So, what difference does a bike fit make?

[trailgumby]

This seems to be a question that comes up quite a lot.

Early last year I was getting some lower back pain and knee pain on my mountain bike, so went to see Blair at The Body Mechanic at Milson's Point in consultation with my regular spinal physio.

I was able to get in to see Blair straight away, which was important with the Mont 24 only 6 weeks away. After spending about an hour assessing me from a biomechanical perspective, for things like range of movement, flexibility, muscle recruitment patterns, and core stability, he fitted me to both my hardtail commuter bike and the full suspension bike I would be racing the event on.

We weren't racing for sheep stations, being a bunch of 50+ blokes pootling around the forest with their sons, but I wanted to be able to do my best and enjoy myself. The previous year's event was pretty miserable, a combination of freezing, windy conditions, below par fitness and below par lights. I wanted to go faster and suffer less. A lot less.

Here are the links to the before-and-after videos he took of me on the dual suspension bike.

Before:
http://v.coachseye.com/EwV6" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

After:
http://v.coachseye.com/0dh5" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

After the fitting changes, even though I was less aero I was putting out noticeably more power and my times up the usual training climbs were immediately faster. The only tweak I made was to lower the seatpost 5mm.

A week later an emailed report hit my inbox with the above links, the measurements, and a list of appropriate exercises to address the weaknesses in my action.

So, you may be asking what difference it made on the track. That's hard to answer as I had a much better training run going into the event than the previous year, I had better lights and I elected to use bottles instead of a hydration pack... but in the end my lap times dropped 15 minutes or more on a course that was 2km longer than the previous year.

Was I happy with the result? Very much so.

[briztoon]

Thanks for posting trailgumby.

[isabella24]

I also went to Blair at the Body Mechanic in Milsons Point for pain in my neck/upper back and also my knees. He changed my position on the bike considerably. My seat went up 20mm and also forward by 20mm. My cleat position changed to slightly inwards (they were back and centered when I started) and my bars were rotated down and brifters moved further up the bars so that they were parallel to the bars, not below them.

Results: my neck and back are now pain free! Yeah! Knees still hurt occasionally but considering the damage I've had to them (5 dislocations through figure skating as a child) still a good result. Like trailgumby, the only tweak I made afterwards was also to lower my seat by 5mm to stop the pain at the back of my knees. This was something that Blair had told me from the outset that I would probably need adjust myself depending on how I felt over time.

I too got a full report with all my position data on it. I also was given 3 types of stretches to practice to improve my posture and riding style. I went back about 8 weeks later with my commuter bike (my first appointment was with my road bike) and he set that up for me in the same way. A few months on, both bikes feel very comfortable despite them being very different geometry - a carbon fibre Trek Madone 4.5 vs a steel Vivente World Randonneur.
I don't race and do not classify myself as a 'serious rider' despite riding 5-6 days a week. For me, a bike fit was definitely worth it, for comfort alone and also to prevent further damage to my body.
Claire

[NeillS]

For every bike fit, you will hear of both positive and negative outcomes. If the positives far outweigh the negatives, then the fitter is probably pretty good. The other way round, and you can bet your bottom dollar that they have no idea what they're doing.

I've had a few people who were seriously dissatisfied with Blair's fits, and a few were were very satisfied. About 30/70 respectively so far. In my opinion, this means he is probably pretty good, because most fitters are about 90/10 the other way around in my experience!

[TheBikeShed]

Glad to hear that a good fit was able to help! In my experience, having an experienced fitter can make a world of difference if you're having problems on the bike.

Also, I think that going

to see Blair at The Body Mechanic at Milson's Point in consultation with my regular spinal physio.

was probably a great idea. Your regular physio is almost certainly going to have a really good idea what sort of things are troubling you and what might help. Combining the two seems like the best of both worlds to me. I'll keep that idea in mind if I ever start having serious problems.

Anyway, thanks for sharing your experience!

[trailgumby]

Thanks for the responses.

I just thought the video links would be useful.

Blair's not as thorough as Steve Hogg, but Steve's sessions are 1-2 hours longer, cost a lot more, and the lead time to see him is in the order of months.

I'd call Blair's fit about 85%. In my case that was good enough. It's a damn sight better than 99% of bike shops. But if you have something unusual going on or need the extra 15% I'd be seeing Steve.

Interestingly I noticed last week a massive blue machine sitting in the front of City Bike Depot in Kent St that had saddle, bars and pedals adjustable in just about every dimension, and hooked up to a roller with (i think) a power meter.

Just on wow factor alone it craps on Specialized's Body Geometry setup!

I'll hopefully be catching up with the owner in a few weeks to survey a new mtb trail, will find out more from him then.

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