Is a professional fitting worth it?

corblimey

I barely cycled at all last summer (such as it was) due to a continuing issue with my hands going dead after a short time of cycling and then just the sucky cycle of dead hand, pins and needles, dead hand, pins and needles. It made cycling a chore frankly.

Now it's the new year and I'm determined to get it sorted. My lbs has what they call a professional fitting service where a guy will put me on my bike on a turbo trainer, video me, make adjustments as necessary and get me going again. I'll need to change my pedals and get cycling shoes before I go in, as the toe clips may mean that he gets my feet set up perfectly right, but I move around too much inside the clip, undoing his fix.

Anyway, in a nutshell, I'm looking at spending maybe another 250-300 quid for something that might just make no difference to my riding, and I'd need to buy a new bike anyway, more suited to my body. 300 quid is still cheaper than buying a new bike, but I'm just wondering if anyone has gone down this route and felt it worth every penny.

catweazle

Sounds very expensive for what you are getting - my eyes were watering when I handed over 200 euros but at least that was for two bikes. I was put on a special machine rigged up to a computer so he could monitor my pedaling action as he made the adjustments on that machine and then just crossed them over to my bikes.

I used to get that pain you mentioned as well but I was out for 90k last weekend and I remember thinking to myself as I was rolling into the driveway after that I didnt have a jot of pain right through it. So far - worth the money (new TT Bikefit wont really been tested yet for another few months)

As an aside the basic fit was 75 from this guy which seems a lot like what you are getting with the bike being put up on the turbo

marketty

catweazle wrote: »

As an aside the basic fit was 75 from this guy which seems a lot like what you are getting with the bike being put up on the turbo

Do you mind me asking where you got it done for €75? I'd heard its usually about €100+ but worth getting done

ford2600

You should get shoes and pedals anyway.
Competitive cyclist website has good bike fit guide.
Tweak saddle forward, down etc.
Not that hard to do.
Small changes at a time

StaggerLee

In Dublin you should be able to get a bikefit for 75-100€
Richies in Swords do it, as do Bikehub in Howth and Base2race

corblimey

I actually can't remember the cost now, it was either 125 or 150 - there's a basic one for 50, but that sounds like what ford2600 is suggesting, a few tweaks and away you go for a few hundred kilometers until it starts hurting again.

In my costs, I was considering the price of the cleats and the shoes and the clips, but yeah, it's a cost I'd be into anyway. Worse case if I have to buy a new bike, the pedals and shoes will come with me.

TheNah

I'd recommend getting a bike fit done. I used to get quite bad numbness in my hands on longer spins - the bike fit cured this. In simple terms my bike had me too 'scrunched up' on it which meant I was putting pressure on my wrists constricting blood supply - the tweaks the bike fitter made opened up the bike a bit and my posture on it, and I havn't had any issue with hand numbness since! bike fit cost 100e so money well spent.

Crow92

Quick Question, do are the professional fitters, with the full set-up only trained to fit for a racing style or if you wanted to do long distance touring would they have the sufficient knowledge to do a set up to make it as comfortable as possible for 100+ consecutive days?

catweazle

marketty wrote: »

Do you mind me asking where you got it done for €75? I'd heard its usually about €100+ but worth getting done

Oranmore in Galway www.bikefit.ie (James O Donnell)