I just got my first tri bike the felt b-12 and love it. I have a question. my LBS said to bring it back after I ride it 40 - 60 miles and I know where I want the aero bar adjusted to. They said they would trim the cables and cut the excess aero bar to shorten them up. Nothing seems to be in the way when I ride, so I was wondering why they do this and what the benifit is.
is this standard?
Yes, but with one exception:
-dont put the aero bars “where you think you want them”
-get a real fitter to tell you where they go
-if you dont have a good fitter in your area, tehre are some very good online video fitters
-your ability to “self fit” is very limited- a good fitter is MUCh more important than a good bike
.
Less material on your bike = lighter bike = faster race
.
Um, wrong. You get a fit, you then put your bars where you want them after a few rides…all the measurements and wind tunnels and research just cant make a person more flexible than they are. It rocks how awesome folks look in the LBS getting fit in the mirror…then do this…sit up the whole ride.
those people, they don’t lack flexibility
they lack that inner rage to let their shoulders ache a little bit AND JUST KEEP GOING RAARRR!!
and yeah probably haven’t spent the time to find that sweet spot for their bars and pads.
A good fitter will factor in comfort…
A good fitter will factor in comfort…
yeah but what is comfortable for 10 minutes or even an hour may not be for 2 hours
tricky business
.
A good fitter will factor in comfort…
That is the thing, what is comfy at the store can be vastly off from what is at say, mile 56 of a bike ride, after a swim.
I love watching folks with super extreme rides with 15+ cm of drop walk out of a fit studio with a upward stem and a few inches of new spacers…a fitter gets you close, but if you cant ride it for 112 miles it is all for not.
-your ability to “self fit” is very limited- a good fitter is MUCh more important than a good bike
**
I have to totally disagree with this statement. Whenever I see people spending large amounts of cash on fitting I shake my head. With all the info available on ST and other sites, it is not that hard to figure out what a good position is and then adjust as necessary. I spent upwards of $200 bucks on a fit only to have the guy put me in a nice comfortable road position that I abandoned completely within six months.
With the wide use of power meters this issue becomes even more clouded because now an athlete can go out and test fit changes on their own and see what the numbers say. IMO, “bike fitters” are a huge scam that take advantage of the the ignorant.
We should be pointing these folks to all the knowlege Slowman has put on this site and encouraging them to ask questions–not sending them to pay hundreds of dollars on a “fit”.
However, the very least a decent bike shop should do when they sell a bike is help the rider get set up. This assumes that the shop knows what they are doing–in many cases and inaccurate assumption.
Chad
Spending $200 to not have to sift through the internet for a month to learn and understand isn’t that bad of a deal really =)
-your ability to “self fit” is very limited- a good fitter is MUCh more important than a good bike
**
I have to totally disagree with this statement. Whenever I see people spending large amounts of cash on fitting I shake my head. With all the info available on ST and other sites, it is not that hard to figure out what a good position is and then adjust as necessary. I spent upwards of $200 bucks on a fit only to have the guy put me in a nice comfortable road position that I abandoned completely within six months.
With the wide use of power meters this issue becomes even more clouded because now an athlete can go out and test fit changes on their own and see what the numbers say. IMO, “bike fitters” are a huge scam that take advantage of the the ignorant.
We should be pointing these folks to all the knowlege Slowman has put on this site and encouraging them to ask questions–not sending them to pay hundreds of dollars on a “fit”.
However, the very least a decent bike shop should do when they sell a bike is help the rider get set up. This assumes that the shop knows what they are doing–in many cases and inaccurate assumption.
Chad
I know you meant it as a joke, but I’m sure there is some truth to that attitude. Unfortunately, if you never learn any self fitting then you have to keep paying every time you switch bikes or change out gear. I’ve been riding the same Yaqui for five years now but I’ve met a lot of people who think that buying and owning a cool or new bike is like the fourth, unwritten, event in tri and that crowd is being totally fleeced. Oh, well. If they can afford a new bike they can probably afford the money for “fitting”.
Chad
to Jackmott as well…
granted,
But most fitters (that I know of) include free adjustments/ refits too. Particularly if you change bars, pedals etc.
(why? Because it is a good way to increase foot traffic and sell parts)
I’ve been lucky enough to receive a free, quick fit where they at least pointed out my seat was way to low.
The rest I seemed to have figured out pretty ok on my own.
Not too high? Pictures or it doesn’t count.
(I want to see your critique my position post…)
do you have a link?
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=2186949
Not too high? Pictures or it doesn’t count.
(I want to see your critique my position post…)
do you have a link?
Nice. good reading.
completely off topic but…
did you buy that bike on ST? I seem to remember it in a post about whether to leave it in the clean look or go back to Cervelo logos…
yup, that was me
I tried getting some logos aftermarket but they were too small, gave up
Nice. good reading.
completely off topic but…
did you buy that bike on ST? I seem to remember it in a post about whether to leave it in the clean look or go back to Cervelo logos…
I really don’t get the “let somebody else figure it out for me” mentality. I can understand it with high specialized applications where special expertise is required, but honestly, bike fitting doesn’t fall into that catagory.
There is lots of info on the web about bike fitting so a certain % of the population are quite capable of setting up their own bikes. Some people would never get it, but anybody with a mechanical aptitude and a rudimentary understanding of anatomy/biomechanics should be able to do it.
There is lots of info on the web about bike fitting so a certain % of the population are quite capable of setting up their own bikes. Some people would never get it, but anybody with a mechanical aptitude and a rudimentary understanding of anatomy/biomechanics should be able to do it.
I think the % of the population with a rudimentary understanding of anatomy/biomechanics is remarkably small. I have a more than basic grasp of these concepts and frankly can’t tell you if moving your saddle fore or aft will recruit more glutes, hamstrings, etc. I can look at a side picture and tell if it meets ST angle rec’s, but that’s about it.
Yes, there’s lots of info available, but many people have absolutely no desire to sift through it. I think you’re extrapolating the ST experience to the general population where it just doesn’t fit. How much the general population (read: the people who do 1 or 2 local sprints just for fun) would really benefit from a fitting can be debated until the end of time.
Agree.
Most people probably would rather spend $200 and 2 hours to be told what to do (right or not) than to spend hour researching the topic. hence why we live in a service economy.
Of course there is also the fact that most people don’t have an educated viewer, and a host of parts to figure out how to get the bike right. So what could be a several week task on your own becomes 2 hours and perhaps another hour or two for adjustments…
When time is money…