Mad Manatee Mentors 2013: CLOSED (exc/ Pop Tart bribes) (Page 23)

OMG that is amazing Carla!!!

Oh man, next time the undie run happens in Seattle this is exactly what I will be wearing. Ski goggles included.

Oh, get the bike.  I'm told that bike technology* is currently changing enough that it's worth an upgrade about every five years.  You are past due for a bike technology upgrade!  ;-)

* This was specifically referring to road bikes.  I think that tri bikes maybe in a similar place.  I think that mountain bikes may actually be moving faster with 26, 29 and now 27.5s...

No top either?

Nah, why bother.

Just don't unnecessarily bruise any bystanders.

By colliding with them, I mean.

Yeah, that has been an issue.

Fffuuuuuuuuu I was just thinking of that undie run I DID do. My friend got WILDLY intoxicated ...

Therein lies the key to my dihlemma. If I'm going to do this I want it to be a true improvement, not just new for new's sake. This weekend I'll go to a shop owner I know and trust. His website even talks about doing a fit or "sizing" to make sure the correct brand/model is chosen. Yet on Ann-Marie's other hands I want to get last year's model for better pricing which could limit my options.

What kind of things are involved with the "sizing" description? A fit bike? It's quite possible without, but usually takes a very good eye with a lot of experience. Should know something about stack & reach. They also don't worry about things like stand-over.

The last year's model idea can be an excellent way to get a lot of value. Most won't really change the frame much from year to year except rather minor things. Then do some much more significant design change one year. It's in those years you may want to at least think about it instead of automatically going for last year.

What kind of things are involved with the "sizing" description? A fit bike? It's quite possible without, but usually takes a very good eye with a lot of experience. Should know something about stack & reach. They also don't worry about things like stand-over.

The last year's model idea can be an excellent way to get a lot of value. Most won't really change the frame much from year to year except rather minor things. Then do some much more significant design change one year. It's in those years you may want to at least think about it instead of automatically going for last year.

One of our local shops does their pre-fit by measuring you.  The have a ruler thing that goes from crotch to floor and so on.  They eliminate a good bit of their product line that way. 

I'm thinking that's how the other LBS does it

Sounds like no fit bike then, which isn't necessarily required even though it tends to be very helpful to have. Do they have anything for checking things such as how open and closed hip and knees are at a few pedal positions? Can they do anything like described in this new article to get information you can take anywhere?

I don't have the coordinates for my fit as I did it myself, but was able to take it into a Trek Store to see how well an SC would work. They were able to measure around to get the armrest and saddle position relative to the bottom bracket and show me exactly where my setup was in relation to their bikes. I was too far out of range and decided not to get one of the bikes. For someone new, they would put them on the fit bike. If a place does not have a fit bike, they'll use a bike and change out parts and come to this end by some measuring tools. At the very least, hopefully they'll be able to check out the angles of various joints. It's possible to eyeball things, but it's kind of rare for someone to do it really well. The inseam is only a very rough point to help start things. Quite a few may not use it at all.

ETA: It's not really necessary to know everything about the fit process, just enough to tell if who is doing it knows what they're doing.

I'm going to share this because I was shocked and a little ticked and curious if this happens more often than I thought.

So I started out walking for 5-6min to warm up for my run tonight. My 4mi loop goes through our subdivision for a bit. I don't run with ear buds, but I have Pandora playing on my phone. As I got to a 4-way stop, I heard and saw a few boys jumping on a trampoline across the street. They weren't very old 7-12 y/olds. As they were coming up over the backyard wall, they were yelling things...didn't pay much attention til I got closer. I turned my phone down a bit and heard "I want to eat your pu$$y" several times and in various voices. I ignored for a minute as I was going by...but it continued with a few other things thrown in. I paused my runkeeper and turned of volume as I walked back and pretended to look for something on the ground. This time it was "Hey, girl! I want to....." Ugh! I turned across the street and headed for the house (it was on a corner).

 By the time I got to the front of the house, they whole group was racing down the sidewalk to another house. The boy in the back looked no more than 7 and he was scared. LOL!!! Good!  I started to follow them, but decided to go to the house where it happened. The mom was coming out as I went up the driveway, and she looked very puzzled. I asked her if there was a group of boys on a trampoline that just ran out of her house to confirm it was them. Then I told her what had happened. She apologized, and I asked that she talk to them about their behavior.  Part of me wanted to take more time and ask her to get them to face me, but I'll save that for if it happens again.

There weren't any kids in any backyards when I passed on the way home. I can only hope that there was a discussion at least. Even if not, I know it scared them enough to run.  It really came down to letting them think it was ok to talk to a woman like that...any woman/girl.

Sooooo...has this happened to anyone else? What did you do....or what would you do?

This shop does fits but they call what they do pre-purchase a sizing, which still sounds more in depth than a stand-over

I'll probably go in and talk to them this weekend. I've spent plenty of money there so I feel comfortable walking in and "picking their brain" about it.

Sorry if I missed this, but were you fit for your current bike? 

Sounds like no fit bike then, which isn't necessarily required even though it tends to be very helpful to have. Do they have anything for checking things such as how open and closed hip and knees are at a few pedal positions? Can they do anything like described in this new article to get information you can take anywhere?

I don't have the coordinates for my fit as I did it myself, but was able to take it into a Trek Store to see how well an SC would work. They were able to measure around to get the armrest and saddle position relative to the bottom bracket and show me exactly where my setup was in relation to their bikes. I was too far out of range and decided not to get one of the bikes. For someone new, they would put them on the fit bike. If a place does not have a fit bike, they'll use a bike and change out parts and come to this end by some measuring tools. At the very least, hopefully they'll be able to check out the angles of various joints. It's possible to eyeball things, but it's kind of rare for someone to do it really well. The inseam is only a very rough point to help start things. Quite a few may not use it at all.

ETA: It's not really necessary to know everything about the fit process, just enough to tell if who is doing it knows what they're doing.