Weight Weenies

Hump, have you ever been Retul'd or measured your power in these different positions? I know how hard it can be get comfortable on the bike if something isn't quite right, but sometimes what feels right/comfortable isn't when I've performed my best. Maybe on one part of a long ride that I normally struggle with, but overall usually not.

AGW wrote:Hump, have you ever been Retul'd or measured your power in these different positions? I know how hard it can be get comfortable on the bike if something isn't quite right, but sometimes what feels right/comfortable isn't when I've performed my best. Maybe on one part of a long ride that I normally struggle with, but overall usually not.

I was Retul'd two seasons ago. Let me clarify this though. As we all know from numerous post on here about fitting and Retul, the fit is only as good as the fitter. The guy I went to was an active cyclist, but had only raced up to a Category 4 level. Nothing against him, but he had not ridden nor raced at the distances or duration that I was accustomed to. That being said, he did set me up on the bike I had at the time and told me I need a bigger bike. I was on a TREK H2 5.5 Madone at the time, size 54. He moved my bars up, kept the stem length I had, which was a 130, and moved the saddle forward. He also canted both feet and that really made a good difference. I raced the set up for a couple of months. I then started getting the numb bits and then achilles tendonitis in my left leg. I went back to him and told him that I think we needed to shim the left leg. We did so and the Retul markers indicated that my legs were even. From there I went to a longer stem which gave me more comfort.

I am rambling. All in all, he was the second person who told me I needed a larger frame. Actually one other fitter in my area told me the same. This one stated that if we would have had our pick of sizes on the TREK, that I could have went with the H1 56 and been better off.

HUMP

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Hump, you just said it there: Fits are great but people need their own experimentation.

My 2p is to use fitters for your feet as you did - cleat angle, shoe angle, leg length corrections etc. That to me is the benefit of fitting. I could never figure this stuff out myself. I benefited a lot from the tweaking done to me.

But for saddle height and reach, however, fits are good to get you in the ball park but each rider needs to take it from there and experiment. My view is that too many fitters respond to the clients' complaints and try to "make you comfortable" rather than give you an "aspirational" set up. Look at all the silly baseball-bat-for-a-headtube Serottas out there.

We spend $1000s on this sport so shelling out $25 on a used stem or $50 on a setback or inline post and switching between is a no-brainer.

To your original question, pros ride TINY frames - Stannard is taller than me and rides 1 frame size smaller than me but has a 131mm stem and huge set back. Put him on a 58 or 59 and his bike would look a little more fat dentist-y.

Good luck, let us know how you get on.