What percentage of athletes (pros included) would you say have proper bike fit? At my last race I saw more than one P3 with a stack of spacer higher than the actual head tube. Some even had comfort style stems added and in some cases the elbow pads are higher the the saddle. I just watched Ironman Canada on television and would say that only 1 of the top 5 women were even close to a proper fit ( as we have come to know from this forum and fit principals of this website). I have read many reviews of bikes that are critisized because the head tube is 1 cm to high yet from what I see very few people ride tri bikes properly.
What might appear to be a poor fit may also be what works with a certain persons body or mechanics, its very hard to tell just from watching someone for a few minutes and then comparing them to the “proper fit” you may think they should have.
Certainly there is more than one “right” fit for each athlete and there is much you can’t tell by looking at an athlete for 5 seconds on a race course … but there are certainly “wrong” bike fits. When the saddle appears to be 6 inches too low, or the elbows are way out in front of the shoulders, or the knees have a drastic lateral flare at the top of the pedal stroke, the fit is obviously wrong. I am always amazed at the high end bikes with a disk and a trispoke and the rider wearing an aero helmet - with an obviously way off fit. I’d say that more than 50% of the fits at a local race are way off.
While 30% may be properly fit and I think that is generous, I’d guess less than 10% have actually been fit my experienced fitter who has more than inkling of knowledge regarding triathlon/time trial fit. I’m excluding the bike salesman who asks you to stand over the top tube and pronounces the bike the correct size.
Some riders just can’t handle an aggressive aero position for 5 to 7 hrs of time and that is me included. Just because a lot of people on this site look down on that doesn’t always make it wrong or improper fit, It’s proper for them. People want to get through the ironman bike portion and able to run the marathon. In the very aggressive aero position that is “Proper” and excepted as normal on this site they won’t get though it without severe muscle pain in the lower back. When it comes to ironman most are trying to just finish not win so comfort (high stack height) will be more important than the aggressive aero position. I myself have to add a few spacers to my P3 for ironman distance over Olympic or sprint. I can tell you there is no chance I would be able to finish an ironman in a very low aero position. I can with a few spacers, 5hr 11min bike at IM FL 2004 ( 3.5 inches of extra spacers ).
This is not to say that there aren’t athlete’s out there with improper fit but don’t always judge them as improper just becuase it looks different than what you have been accustomed to seeing.
Although proper fit is very important, different things work for different people.
If someone is pulling off blazing bike and run splits or finishing top five in IM or any big race who’s to say what “proper fit” is for them. Big deal if it does not look like the classic FIST set up. There are many different views and fitting techniques that exist in cycling today. All of which may or may not be optimum for everyone.
Let me just add that I do see many people with some really F’d up positions on bikes they should not be on to begin with.
I would like to add that I have been involved in triathlon since 1989, run a bike shop, and do multiple road and tri fittings daily. I have seen a few takes on positioning come and go.
