as part of the fit.
Chicago for a frame of reference.
The fitting was close to $240 for me. If you purchase a bike through them I believe its a $200 rebate. This is good at any time and not just with your fitting (even years later). They swap out out some parts for free in order to improve fit, but charge for saddle.
Thank you for the replies and it is very helpful. How did the fits feel afterwards and so forth. Were there any radical changes done to the bicycles during fit process of current bike, and or of bicycle purchase. It is good to also hear good things are happening in the LBS.
Mine with fit, parts, and labor, was about $550 and worth every penny. First and only time in my life I will ever be treated as a professional athlete.
I’ve had two fits in the last few years, one with a ReTul system that was $225 (IIRC) and the other was $150 at LBS.
I was also afraid going in that they would say ’ Well, only the Vuka bars will fit you… ’ but in both cases
they were able to work with my existing equipment and they had a ‘parts bin’ with spacers, washers that were no cost.
Obviously any new HW would have a cost, although I think a lot of shops have some OEM stems and saddles in
a drawer and may be willing to swap some of those out if yours are in as good condition.
The Retul system is impressive and generates a lot of ‘facts’ that make you confident in the end product, I was pleased
with it. However since then I’ve swapped bars, saddles, removed spacers… and decided I wanted a new fit. I’ve been buying
gear from an LBS and they have a good rep for fits (FIST certified ) and went for their service.
It was less analytic, he watched me pedal for 5-10 minutes, talked about my comfort and performance, then made two adjustments.
They were dead on, my hip, shoulder and elbows are were within factory specs based on the gaynometer thing. I pedaled
some more, we made some minor comfort adjustments for wrist angle and I was on my way.
I’d say the Retul system is worth tracking down if you have a history of injuries or joint pain because the little wire-frame motion
capture can point out problems throughout the pedal stroke. If you are pretty hardy however, I think most any experienced fitter
should be able to get you all squared away.
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One thing you need to consider is that a fitting is not static. Atleast it was not for me. I went through several fittings with my LBS and over time have learned how to tweak it myself.
My fitting now changes based on race length, time of year, etc.
These comments are all great, I like to know how educated and analytical about their fits. I know the Retul system and how it works, it is nice how they have installed a point of referance system can not recall what it is, but it gives you decent referance points from the bicycle itself. Changing parts and swapping for new generally can be done if the points are measured in a well thought out way ie. measuremest of saddle should not be done by the nose of the saddle being that some saddles measure 130 mm. and some measure 150 mm. from tip to tail and nevermind the ISM it breaks the mold, literally. It is also good to know that some LBSs are pretty decent at fit and do utilize goniometers. Thank you for the feedback and if at all possible keep them coming.
I spent a $150 for my fit from Ryan Ignatz at Colorado Multisport (fits many pros in Boulder to include Chrissie Wellington) plus $100 for a new saddle. The fit took 2 hours and was very professional. It was assumed going in that the saddle had to go and we swapped back and forth multiple times until I was satisfied that I had chosen the correct one. I never had the opportunity to get “tweaked” since I lived in Colorado Springs but I believe follow up sessions were $50/hr or 1/2hr.
I paid for this after getting my “free” fit with purchase of my P2 from Excel Sports with free follow up fittings, but the Excel staff was horrible and spent about 10 minutes adjusting things after simply watching me on the trainer, I wasn’t about to go back in there even if it was free.
Getting fit by a professional was the best $150 I spent in training for IMC last year.