Cyclefit - Is it worth it?

[adrian]

[quote] I'm interested in impressions etc...

[Andrew G]

I'll be interested to hear how it goes and what suggestions they make for your bike. From what I've heard some love it, some hate it . I think any of these things are probably so personal that only you can say if it works for you or not. Also if you go in with an open mind you'll probably get more from it than if you have any set ideas on how you set your bike up.

[DavidKennett]

Not worth it. When I had mine done I ended up with a shorter stem recommendation, 9cm, and loads of spacers under it. Ended up reverting to my original position.

If you're after a fitting, best give Rohan a call at Dauphins at Box Hill, best in the business for fitting.

[kieran]

I had a fittind done as well, not by cyclefit but same methods, not sure about the results though, they recommended me to raise stem and shorten reach to handlebars, I had guessed this anyway but what it did confirm for me was that my roberts was too long for me. I am now wondering if I should get fitted on my new bike but don't want to be told its the wrong size!

[sid_day]

I have bought a bike from Cycle Fit, I should be picking it up on Friday.

I had the full fit and bought new shoes with footbeds and wedges.

My view is that this is the standard every sports cyclist should look for.

There is no point buying a bike blindly.

I have been riding for years constantly fiddling around with cleats, seat height etc. and I just want to get out and ride.

Having another person look at your postion is invable.
Particularly when in my case Warrick Spence did my fit.

His racing experience (road and MTB) and training for the fit program is also very valuble.

I'm not saying you accept everything they say but it is best to be as well informed as possible about these things.

[Phil S]

hated it, ended up with a ton of spacers and a flipped up stem. bike handled crap, and what's more i ended up with crippling knee pain.
i changed everything back as soon as i could. give the boys at cycles dauphin a ring - they've fitted me on three of my bikes and every time was spot on

[sid_day]

maybe I should have posted the question on here before splashing the cash

Having said that the changes I have made to my existing bike and cleats have been OK.

[sid_day]

Sean if you go for shoes, insoles and wedges the cost is not too bad.
I bought laser scan orthotics a few years ago from somewhere else and they cost a fortune: I was ripped off but pretty desperate to do something about it.

For me is Cycle fit is a short walk from work so very convenient.
So far, I have found the wedges an improvement over not having them

[richv]

Sean an 11" pizza on the way to work is hardly the diet of a champion

[Mike I]

Sean, there's no such thing as a free lunch, and I doubt there's such a thing as a free croissant.

Back on topic (ahem), put me down as a vote for Dauphins.

[Snoop Doug]

I'm voting for the croissant - have an office just round the corner from said shop so been there done that.

Snoop

PS - think I may have to give these Dauphin folk a go meself

[MattD]

Hi Sean, It is so difficult to get an objective assessment of any of these fitting services , all I can say is that overall for me it was worth it. These are my main takeaways from my cyclefit experience

1/ Shoe inserts - If you have ever run a long distance most runners would consider getting their running shoes fitted by an expert , and expect the shoe to take into account pronation etc - Cyclefit do this for your cycling shoes . For me a definite benfit

2/ Cleat Position - With lewedges my power output moved from preferring my right leg , to an even power output ( left leg was not moving through a vertical plane without the wedge )

3/ Bike position - This wasn’t so much about the position of the saddle and handle bar , with Cyclefit offering me the optimum position , it was more about Cyclefit showing me what an optimum position looked like whilst I was riding ( I also liked being able to watch myself ride live on a screen ! ) . As soon as I was told to engage my core , move my hips slightly forward , straighten my back , my power output at a perceived exertion level increased quite dramatically ( They also gave me some core exercises to carry out on the bike )


The guys at cyclefit know their stuff . The only real criticism is that the lewedges were quite radical from my existing position , but I was given no advise on to to take it easy for the first few rides ( which I believe you should )

I’d def go for it , but make sure you ask as many questions as possible to get the most value of the 2 hour slot you have with them

Cheers, Matt

Ps a few useful links

http://www.competitivecyclist.com/?gcli ... lAodwG14JQ
thanks to Steve for the above

http://www.bikefitting.com/

ps if you want any of the articles I have pm , and ill forward to you

[Sylv]

Having seen the GP (but not a physio) I'm gonna try and get an Cyclefit appointment to assess my knee issue. Pain is likely due to muscle imbalance and over-supination, so maybe I need some specific soles or cleat wedges, there are also strengthening exercices for the inner thigh muscles I will be doing.

[Sylv]

Well, I guess the physio would only tell me (in a more thorough manner) what I already know and recommend some exercices that I will be doing regardless. Then it might take months to work out if that was the solution, at least with a bike fit I will know straight away if my position also needs to be corrected. You never know it might get rid of the problem immediately.

[Matt Robbins]

Sylv,

Just for your info I have some over pronation issues which I mainly discovered through running (suprise-suprise), however having had a bad ITB issue from cycling last year I now use my orthotics on the bike and feel much happier with them as they give much more stability to my knee.

Although my podiatrist offered me the custom £200 jobbies I just used the Vasilly ones you can get from boots or on the web and they have been great. My podiatrist intimated that they would pretty much do the same job.

Hope you get it sorted soon.

Matt.