Bike fitting - lessons learned/learning

This could probably be considered part II of a post I put up about a week ago (refitting - what went wrong?)
I had bought my road bike about a year ago, a two hour ride (about 30 miles), was the norm. Lost weight, felt better but distances got shorter due to pain and numbness up front ("the guy" would lose blood flow - especially on the trianer - OUCH!).

I went for a bike fitting last week but didn't have time to finish so I came back yesterday. The first day:
1 - raised the seat a total of 2 1/8 inches
2 - Played around with the reach for the bars (raised the stem, shorter stem, but wound up staying with stock raised/inverted)
3 - Corrected my riding position (I was locking my elbows & rode on the bars, not touching the hoods)

Yesterday:
4 - Moved cleats forward a bit
5 - Raised the levers from stock position (maybe 1/4 inch?)
6 - Changed stock seat to a slightly wider (stock seat was "wedging" between my sit bones - everyone has a different shape)
7 - Corrected my riding position some more (knees were pointing out, ankles were too stiff, wrist position was off)
8 - Removed the aerobars - Too many adjustments at one time, I'm not in the greatest of shape, new sitting position.

Since I left the shop I could not help but keep reflecting on what changes took place and what I learned and could keep learning up to this point.
A - Never have your salesman fit you - In my excitement and lack of experience, I thought salesmen were fitters (NOT!!!)
B - A new bike (like any other piece of equipment), will fit differently over time and if adjustments are needed, they will force you to get adjusted when the pain hits (don't wait for this time)
C - Stick to/return to basics - I removed the areobars for reason #8. The need was more than obvious. Will put them back on later in the year sometime
D - You will need to get refitted about every year (depending on your mileage) - Your fitness level will hopefully change, requiring adjustments (all the adjustments mentioned put me in a neutral position - not relaxed, not agressive - back to basics)
E - Make sure your fitter listens more than talks - Mine was extremely attentive & patient with a cool attitude
F - Listen to your fitter. He corrected my riding position not just that of my bike. This guy made all the sense in the world - even more as I think more about it
G - Make every effort to make a fitting appointment during slow times (middle of the week, 2:00PM-ish, Dec/Jan-ish). These guys love to feed you all the info they've learned and to tinker with what they know best. My fitter was with me for almost two hours on the second day.

I can go on but this post has gone far longer than I intended. Hope this helps some of you out there. I went out last night with the limited time I had and am totally pleased with the changes. If time permitted, I would've gone much further, for much longer. It literally feels like I have a new bike on my hands.

Edited by cobannero 2006-02-09 9:25 AM