Getting a bike fit in my local bike shop
Here’s a piece I wrote for the blog of my local bike shop, Beyond Mountain Bikes.
I’ve been riding bikes for decades on and off road; I’ve raced MTBs with Gorrick, done sportives before they were cool and last year rode the Bentley time trial series up and down the A31.
I had an amazing year on the bike in 2014, with Strava showing more miles than ever before, a new 10 mile TT personal best and a 21mph average over RideLondon100 (err, 86) but as I creep slowly towards a landmark birthday, I’ve started noticing I’m a little slower to recover from big days in the saddle and any injuries.
On a Cranleigh ride a few months back Jackie and Nick Evans were riding behind me and commenting on how one of my knees did a weird thing where it swung out on every pedal stroke. I’d never noticed it – I don’t tend to watch myself from behind. I’m weird like that, I guess. When she mentioned she and Tricia and Anna had just been on the Specialized BG Fit course I thought it was worth getting my position checked out and signed up.
Last week I turned up at the shop with my bike, cycling shorts, jersey, and my road shoes. Tricia said it would take two and half hours, which seemed like loads to me, but I didn’t have anything else planned.
First thing (after putting the kettle on) was chatting about my riding history, any injuries or issues with discomfort on the bike, my goals for the year and the kind of things we’d be doing in the bike fit.
Then into my lycra for an assessment of how flexible I was, on the massage table and standing on the floor. This felt just as thorough as my visit to a physio last year – she obviously knows her human physiology and isn’t just a bike shop Saturday kid who’s been on a half day course in correct use of a plumb line. I was pretty pleased to be told I had “good spinal flexibility” – that’ll be from all the bending over backwards I do to keep my boss happy then.
“Does my bum look big in this?”
[note: baggy gilet, not massive gut]
Over the course of about 30 minutes I had my feet, legs, bum, back, shoulders, hips and neck moved, checked, measured and recorded. Very thorough. Apparently I’m a bit lopsided so my left side isn’t as flexible as my right, but my legs are the same length, which was a relief.
Then I got on my bike and pedalled until I stopped feeling self-conscious about being assessed, which took longer than you’d think. Tricia taking photos didn’t help either:
My position was generally pretty good (phew), but the three things that she picked up on were my saddle being too far back, so that my knee wasn’t quite getting in line with the pedal spindle; my brake levers were a bit low on the bars and my left leg was swinging out. Apparently this makes me a woodchopper. The first two were pretty easy to tweak with an Allen key and some trial and error to get them moved enough but not too much, but the knee thing needed a bit more attention and a plastic wedge under my shoe’s footbed to support my foot throughout the stroke. My stem was spot on, but they’ve got a fancy adjustable one from Salsa they can use to try different lengths and angles.
The whole consultation did end up taking over two hours with some very fine tuning to get each bit just so. I loved the fact that Tricia talked me through the reasons for each task, and what she observed meant in each instance – it’s definitely a scientific process, not a dark art. Again, mirroring my experience with the physio, she suggested some stretches and massage to loosen up my IT bands to help the left/right imbalance. A couple of days later she sent me a full report of every measurement and assessment she made, including before and after photos. This was great to see, and would make setting up a new bike, or even a rental much quicker.
So how did it feel on the road? Did it make me faster, more comfortable and more confident?
On the following Sunday’s club ride, I was definitely more comfortable, and felt pretty solidly connected in my bike rather than on it. It’s hard to quantify it, but going downhill on some slightly sketchy roads I felt able to carve a nice line, rather than hanging onto the brakes and pottering down. Having my saddle brought forward initially felt like I was more cramped up, but as I started riding I realised I was able to pedal more smoothly as I wasn’t overextending. At this stage in the season, I couldn’t say if I was faster though – that’s a much longer process, but I’m looking forward to seeing the difference on some longer rides when the weather gets a bit better!
Disclaimer: I didn’t pay for the bike fitting as a thank you for writing this, and to give their newly-trained staff a guinea pig.
