Body Geometry Fit

On Wednesday the 12th of June I headed down to peak cycles in Heidelberg to be fitted up for a body geometry fit with the goal of 'being at one with my bike'. I didn't have any niggling injuries or pains while riding my bike, and I've been riding my BMC teammachine SLR01 since December last year and after about six months of solid riding I still had no issues. So you might already question why i wanted to get a professional bike fit done. The reason for me was to make sure i was really riding as efficiently as possible, as i want to take my cycling to a higher level i need to make sure i'm producing all the 'free' watts available. Before heading into the fit, I'd done my fair share of research and was still a little bit dubious about the benefits of a professional fit against its associated cost.

I won't go into the detail of what the fitting process entails, but after spending a couple of hours at the shop being fitted out i walked away with some pretty significant changes. The biggest was the change in saddle height which was raised by more than two centimeters. Some other changes included the addition of insoles in the shoes and a different saddle, which was part of the fit that i thought might be part of a marketing opportunity allowing the bike shop to sell some more stuff. The first thing to note about my fit would have to be the immediate change it had on my riding position. I have to say i immediately felt more comfortable with the new saddle but had some sore feet during the first ride from the insoles and started to worry that they were actually bad for my feet, but after a week of riding this was no longer a concern and the insoles became unnoticeable. Of course having significant changes to a riding position will feel a little bit strange for the first ride, but it was a nice strange. I liked it, and it didn't take long for the new position to feel very comfortable.

I didn't have pain in the old position. We made some big adjustments, and i feel great on the new position. So did it change my performance? Am i riding faster? It's difficult to quantify any changes because there are always other factors to consider in terms of riding performance, but its hard to ignore the fact that in the last couple of weeks I've been riding with some strong form and recording good times up climbs i do regularly, mainly kinglake. In addition, other riders had noticed my position had changed and commented on how much better i looked on the bike. And that's the most important part of bike riding, right? Its also nice to get a detailed report of the before and after measurements, as well as some pictures that show the changes. The only problem with these pictures is that they've been taken at slightly different moments in the pedal stroke so its not a perfect comparison and i don't have any front on images which is a little bit of a shame. Overall though, I'm very happy with the changes that have been made and i honestly think they've had a positive influence on my riding.

I think if you've never had a professional bike fit done there's going to be some slight adjustments that can be made to make you a better rider, either faster or more comfortable. Whether that's worth the cost depends on the individual and your personal preferences, but its worth considering this: If you spend lots of $$$$$ on your bike, it might be worth spending $ to make sure it is being used to the best of your potential.