Suggestions for places to do a bike fit

[santosh kumar]

Hi,

I know what answer to expect. BOTS. What are the other options we have in Bangalore to get a bike fit?

Cheers
Santosh

[Shishir]

Crankmeister is also well worth a visit!
Regards,
Shishir

[santosh kumar]

Is it worth getting a bike fit without clip-less pedals?

Cheers
Santosh

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[Opendro]

Bike fit and clipless pedals are unrelated. Of course, you do account for the shoe/slipper sole's thickness when you bike fit. Otherwise, bike fit is to set a few critical parts in the right place, such as handle bar height and reach, saddle height and raft reach, crank arm length and probably handle bar width.

If you are not into serious competitive cycling, you don't need a professional bike fit help. All the points mentioned above can be theoretically calculated and you can use a linear scale to measure up everything. If you need a detailed writeup on this, I can do that for you.

[Opendro]

I forgot to mention that individuals may have slightly different anatomy, such as leg and arm length ratio, upper torso and legs ratio, etc. Those are a few things you can fine tune after a base setup, say, ride for a week and alter one parameter by half a centimeter, etc.

[santosh kumar]

Thanks opendro, I am not so much looking to race, I am mostly looking at long - brevet styled rides. 

I did a 200k on my bike a couple of weeks ago. I ended up with a sore back and painful wrists. The Back I was able to get back in shape after a couple of visits to the gym and other chores. The wrist however was a lot more painful to recover. Today, again I rode my bike to the office, wrists are still not comfortable on the bike. Even for a 13k ride to the office. Any tips?

Cheers
Santosh

[Opendro]

I have myself had instances where the palm got pressed so hard that the ring and little fingers got totally number for more than a month. Later I got to know that it is called handlebar palsy. Though they can be caused by incorrect bike setup, my opinion is that an unfit body could also be a reason.

Body weight has to be borne by three contact points - pedal (leg), saddle (bum) and handlebar (palm). In my opinion, most of the weight should be borne by a strong pair of leg muscles. It is when your legs are tired that you tend to rest too much on saddle and handlebar - both can be problematic over longer period of time.

Brevet should have a handlebar height set at somewhere between racing and touring... neither too low nor too high. In my setup, it is exactly at the same height as the saddle. You can figure out the reach to your comfort at this height.

You can set the saddle height/position like this.... keep adjusting your saddle until your legs are completely stretched out (knee locked out) when pedal is the bottom with crank arm vertically down. Now, measure the length from pedal spindle to the saddle (a point on the saddle where you would mostly rest on, can be somewhere centre area). Lets call this length as L.

Now, an ideal pedaling should bend your knees in the range of 66 to 154 degrees. Beyond this, you are bending too much or too stretched to produce power. Based on this, the crank arm length must be :

 Crank arm length = L * [cos {(180 - 154) / 2} - cos{(180 - 66) / 2}] / 2
                          = L * (0.9744 - 0.5446) / 2
                          = L * 0.215

Saddle height as measured "vertically" from the bottom bracket spindle :

   Vertical saddle height = L * {1 + cos(154 - 90)} / 2

                                   = L * 1.43837 / 2

                                   = L * 0.7199

Since we want the knee socket to be vertically above the pedal spindle when crank arm is at 3 O'clock position, saddle has to be offset behind the bottom bracket by:

   Saddle offset from bottom bracket = {L * sin (154 - 90) / 2} - crank arm length

                                                      = L * 0.4494 - L * 0.215

                                                      = L * 0.2344

Saddle position/height is the most important as leg does most of the work. Above three values should give a good starting point.

Note that L could be different for left and right legs for the same individual. In such cases, take the longer leg as the measurement. Then add some height to the shorter leg in the form of thicker shoe sole or pedal rubber height.

[santosh kumar]

Thanks a lot Opendro, I shall try this and let you know the results! :)

Cheers
Santosh

[gustav...@gmail.com]

If the fit is to be worth paying for, it should surely include clipless pedals. The exact position of cleats can make quite a difference. And if it's not so exact, it's not worth paying for – you can work it out for yourself by trial and error, and it doesn't take long either. That also allows for you to make adjustments as your riding style changes or your body becomes more or less flexible.