So, had a bike fit yesterday by Adrian Timmis, professional cyclist, ex Tour de France rider.
Took about 2 1/2 hours. Set my road bike up on his trainer machine and got me cycling on it. He videoed me cycling as a baseline to see how I was.
He said I did not look comfortable on the bike and that I was putting far too much weight on my arms probably giving rise to my neck and shoulder problems.
He started at the front of the bike, set the handlebar position and stripped the tape off. Then changed the lever positions and retaped the bars. Then went on to the seat height which he said was too low and also spent a fair amount of time with the saddle position. He did not like my saddle ( Rido) and said its design was to support my arse bones only and give no support to rest of my under carriage. He did put some other seats on which were a big improvement. My saddle made me pivot on it so when leaning forward weight was thrown onto the bars. He looked and checked cleat positions. Being a sports physio as well he checked my joints and muscles and flexibility and after much messing about the final ride and video was much better than when I came in. I had cycled 9.9km on his trainer during the bike fit.
Was it worth it:
lots of small adjustments were made and my ride home (20 miles) seemed fine. I need to get a new saddle but he wouldnt commit as they are a personal choice and he said the set is most important but said mine was not helping keeping the weight of my arms. His personal saddle was a Fizik one which I cringed at looking at as it probably would cripple me but then he is a road racer.
He did say when you buy a new bike, the shop adjusts the seat height and then you are on your way. He also said for a given size and use, most bikes have very similar geometry and it the person who differs so any serious rider should have the bike fitted to them.
Took about 2 1/2 hours. Set my road bike up on his trainer machine and got me cycling on it. He videoed me cycling as a baseline to see how I was.
He said I did not look comfortable on the bike and that I was putting far too much weight on my arms probably giving rise to my neck and shoulder problems.
He started at the front of the bike, set the handlebar position and stripped the tape off. Then changed the lever positions and retaped the bars. Then went on to the seat height which he said was too low and also spent a fair amount of time with the saddle position. He did not like my saddle ( Rido) and said its design was to support my arse bones only and give no support to rest of my under carriage. He did put some other seats on which were a big improvement. My saddle made me pivot on it so when leaning forward weight was thrown onto the bars. He looked and checked cleat positions. Being a sports physio as well he checked my joints and muscles and flexibility and after much messing about the final ride and video was much better than when I came in. I had cycled 9.9km on his trainer during the bike fit.
Was it worth it:
lots of small adjustments were made and my ride home (20 miles) seemed fine. I need to get a new saddle but he wouldnt commit as they are a personal choice and he said the set is most important but said mine was not helping keeping the weight of my arms. His personal saddle was a Fizik one which I cringed at looking at as it probably would cripple me but then he is a road racer.
He did say when you buy a new bike, the shop adjusts the seat height and then you are on your way. He also said for a given size and use, most bikes have very similar geometry and it the person who differs so any serious rider should have the bike fitted to them.