Bike Fitting FAQ's

BIKE FITTING FAQs

• When should I get a bike fit?

  In our experience, if you are experiencing discomfort on your rides that stops as soon you get off the bike, it’s usually possible to resolve the point of discomfort through positional changes.


  For instance: 



  - you get foot pain when cycling that stops when you take your shoes off.



  - you get experience genital numbness that disappears when you’re pedalling out of the saddle



  - you get lower back pain but only when using the drops.



  If your pain persists off the bike then positional changes alone are unlikely to resolve the point of discomfort. In these cases, some kind of regular mobility work will almost certainly be required to resolve the pain. If this pain is preventing you from doing cycling or any other activity then we’d suggest booking in with a trusted physiotherapist after your bike fitting appointment to determine the best course of treatment for your injury.
  
  For instance: 


  
  - you started experiencing some minor knee pain on the bike a few months ago and now your knee is painful when you’re walking up the stairs.


  
  - you got pain at the base of your hand during a long ride but now you’re still getting it on shorter rides or when you’re doing handstands in your living room.

  - you developed some saddle sores when you were riding {insert big stupid ride here} and now it’s painful to sit on the toilet.

• I have an upcoming race and have recently started experiencing discomfort when riding, should I book an appointment?

  Yes. The best time to book in if you’re experiencing discomfort when cycling is as soon as possible.
  
  Whilst we’d always recommend booking in well ahead of any important racing goals, ideally several months before target races, there’s no deadline for booking in for an appointment.
  
  If you have an upcoming event, even if it’s only a week or two away, we’d still recommend booking in so that we can record information that will allow us to identify the cause of your discomfort.
  
  Depending on the recency of your injury, proximity and duration of your target event and your training volume (amongst other factors) even relatively small positional adjustments can require a period of adaptation. For this reason, we have to carefully assess the potential benefit of positional adjustments against the short-term period of adaptation that is often accompanied with changes to bike fit.

• Do you offer shoe fitting?

  Shoe fitting is included as standard as part of all bike fit bookings. These changes should be validated against motion capture recordings to ensure that the new shoes, pedals or cleat position don’t introduce a new point of discomfort or increase risk of injury.
  
  If you’ve already visited us for a bike fit then you can book in for a ‘Follow-Up’ appointment at a reduced fee of £50 to validate any changes in equipment with 3D motion capture.

• Do you offer saddle fitting

  Yes! As the primary contact with your bike, saddle selection is a crucial part of the bike fitting process. We stock around 40 saddles and offer a 60-day guarantee on all saddles purchased as part of a bike fit.
  
  Most shops just measure ‘sit bone width’ and will sell you a saddle based on these measurements but this neglects a number of important factors that can influence the rest of your bike fit. We use a combination of saddle pressure mapping and 3D motion capture to find the right saddle specific to each position.
  
  By validating saddle changes against motion capture recordings, we can observe any changes to positional stability - the ideal saddle will generally result in the lowest movement volumes for the six markers we use to measure pelvic stability but it’s also common to see improved knee and even shoulder stability.

• What does a motion capture bike fit look like?

  Here’s a video of a bike fit with our equipment supplier, Bioracer Motion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzMy1YqBgOc
  
  Note, the bike fitting bib shorts and shirtlessness are completely optional! For the highest accuracy, marker placement on the skin is recommended but not essential. For the majority of our customers, a tight fitting jersey and bib shorts are sufficiently accurate between recordings.

• Can I bring my own parts to try?

  Yes and if you don’t have the right part then we stock a broad range of components in our bike fitting studio for you to try.

• My position has changed since my appointment, how can I replicate the measurements?

  After your second appointment, we take a recording of key coordinates on your bike with the motion capture system. We then provide a report with the adjustments made during your appointment and the components fitted at the time of your appointment.

After the bike leaves the studio, the only way to replicate your position with certainty is to take another motion capture recording. We offer a ‘Follow-Up’ appointment at a reduced fee of £50 in the event that fixtures have come loose or changed during a crash and you’d like to validate the new position with motion capture.

  All adjusted fixtures will be tightened to the specified torque value at the end of the appointment but these fixtures can come loose over time so it’s important to regularly check key fittings for torque, such as the seatpost clamp, cleats or stem faceplate.

  For many adjustments (such as the cleat, saddle or shifter position) it’s hard to provide an accurate written description that would allow you to replicate the position achieved during your appointment so it’s best to take clear photos of these on your phone.

  We strongly recommend against changing equipment (such as shoes, saddles or handlebars) after your appointment and for obvious reasons, are unable to offer a guarantee on any position that has changed between appointments.