Featured Bike Fitter

The primary reason goes back to when I bought my first bike and I shopped based on price, rather than buying from a shop that was educated and cared about its customers. So, I purchased a bike from a shop that didn't care, and if you wanted it, they sold it to you. It happened to be a 60 cm bike, and that was 4 cm too big, compared to what I needed, but I did save $50. In the end, I learned a lesson that a good shop should help and guide customers to bikes that fit well and will allow them to be safe and enjoy the sport of cycling. Years later, when I opened my first store, I felt strongly about my philosophy to deliver that service to my customers, and it has served well to do this, for several reasons:

1. Customer retention and trust.
2. A well fit customer likes to ride their bike and stay in the sport.
3. It is the right thing to do.

I started in 1989 with a 12" piece of 2"x4" and I used our bathroom door, marked with a cm scale, written in pen, and did the good old "LeMond fit." It was, by today's standards, very low budget, and not a perfect fit system, but it was a start.

It's a name only Paul Swift could come up with. They were called Big Meat Wedges. We got a lot of strange questions and misconceptions on that one.
I did not personally use the product until John Howard spent 3 days in our shop teaching me his fit system, and John is a big advocate of The Cleat Wedges and their effect on the foot/pedal interface. It was so effective in improving my pedaling performance and comfort that I knew I wanted to learn more about it and provide it to my customers. That does make me laugh but I actually was not the one who named the product; it was an early partner who did, and I focused on the development.

What I find so interesting about The Cleat Wedge System is that you really don't know what you're missing until you try it. In other words, people do not seem to notice all the floating or rocking their foot is doing until they have been properly wedged... We kind of look at that as the person's foot is searching... As soon as it [a Cleat Wedge] is installed and you put them [the customer] back up on their bike, they sense that continual pedal-to-cleat connection for the first time, and it is like, "WOW, that feels great!" After riding with The Cleat Wedges, you can't stand riding without them. You become aware that, without them, you're losing power on each pedal stroke.

Yes, in 2004, I was lucky enough to have you visit our shop and train me in the The Bicycle Fitting System. It put special emphasis on The Cleat Wedge, and really, the overall foot/pedal interface. I felt confident in my understanding and application of this great product by the end of the instruction. I chose this training because I had been lucky enough to train under some of the best this industry has to offer. Like Paul Levine of Signature Cycles, and Ben at The Serotta School, also John Howard of John Howard Performance Sports. Each of these specialists had their own unique point of emphasis. Paul Levine and Ben Serotta gave a great understanding of applied biomechanics, John Howard gave great insight into the testing and analysis side of fit, and I felt that you delivered a deep understanding of the foot-to-pedal connection.

The ability to have 1-on-1 instruction that moves at your speed has huge benefits. Cost can be offset if you can line up paying customers during your training. The customers we used found it to be even a better value, in that training environment, because of the knowledge they picked up during the training. It was a much more "hands-on" experience and a higher number of actual fittings being done, which helped ingrain this knowledge.

The Bike Fitting System puts high emphasis on the wedging system and the foot/pedal interface as a whole, which I have found from doing many hundreds of fits to be one of the most important aspects of fit. If your connection to the pedal is wrong, it will show up in many different places: hotspots on the foot, knee pain, lower back pain, poor pedaling mechanics, and power loss are just some of the issues. I can say that with all I provide during a fit, the thing I hear back from customers most often about is, how they enjoy the differences The Cleat Wedge has made for them. I agree the foot/pedal interface is the most important connection to the bike. Without it, it is kind of like building a beautiful house but forgetting about the foundation.

Across the board, I would say that there is big growth in 2 specific demographics: The over-60 athletes and women. The women's fit market can grow quickly. Provide them with a clean facility, honest, high quality fit, and a good stock of women's handlebars and saddles, and word travels fast, and the day planner fills quickly.

There are many things that I enjoy about providing a professional bike fit...like the rider who has been riding for 20 years with aches and pains and thought they where just part of cycling... then hearing back from them 2 weeks later and hearing how amazed they are at riding now, pain-free for the first time! And how much more they enjoy the sport they have always loved.

But I think I am most proud of understanding and fixing saddle issues. I would say that 70 % of the people who come in for fit, have saddle issues and 70% of them won't tell you about that when you ask them what they are here for. Not only does that take away from their enjoyment of cycling, it is extremely dangerous for them, if it is not fixed.

It amazes me how many people do not understand how a properly engineered saddle is supposed to work and how they are supposed to sit on it. But most saddles end up nose pointed down, rendering them incapable of doing their job. Or handlebars are too far away, making it impossible to perch our sit bones high on the back. Handlebars so low, that the hip has to rotate so much, that we rock off the sit bones and on to the pubic bone. Saddle chasing can be prevented with a good, sound Bike Fit and a Fit Tech who will take the time to show their client how to use their saddle.

Saddle chasers are people who try every saddle on the market to solve their saddle woes. I have seen riders drop $150 on multiple saddles and going from shop to shop or saddle manufacturer to saddle manufacturer trying to fix their pain and or numbness. Once you explain that it is the fit causing the problem and show how his/her skeletal system isn't carrying their weight, they sign up for a fitting and end their saddle chasing ways. I could go on for pages about saddles and all the problems that are not being solved but that's another story. Someday, I will share my feelings about women's saddles and how they hurt, more than help, the typical female athlete."

It is happening. The bike industry is slowly but surely getting us more correct geometries. Even Trek has introduced a new Madone model for 2008, that offers us two different fits. Now, with an offering with a 3 cm longer head tube, fitting most body types will not be an issue.

Do more than your fit. In other words, talk to your customers about what you are doing. Be a teacher. I have had many customers tell me when the fitting was over, that it was worth every penny, no matter what happened, once they got on the road. Mainly because they learned so much about position, biomechanics, and the "why's and the how's" of what we are were doing. Plus, as a Fit Tech you are ambassadors of your shop, and you have this unique chance to build relationships with your customers. It also builds trust. So, if as you progress through the Bike Fit, you find out that the bike they're on does not fit them, you have established a level of trust, that will keep them from being defensive and you will usually get an eager customer, who trusts you to guide them to a bike that is correct for them. Well said and thanks for sharing that information ...I feel like saying Amen to that one.

When asked by customers, "Which bike manufacturer makes the best bike for me?":
"The bike that fits you best is the bike that is best for you."

I'd just like to thank all those pioneers in this industry like Dr. Andy Pruitt, Paul Levine, Paul Swift, Joel Friel, John Howard, and Ben Serotta. All of them are changing the minds and the practices of the local bike shops and giving our sport a chance to flourish. Keep learning and most importantly, keep sharing.