[OdaNelli]

How many of you XC racing types have paid to have your race bike Custom Fit. It will cost me $160 for one bike and an additional $100 for my roadie. I have heard all the benefits, but I also, to some degree, believe "it's not the bike, it's the motor."

Thoughts?

 

[sportsman]

How many of you XC racing types have paid to have your race bike Custom Fit. It will cost me $160 for one bike and an additional $100 for my roadie. I have heard all the benefits, but I also, to some degree, believe "it's not the bike, it's the motor."

Thoughts?

no. Only if they're going to deduct the cost from a new bike. Beyond that, unless you just won't miss the money, or you're an up-and-coming national level racer, you should be able to fit yourself (maybe with the help of a knowledgable friend) pretty easily..

scott

 

[Drewdane]

In for a penny...

How many of you XC racing types have paid to have your race bike Custom Fit. It will cost me $160 for one bike and an additional $100 for my roadie. I have heard all the benefits, but I also, to some degree, believe "it's not the bike, it's the motor."

Thoughts?

Why not? If you're spending 1, 2, 3 or more thousand dollars on a bike to begin with, what's $160.00 to ensure an optimum fit?

 

[kenk]

No, if you spent 10x that it should come with your bike. I would fit you for half that much.

Get help if you have special circumstances like an injury, extremely bowlegged/pigeon toed, lack of an arch in your foot, polio, or any other physical characteristic that would make you uneven.

You should be able complete the fit with a friend, a plumb line, and any number of cycling books for guidance. Then make certain it feels right on the dirt or road. Adjust, what does it do, good or bad? adjust, repeat until you earn your rainbow jersey.

Eddy Merckx was a freak when it came to adjusting his position even during the race. Watch "Sunday in Hell" and drink a beer every time he adjusts his bike and you won't make it to the end of the race. Oh and his nick name was "fast Eddy" so how could he be wrong.

 

[Crash&Burn]

No, but... I would pay $45 Canadian. Which I did but it was for medical reasons not racing on the advice of my physio.
Turns out I fitted myself perfectly just by feel from riding so long and my sore knees due to me being a fat, lazy slob (hadn't ridden for over 5 years)

If you race and you have any doubts about your fit it would at least put your mind at ease but at that price I would expect a discount on a bike or if you end up buying gear a sweet deal on it.

 

[lawhoo]

That price seems pretty high to me. My local shop charges $40-50, which I think is reasonable given the amount of time they spend with you. I think fitting in general is very important given the constant repetitive nature of pedaling and the resulting stress on joints, etc.

 

[Soloracer]

I've heard of people paying over 4 bills

But for that kind of money they get a video analysis complete with laser measuring of predetermined spots on their body. That kind of analysis will tell you if one leg is shorter than the other by a few mm and if it is causing your pelvis to sit crooked in the saddle.

Me?? I had my mechanic do the stick in the crotch and plumb bob technique.

Jim

 

[Wobbegong]

Do you mean....

That price seems pretty high to me. My local shop charges $40-50, which I think is reasonable given the amount of time they spend with you. I think fitting in general is very important given the constant repetitive nature of pedaling and the resulting stress on joints, etc.

Are you talking about a custom fit frame, or fitting the bike with a proper size stem-bars and adjusting the position to fit your size? If you mean custom frame demensions, I'd say its worth the money if you cant find a good feel on the stock sizes. If your talking about the shop setting the bike up for you, I think its a bit much. I bought my first road bike about a month ago, and the shop spent around 2 hours helping me to get the position right. They swapped the bars(wider)and stem(shorter,higher) and helped me with saddle hight and position. After all was where it needed to be, they cut the cables and put it all together for me, helping to find the right placement of the brakes, getting my cleats lined up correctly, ect. The bike feels great and they didnt charge me a thing for the fit. I certainly appreciated their level of service, and for that, they have a devoted customer. I'll deal with them for the road bike and Larry at Mountain High Cyclery for the mountain bikes.

Find someone who is willing to take good care of you and support their business. A good relationship with a retailer is worth it.

 

[SHIVER ME TIMBERS]

way too high...ask them like a poster above to deduct it from the cost of the bike

 

[Trevor!]

How many of you XC racing types have paid to have your race bike Custom Fit. It will cost me $160 for one bike and an additional $100 for my roadie. I have heard all the benefits, but I also, to some degree, believe "it's not the bike, it's the motor."

Thoughts?

I don't think you should have to pay $260 for fitting if your going to spend a large amount of money on a bike. Unless your buying a bike that comes in 5-10 different sizes or is being built to your spec, it will be easier to throw a leg over and see your fit on a factory bike instead.

 

[Trevor!]

Why not? If you're spending 1, 2, 3 or more thousand dollars on a bike to begin with, what's $160.00 to ensure an optimum fit?

Problem is, many bikes, and probably the bike the original poster is buying comes in a limited number of sizes, say for example S, M, ML, L and XL and as such it should be easy to find optimum fit by throwing a leg over the bike and checking the usual things that we all look for (Stand over etc)

 

[papisimo11]

$160?

That price seems high. I read in Velonews about a guy who fits the PROS for that price using computers and his specially made inserts for you shoes. He charges 160 big ones. I believe this was in Idaho. Is that where you are?
If you bought the bikes from that shop, then they should just do it for no extra cost.
I race XC and I got a new bike last year. I built it up myself and raced poorly on it the first couple of times. My friend at the LBS fit my bike for me and BOOM!!! a world of difference. Same thing with the road bike. If you are racing, I would HIGHLY recommend getting your bike fit.
Some can do it on their own, but if you spend that much money, get it done right.
GLTY

 

[TwistedCrank]

custom fit flame war

See http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=83878 for a pretty good flame war flareup over a local custom fit vendor in Boise.

 

[j.p.rich]

Depends....

on what is included in the "fitting". I had this done over the winter at Bicycle Ranch in Scottsdale, AZ. I ended up spending two hours with a USCF certified coach who analyzed not only my bike, but also me: flexibility, ergonomic issues, any comfort problems, strength issues, pedal stroke, etc. It also included videotaping and some referrals and suggested exercises (I needed to improve core strength).

The result? We dropped my saddle height pretty dramatically. This helped with a perceived leg discrepancy in my pedal stroke and kept my hips straight ( I had been reaching too much). He also emphasized that this should help smooth out the power delivery in my pedaling. Also changes were made in bar/stem height to help with some back issues that I occasionally encountered.

Now, about four months later, I can say that it was absolutely worth it. I've observed pretty significant increases in power output (Powertap) compared to last season. My first race is in a week and a half so I'll know better soon.

Basically, it comes down to how confident you are in your bike setup (obviously I wasn't), what level of services are offered, and how serious you are on improving.

 

[dobbs]

Merckx

Eddy had a back injury that would have really benefited from a good scientific bike fit, FYI.

 

[JohnnyTooBad]

I also think it depends. If they are going to do a lot of personal stuff like jp rich had, then yeah, it might be woth it if you've got the disposable income. But if you are just looking to size the bike parts properly, check out www.wrenchscience.com, and they have an application online to fit you. You'll need to take a bunch of body measurements. But it won't look at things like unequal leg length (but you can do that by sitting in a chair and taking measurements).

 

[*rt*]

i have

How many of you XC racing types have paid to have your race bike Custom Fit. It will cost me $160 for one bike and an additional $100 for my roadie. I have heard all the benefits, but I also, to some degree, believe "it's not the bike, it's the motor."

Thoughts?

twice, in fact.

why do you want to have a custom fit done? is your bike uncomfortable? do you think it doesn't fit you properly? if so, why? if not then why spend $160 to have someone tell you your bike fits you fine?

the only reason i would recommend paying to have a custom fit done is if you are having some problem that you can't fix. this is the reason i did it. i had a custom frame that i spent a silly amount of money on and for the life of me i could not get comfortable on. i got a recommendation from a roadie friend for someone to do a custom fit, paid $90 and had the fit done. i was not overwhelmingly impressed with the job he did and 6 months later i was still having problems so i went to another fitter (who knew mtbs) and paid $100 to be fit. he tried everything in the book to get me comfortable on the bike and eventually said that it was hopeless, the geometry of the frame was totally wrong for me and my best bet was to sell the bike. (which i did) he then set me up on my backup bike and that was that. he also eyeballed me on my roadie and said my set up looked good. since i am completely comfortable on my roadie that was good enough for me.

do i think it was worth the money for the custom fit? yes, had i not worked with the second fitter i probably would have kept riding the uncomfortable bike and thinking it was something wrong with me. it also taught me a lot about what i do and do not want in a custom frame. hopefully with my new Racer X frame (to be built up soon) i got it right.

but, if you have no complaints about your rides the way they are currently set up then i don't think it would be worth $260 to have someone tell you your bikes fit you fine.

rt

 

[OdaNelli]

Hi all,
Thanks for the responses.
From a post above "But for that kind of money they get a video analysis complete with laser measuring of predetermined spots on their body. That kind of analysis will tell you if one leg is shorter than the other by a few mm and if it is causing your pelvis to sit crooked in the saddle."


BINGO! this isn't a run of the mill job, this is the whole video, gate analysis, what the body does under pressure, how to maximize the body and position w/out waisting energy, etc... shabang. This type of fit is more designed for the serious Race type, who has serious intent on Top Ten/Podium finishes. Provided, winning isn't everything, but I seriously wonder if it will help my overall position in the Peleton(road) and overall ability for the big push at the end of an XC race. With all the major Road Riders and XC riders that do get it done around here,(Co) I am intrigued.

As for doing myself. Done that! Overall my XC bike feels pretty good. Except for, eventually in a longer race, I tend to use my Lower Left back to make up for the inadequzcies of my right quad. Hence the reason why I'm wondering if it's worth it to have the hi fi job.

Thanks again for your comments/advice. Feel free to keep them coming!

 

[forkboy]

Whoops = dubblepost

 

[forkboy]

How many of you XC racing types have paid to have your race bike Custom Fit. It will cost me $160 for one bike and an additional $100 for my roadie. I have heard all the benefits, but I also, to some degree, believe "it's not the bike, it's the motor."

Thoughts?

You're up on the front range, right? Is it that national sports medicine place in Boulder? The world famous one?

If so, hell yes.

BUT - I'd pay the $160 to get set up on my roadie. Then I'd apply most of those techniques to my MTB. MTB positioning isn't as critical as roadbike positioning.