Like RM above, i'm also skeptical about fitting services. But I can imagine use cases if they solve particularly concerning pain points.
I've seen a robust treatise on choosing crank arm length based upon the angles that your femur (actually the femur/hip angle, in laymen's terms) rotates thru in a pedal stroke. If you really had pain points with perhaps knee joint or hip or butt muscles, maybe a fitter who's intimate with the physiological aspects (basically the fitter who wrote that extended treatise) might be able to help. I feel like one of my legs is slightly shorter, and a fitter trained to spot that difference might recommend a shim under one insole to even out my vertical stance on the pedals. But I haven't bothered seeking it. I know someone who went to a fitter before committing to a custom frame. The fitter recommended frame geo for the rider to have a very low/forward race-like aero position. Although she was capable of readily attaining such a position... it was her zero use case and resulted in drop bars being too far out of reach. She converted her road bike to an upright townie with backswept bars. That is an expensive and disappointing outcome resulting from assume that any bike fitter can help with a rider's goals or pain points. So buyer beware. On Monday, January 27, 2025 at 8:52:33 AM UTC-7 rmro...@gmail.com wrote: > My experience only & 50 years of cycling later.., I answer “No” to both > questions. Was I ever professionally fitted? Yes. Did it make a difference? > No. Does the fit transfer to other bikes? Maybe. I wanted to say “No” but I > realize it might for others. When my bikes were all road bikes - then yes. > But since getting Rivendell bikes, everything else fit wise kind of went > out the window. Upright position, Brooks B17 & adoption of a mid foot pedal > position have combined to make me more comfortable than at any other time > in my cycling life. And I did so finding my own fit. > My opinion only; professional fitting is primarily performance oriented. > Once you know what works for you there is not much to be gained comfort > wise. > Sent from my iPhone > > On Jan 27, 2025, at 1:55 AM, Stephen Durfee <chefd...@gmail.com> wrote: > > I'm curious about the collective opinion regarding professional bike > fitting, and pose these questions as one who has been riding for 50+ years > on mostly drop bar road bikes, without ever having been "fitted"... I'm > not particularly interested in increased performance, although I'd be happy > to ride faster/stronger in some situations - mostly, I'm concerned with > comfort. I'm used to, and have generally learned to live with certain aches > and pains after a good long ride, a sore back or neck for instance... sore > butt is not uncommon either. I follow the conventional rules for set-up > (ie, choose frame and saddle height based on PBH) and I tinker/ > swap/exchange parts for the fun of it, but haven't ever really experienced > an "aha" moment when it comes to comfort/fit! > > > I enjoy following threads regarding saddle choice and positioning, woolen > underwear vs. padded shorts, handlebar options, PBH and frame size, drop > vs. reach, etc etc... and I've experimented with a bunch...which leads me > to be skeptical about putting my faith in a service that seems to boil down > to trial and error, plus common sense. So here are the questions: > > 1. Have you been professionally fitted, and did that result in a > noticeable improvement in comfort? Enough that you would advocate for > others? > > 2. I have three or four bikes, set up different ways (Homer with drop bars > as my "road bike", All Rounder with Albatross bars for "adventure", > etc)....if one is "fitted" to a certain bike, does the "fit" apply to > different set-ups? > > Thanks in advance, sd > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/7a46262b-0e9a-4fef-9474-4857faf95f29n%40googlegroups.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/7a46262b-0e9a-4fef-9474-4857faf95f29n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/bbe58175-d51f-4f86-8946-16e872d9230bn%40googlegroups.com.
