I live in a part of the world where there appears to be an absence of recognised bike fitters, particularly for Tri bikes, and as I am just about to commence training for another IM race, and have never had a fitting, I was wondering if such a service was a) available and b) of any worth.
Whilst obvioulsy appreciating that it is preferable to visit a fitter, this is simply not possible, and so I wonder if professional fitters are able to add anything worthwhile just by looking at stills/video of my setup.
Well, I sell bikes for a living. The concept of an on-line bike fitting system is a very good one. There are a couple out there that look nice, like wrenchscience, etc. but the weak link in the chain for all of them is the fit is only as good as the person taking the measurements is experienced.
It boils down to this: Would you rather be fit by a guy who has done several thousand fits, a couple hundred triathlons and sold several thousand bikes, or by a guy doing it all for the first time- you.
You first bike fit will be your most important customer: You.
If you walked into a store would be OK with a guy doing his first ever bike fit on you from instructions he read off a website?
It is possible. The fit is only as good as the measurements. I will also argue that an experienced fitter who has worked with a number of bike brands has a greater probability of recommending a suitable bike than someone doing it for the first time.
There are certainly many custom bike makers that will ‘fit’ you online or over the phone after you take a number of measurements for them. I have had great personal success with David Greenfield at Elite bicycles, elitebicycles.com. He has made both a road and tri bike for me which fit perfectly. I can’t imagine dealing with a nicer or professional guy. Ves Mandaric also gets rave reviews on this board for his Yaquii bicycles, but I have never dealt with him personally. Good luck and enjoy the process.
The situation is that I’m already riding my bike, a P2K, and have no intention of changing it. I’m just concerned that I was never measured up, and just went with the P2K as it felt the most comfortable, and quickest of the bikes I tested. What I really want is for someone to tell me whether my current set up looks efficient, and was wondering if they would be able to do that by sighting stills and or video of me riding?
Lower back pain about 4Hrs into a ride is part of the ‘trigger’ for the question, as it results in me losing power in my stroke.