Yesterday I had a tri bike fitting session with Paul Levine at Signature Cycles (see Serotta thread). It was a very interesting experience that I thought might be of interest to ST.
Pre Fit
Why a bike fit and why Paul Levine?
I’m in my 4th year of biking and have never had a detailed fit. I am on my third bike, and up until now, I have always had the “LBS 20 minutes with a plumbob and a tape measure” fit. After considering driving to Dearborn (long ride from NJ), I searched old posts and identified Paul as someone who may be controversial (there is an extensive “I hate Paul Levine” club in NY) but who is highly respected as one of the pioneers in bike fitting.
In our first phone conversation, Paul asked why I wanted a fitting. Did I have any physical issues, accidents, injuries…I indicated that I was mostly healthy and really just looking for peace of mind and any improvements that might be required. When I learned about the price of a fitting (300-375), I kinda put it off for a while. Then, as I ramped up my wattages riding a CT, I began to notice that whenever I was generating decent power, I tended to get out of aero and onto my bullhorns. On the road, I would ride 95% of the time aero, so I found this curious. Anyway, I got a decent bonus and said what the hell. Paul had an open appointment 3 weeks later, so I took it.
About Signature Cycles
Upon arrival to the outer-reaches of the boonies, I was immediately impressed with Paul’s shop. His space is organized into a small “store” with various Serotta cycles, gear, etc. The second area is the fitting space, with a fit cycle and a CT. The CT is in front of 2 monitors, 1 for the CT readout, the other is attached to a video source that shows the rider’s profile. The third area is a nice workout space with room for a few trainers in front of some windows and flatscreen tvs. Workshop space and parts are in the back. water, coffee, comfy chairs etc. also there.
Overall, the place was very tidy and organized. During the fitting, whatever tool was needed to either measure the rider or bike, or adjust something, that tool was immediately handy, in good working order and part of the plan. Clearly, this was a system and place that had been used many times before. There were only 3 of us at the shop (Paul has a helper) so I didn’t feel hassled by the hustle and bustle of your typical bike shop and there were no distractions to the mood was very professional.
Fitting Steps 1, 2 and 3 – the preliminaries
Step 1 – Right away, Paul had me ride for a few minutes while he took some measurements, watched me ride, generally checked out the “before” set up. Looking at the video monitor and seeing my profile for the first time, I can confirm that I am scrawny. My arms look like the pipe cleaners on my daughter’s dolls. The “before” fit didn’t look too bad to me, but I don’t know shit, which is why I went to Paul.
Step 2 – After that, we sat down for a 30 minute interview about things that may be applicable to my fit. Training history, athletic background, daily work environment, injuries, goal races, training style, medical issues, previous results, strentghs/weaknesses, bike results, run results, am I stronger later in the bike, earlier, who did the current fitting, race day equipment changes, how often do I stetch, before or after exercise, any work with chiros…pretty comprehensive.
Step 3 – After that, we measured a few aspects of my flexibility, including hamstrings, hips, back, etc. He measured, took notes, drew a few pictures, etc. Evidently I am pretty flexible. Paul explained how flexibility fit into the pike position picture, but to be honest, while I understood some/most of it, I just left the fit part up to him.
Fitting – Early rounds of the main event – Feet and Seat
After reviewing the measurements, we started making changes, including: Cleats were moved further forward on my shoes Seat was raised, moved back slightly and adjusted for proper tilt
During these changes, we looked at spinscan from time to time to see if there was any noticable difference. I felt a little better (more comfortable, more powerful) at the bottom of my pedal stroke, but looking at pedaling data for only a minute or two probably doesn’t provide any real meaningful evidence.
Fitting – The main event – Getting Lower
While we had extensive discussion about the importance of the proper balance between power, comfort and aerodynamics, we determined that my flexibility would facilitate a slightly lowered front end without any degredation in power. Here, we were somewhat impacted by my bike, as the TF has a pretty long headtube. I had previously used an Ergo stem, but was interested in swapping that stem for something lighter. We swapped a bunch of stems, aerobars, etc. and wound up with the following changes: New stem, 100mm, -30 degrees. Long head tube made it tough to get low. -30 degrees is about as much as possible. New clip on aerobars, Vision Tech clip on. The VT’s have a smaller gap between the basebar and the pads than my C2s, so this enables me to get lower with the same stem. Aerobar cups/pads were moved closer together. This part was pretty cool, as Paul used a giant “laser” to determine proper placement.
During these changes, we also looked at the CT output, but focused more on feel and comfort, both in Just Riding Along mode, as well as Power to the People mode. Changes felt very comfortable and I noticed a significantly smaller gap between perceived power riding aero vs. riding the bullhorns.
More measurements and drawings were made and Paul determined that the new position lowered my position by 4 cm overall, and changed the location of the highest point in my back.
Output and Results
After everything was put back together, extensive measurements of the bike were made and entered into a form in Paul’s records. I got a printout of about 14 measurements for me to copy and keep in my bike box and with my LBS if any future work is needed. Total time for the fitting was about 3.5 hours.
Overall, I feel more comfortable on the bike, particularly riding aero. I am very interested to see how it feels both riding the road, as well as riding the CT. If I can maintain aero while pushing the same watts that formerly required sitting up, that would be a nice improvement. I’ll report back after a thousand miles or so (next week).
If you are a tri or bike geek and enjoy learning about the biomechanical process of riding a bicycle, I recommend a professional fitting. If you live near NYC, I encourage you to contact Paul and look into his service.
About my only regret is having a fitting AFTER buying a bike. Next time around, I will definitely get fit and order the bike around my measurements and my requirements.
Later