Bike Fitting Has a Problem…
When I first got started in the bike industry over 10 years ago, I knew literally nothing about road cycling or triathlon, let alone bike fitting… My experience of bikes was BMX, crashing any kind of Mountain Bike you could think of, and even dabbling in a bit of trials on an old 20’’ Monty I had. The only thought that went into anything that could be possibly related to bike fitting was “how can I get the saddle as far out of the way as possible”! My first awareness of anything bike fit related came around 2014 and can be summarised in one word; Retul.
I’m sure that the vast majority of you reading this are also aware of Retul – the motion capture system developed c.2007 to help bring a systematic way of fitting bikes to the masses. Tech that was previously only available to pro teams and athletes that had the resources to head into university physiology laboratories, where previously, all of this motion capture technology was hidden away.
By using a predefined set of normative body angle ranges that have been collected and averaged out across, by now, millions of bike fits and collected data points over the years, the idea is to place a rider in the middle of these normative ranges on the bike and thus, get them into an “optimal” riding position. If the lights on the screen are green and the computer says “yes”, then you’re good to go! No matter what the position might feel like… There is often little scope for rider feedback or any consideration for biomechanical idiosyncrasy with this style of bike fitting… It’s all about adjusting the bike.
There’s no doubt that having a Retul system in your shop back in the day helped to sell more bikes, and to be fair, it’s probable that a higher percentage of those bikes sold were closer to actually fitting riders in a half decent manner than they may have been otherwise. But, bike fitting has existed long before Retul and motion capture, so where am I going with this?
Before I get started, this is not a dig at bike fitting technology. Far from it. In the right hands, bike fitting tech can add a deeper level of understanding that a fitter and rider can use to achieve better outcomes. It is however a tool to do a job, and has to be treated as such. A fitter must know when and how to use the appropriate tools they might have at their disposal. My aim here is more to reframe how we approach bike fitting in general, and herein lies the problem…
The clue is in the name; ‘Bike Fitting”.
The problem is around setting appropriate expectations, and the bike industry is fantastic at mismanaging expectations! You see, the term “bike fitting” implies that it’s the bike that is the main problem to be solved. In actual fact, the bike is usually the far lesser of the challenges surrounding creating a good outcome for a rider. Let me explain.
It goes without saying (or, maybe it doesn’t) that the bike environment needs to be as good as it can be to allow the rider to create the best movement possible. Luckily, the bike is a (relatively) simple piece of kit. It’s a tool to do a job, with a finite range of adjustments that can be made.
Thankfully, in this day and age, there are all kinds of shapes and sizes of bikes that can be bought and, in the unlikely instance that an off the shelf bike isn’t appropriate for the specific needs of a certain individual there are brands / makers that offer custom bicycles that can be made to the exact specifications to fit the requirements of that rider. This is why getting a bike fit before you buy a bike is imperative.
In short, adjusting the bike is the easy bit.
Fitting a rider to a bike should also be a relatively simple process, in principle. What we’re essentially looking to achieve is a bike environment where a rider can generate and apply appropriate force through the pedals in a stable and sustainable way, allowing them to ride as long/hard/often as they please whilst mitigating the risk of an injury as much as possible and on a well balanced, nice handling bike. Easy, right? Well, not really. The myriad of complications start when you ask the almost certainly asymmetrical, idiosyncratic human to interact with the symmetrical, finitely adjustable bicycle.
And this is where bike fitting faces it’s big problem…
Or, in reality, the expectations of riders aren’t appropriately managed prior to commencement of the bike fit process and this can lead to complications… both during and after a fit session…
We as practitioners are essentially setting ourselves up for a higher likelihood of failure, all because the focus is on the wrong thing – the bike itself. It’s too often the case that the expectation of a client is that they will arrive at the studio for their bike fitting, a few things about their bike and/or equipment will be changed and their riding experience will be transformed – no pain, more power an super aero (yet comfortable) position and the ability to magically be able to ride for hundreds of miles without feeling a thing.
And this isn’t totally the fault of the rider. This is the bike fit dream that often gets mis-sold, without a clear view of the process it takes to get there.
In reality, the vast majority of what bike fitting is about is educating a rider about their current movement patterns, what this means for them both on the bike and for their long term health, and then embarking on a process of relearning better movement patterns by taking ownership of their own journey and seeking out expert help in the necessary field as appropriate.
Of course, every rider is different and has different things that need to be addressed, and sometimes the bike itself is the main challenge, but I believe that a lot of friction can be avoided simply by reframing the concept of the “bike fit”.
This would likely result in better long term outcomes for riders from taking a more process based, holistic (I dislike that word, but I don’t currently have a better one) approach that focuses more on how the body moves and interacts with the bike, rather than expecting the bike to be the solution to all issues.
So, if you’re reading this and are confused as to where this leaves you and your riding, I would encourage you to think about this…
There are lots of ways to achieve better outcomes on the bike, and the vast majority of bike fitters out there do their work with the best of intentions. Whether they are more tech focussed, physio focussed, or use some other tools / expertise they have at their disposal, chances are they want the best possible outcome for you.
But, not every approach may be the most appropriate for you as an individual. You need to find a practitioner and a process that resonates with you, and aligns with what cycling means to you. If that’s going down the tech heavy route, cool, do that. If you’d rather not learn about how your own movement can affect your experience on the bike, then that’s cool too, but be aware that you will likely reach a limit to how far the bike will help you achieve your goals – remember, it’s a finitely adjustable object and there are two parts to the overall system, bike and body.
Cyclists love to optimise things, so why optimise just one part of the system? Well, because working on the body is HARD and humans generally find delayed gratification challenging.
If you want to take ownership of your body and your cycling, take a process based approach and really start to figure out why things happen as they do to maybe achieve things you thought might not be possible, then I’d strongly encourage you to reframe in your mind what you think bike fitting is. Think of him what you will, but Lance couldn’t have put it better when he said “It’s Not About the Bike”.
Words by Mat (one ‘t’)
If you’ve made it to the end of this article, thank you and we hope it’s been useful for you. Do you think bike fitting has a problem? We’d love to know your thoughts!
If you have any questions on your bike buying journey get in touch, we’re always an open door and there’s no such thing as a silly question: info@foundation.fit
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