Has anyone hada Retul fitting? What have your experiences been? It looks like Craig Alexander and Slipstream have used this method for bike fitting.
There are a couple of answers to your question, or a couple of questions that you’ve sort of asked…I think.
Has anyone ever been fit by the guys at Retul? I think that Craig and some of the Slipstream guys went to the Retul studio and had Todd and the guys do a fit. They have fit some very high profile athletes, and they have developed their own fitting school of thought so to speak. Personally, I have not been fit by the guys at Retul.
Has anyone ever been fit using the Retul System? The Retul system is a 3D motion capture system that lets the fitter and rider see their position on the bike while they are pedaling. It provides different measurements…knee angle, torso angle, hip to elbow distance, etc. It is then up to each fitter to either use this data within the suggestions that the folks at Retul have, or use their own experience to change and modify an athletes position. I’ve been to the Rutul studio to see this in action, and at Source Endurance we have one of their fit systems, and our fitter has used it on several riders. There is a bit of a learning curve to the system itself.
I would say that the real challenge is not just finding someone who has a Retul system that they use for fitting. The real challenge is finding a good bike fitter that uses the Retul system. If they are a ‘bad’ bike fitter, it does not really matter what system they use for a fit, it is still going to be a bad fit…and that’s all I’m going to say about that.
I was fit by Todd a couple of weeks ago and it was a great experience. You ride on a Computrainer and the fitter puts a bunch of sticky velcro dots on you. The toe, ankle, knee, hip, shoulder, and hand. The system then captures every measurement to an incredible degree of accuracy, I think 3 microns. All the measurements and angles are displayed on a large flat screen monitor along with a stick figure of you moving in real time.
From those measurements any adjustment is made. This is where it pays to have a very qualified guy doing your fit. In my case having Todd himself was great. He worked for the Boulder Center for Sports Med for years and fit guys like Torbjorn Sindballe. Recently he fit the SlipStream guys and Craig Alexander. In my case my new position got me 10 to 15 extra watts and I have done several 4+ hour rides with no comfort issues. I actually came up and back a bit.
The Retul system is awesome and used by a qualified person it is a great tool. As with any fit, it does come down to the knowledge of the technician.
there is a Retul fitting at Slagels Bicycles in Oklahoma City.
a bunch of my friend have been fit on it and they said its great.
although its about $300 for a fitting plan on spending a few hours
at the shop. they change/try everything (if your having problems).
these machines they are using are anywhere from $100,000 to $20,000 used!
i personally haven’t been fit but plan on it when i have $300 bucks to blow!
hope this helps
Thanks everyone for your input. I just read an article about the Retul system in Rocky Mountain Sports Mag and was intrigued. I may look into getting a fit.
i was fit by Retul and Todd Carver. this was my first professional bike fit and as a triathlete with no past or current injuries, i tinkered with my position to ride in what i thought was the most powerful and aerodynamic. i was surprised when Todd focused on putting me in a position that was first, and foremost, comfortable. after establishing baseline numbers, he started adjusting my position to maximize power and comfort. you can find video footage of my fit at: http://www.insidetri.com/video?articleID=1940. it is one of three of the video segments we captured. the highest praise i will give Todd is he understands as triathletes we have to run anywhere from 5k to 42k or more after the bike portion of an event. Crowie’s position might not be the most aerodynamic looking of the Kona favorites, but he sure throws down a mean run split after the bike.