kaburns1214 Mentor Group 2012 Part 2 - CLOSED (Page 154)

If/when you get a good bike fit, they can set the bikes up with the same fit.  Bike fits should take place on a fit bike and then those dimensions can be transferred to any bike.

Unless you do extensive metabolic testing, everything is an estimate.  Its really difficult to measure calorie expenditure with accuracy.

If you buy online, you will have to pay for a bit fit ... if you buy from a store, your fit should come included! 

Depending on the shop and their fit technique, can be anywhere from $100-300.

I would go and find a shop and find out what bike fits you best, or what bikes and sizes you could get away with and start searching online.  You can find amazing deals online and on ebay no taxes!

You should also start to determine what component level you want.  Many bikes in a lineup are exactly the same except for components.  Also, since you will be on a trainer for the winter, you can buy bottle cages or seat mounted cages, etc later.  Some of that stuff can save alot of money up-front if you don't need right away.

No.  While you can do some finaggling (adding in spacers, etc.) some bikes will not be able to be manipulated to fit some riders.  For example Shaun's tri bike is a 61 cm Kuota K-Factor.  No matter what you do to the bike, its never going to be a good fit for me because its too big.  Also while you can add, subtract and move things around some bikes are naturally better fits for certain rider's geometries and those bikes are generally better options. 

For a really good fit, that's on the cheap side. 

It's outrageous that it costs so much to get a proper fit!  Wow!

**edited to add that the triathlon bike shop around here uses F.I.S.T. and then some video analysis (forget the name)....is this good?  I'm clueless.  

Hey everyone,

Sorry for the long MIA, life has been crazy busy lately. Thanks for the messages and gifts! After consultation with 3 doctors, I am going to monitor these lymph nodes for the next 3 months and see if they change. I really do not want the aggressive surgery and they are not ready to do the surgery. We will see what happens at my next ultrasound and then make decisions. I am also going to set up an appt at Memorial Sloan Kettering and get their opinion as well. So that is my update!!!

I have been doing all my training and it has been my sanity! I hope to be back more often now!! Good luck to Jeremy and Larkin at MCM! Have a great time!

I intend to buy from the shop that performs the fitting, so maybe you're right and they'll give me a price cut since I'm doing my business there.  I'm going to go in after the New Year and hope they still have some 2012s (or 2011s) left for purchase.  

Hang in there, Michele.  Thank you for the update.  I've been thinking about you.  I'm glad training helps with the stress.  Keep at it!  

Here is my issue with using shop guys.... they tend to only recommend brands they carry.  Maybe we're lucky here in Houston in that we have one high end guy that works independent of a bike shop so he doesn't try to sell you anything.  I went to him when I got my Orbea.  The other really respected guy sells custom Gurus so if you tell him up front you're not in the market for custom you're set.  He however will try and sell you on component upgrades when you go back with the bike in hand.

Jen, FIST is the system developed by Dan Empfield at Slowtwitch.  It's good stuff.  So is ReTul which is motion capture tech stuff.  The guy I went to is Serrotta certified and he used 360 degree video as well to capture angles and cadence and whatnot.  All 3 are good systems.  My feeling is that fit is as much an art form with give and take from the cyclist as it is science.

Kinda.  Not all have the same effective top tube.  So someone can fit a 51 in one brand of bike or a 54 in another just due to the dimensions.  Plus you really want to be on the bike that you have to do the least amount of tinkering with to fit.  More spacers means you're getting away from the shapes and angles designed by the builder.

Schwaggle Deal for Sidi Cycling shoes ... this is an amazing deal if you like Sidi and need shoes, they usually run way, way more.  Just picked up a pair of the Women's T2 triathlon shoes for $100! (I am also an active member which gave me an additional $40 off)

http://schwaggle.active.com/SIDI?cmp=24-4-72508-1

Hurry, cuz sizes are already running out

Well that was the other good part of the fitting. He gave me all of my measurements and a list of which bikes by which manufactures I'd be compatible with. So if I had wanted to I could have flipped him $150 for the fitting and gone elsewhere and bought a Specialized, Blue, Scott, Kestral or Orbea in the different sizes that fit me. As it turned out they had a floor model Guru that fit me and my budget so I went with that. There were two other local shops that offered the same I picked this one on personal recommendations and proximity to my house. This is a pretty common practice at least in MA.

The bike shop's site linked an article on ST about FIST system (Dan's article, I believe).  They use Dartfish video analysis (have no idea what that is).  This bike shop has the best reputation in Ohio, and they send representatives to lots of the local races around here.  They were bike support for CTC preview day at Cedar Point.  On their website they sell Trek, Cervelo, and Felt bikes, but who knows what is in the shop.  

What I have also seen is that the shop will charge you for fit and then deduct the charge for the fit from the price of the bike if you purchase at the shop.

You really should get a fit BEFORE you buy a bike. 

Jen -- take a look at this -- http://somerandomthursday.blogspot.com/2011/01/bike-fitting.html#!/2011/01/bike-fitting.html -- its my blog post about my bike fit compete with pictures and dart fish diagrams.