I have been reading a lot of what Steve has written and I am not really sure what I think. I certainly would have zero doubt the guy knows more than me about how bodies work on bikes and the cause of and solution for various pains.
That said, I work in a mid sized city with not very many fitters, of which I am the busiest and getting busier. There are a couple guys doing fits from the “untrained as a fitter but expert biomechanist / physical therapy point of view”, and these are some of the worst fits I have ever seen. These guys generally put people way up high and slack, or recommend against tri bikes completely. Of course, there are times when this is correct, but for instance one fellow will absolutely never use the forward hole on a two position seatpost. He’s done dozens of fits like this. I am not saying Steve would do this, but I am saying that I am not impressed with the finished product of those I have seen who approach fits as “movement experts”. I feel this is approaching people looking for dysfunction and I try to avoid that unless it is slapping me in the face, or at least looking over my shoulder.
So I guess what I am getting at is, for me, a lot of this super intricate body movement analysis knowledge is wasted on at least 80% of the fits I perform. I use Swifty’s process and tools for foot - pedal interface and have been getting a lot better at it over the years. I am no longer scared of knee pain, hip pain, low back,what have you. But that doesn’t mean I don’t get stumped sometimes or have to re-visit a particular athlete or knee a few times to get things correct.
And then there are the 1-2% of riders I have been unable to help through their knee/hip/foot/back issues.
So the question is, is what Steve is preaching necessary to be a professional bike fitter? In your practice how deep into this do you get?
When I first became FIST certified in 2008, I attended the class with Jon Cobb, so I got zero foot - pedal stuff. I did ok with bike fits, but got ‘stumped’ frequently by pain issues. Fast forward five years and I self educated and practiced a bit and now I feel I am pretty good.
How good are you? How good do you think you need to be in figuring out knee pain for instance, as opposed to nailing 145 degrees of knee, 100 degrees of hip and 90 degrees of shoulder and sending them on their way? How much success have you had with a strict process and how much do you need to deviate to address biomechanical issues, pain, and injuries?
Thanks for taking the time from your hopefully busy days.