By Rick Shultz PCG Coach
I receive a lot of questions, but recently,
I’ve been asked the following question a lot… “How do I become a Bike Fitter?”
BACKGROUND
Most of my
clients are already experiencing pain when they call me up to schedule an
appointment. Statistics: Roughly half are in pain because
they are on the wrong size bike. The other half come in because again, they are
in pain, but from a recent bad bike fit. I hear the following all the time … “I’m
in more pain now than I was before I got my last bike fit.” The 4 most common issues I see are (a) cleats completely set
up wrong, (b) saddle height too high or too low, (c) crank arms too long, (d)
stem too long.
DEFINITIONS
Why I’m
mentioning the following is that in order to have a successful bike fitting
experience, the person needs to have (a) the right size bike and (b) the right
bike for what type of riding they want to do. Most cyclists know about bike
fitting but very few think about bike sizing which is the most important step
in the overall bike fitting process. So, before going to your local bike shop
(LBS), I highly recommend that that you do some research on (a) what type of
bike you are looking for and (b) look through manufacturers websites, choose
several makes and models…kind of like buying a car. You know what they say, “a
bicycle can be a person’s third biggest investment following a house and a
car.” While on the manufacturers websites, look at their sizing charts. These
charts will give you a good indication as to what size frame you will need. The
charts below show the bike sizing for TREK’s road bikes as well as Giant’s road
bikes. Other charts available will show Mountain Bikes, Triathlon Bikes, Hybrid
Bikes and Kids bikes. Some manufacturers will list an actual frame size, others
will show sizing in S, M, L, XL.
So, take
some time and use the Internet to research different bikes that meet your
cycling needs and budget.
At this
point, you will know what bike(s) interest you and what size frame the
manufacturer recommends.
Now, onto
the LBS. This is where the more information you have, the better chance you
will have in getting the best value bike to meet your goals. After your
discussion with the salesperson, you should have several bikes shown to you. Note:
These bikes should ALL be in the right frame for you.
From here, the salesperson should
make a few adjustments to ensure that the saddle and handlebars are set
correctly. More often than not, they will install a pair of platform pedals
since most customers will just bring tennis shoes. But, it’s OK to bring your
own pedals and shoes. For the test
ride, you will want both the saddle fore/aft and saddle height adjusted as well
as the handlebars.
For a pre-test ride QUICK-FIT;
Saddle Height – Place the right pedal at the 6’oclock position and place your right heel on the pedal. Your right leg should be fully extended but not locked out, while sitting upright and not leaning to the right.
Saddle Fore-Aft – You can eyeball this or bring along a plumb bob. With the crank arms parallel to the ground, place the right crankarm straight forward. Drape the plumb bob over the front of your knee, the string should intersect the front of the crankarm.
For a pre-test ride QUICK-FIT;
Saddle Height – Place the right pedal at the 6’oclock position and place your right heel on the pedal. Your right leg should be fully extended but not locked out, while sitting upright and not leaning to the right.
Saddle Fore-Aft – You can eyeball this or bring along a plumb bob. With the crank arms parallel to the ground, place the right crankarm straight forward. Drape the plumb bob over the front of your knee, the string should intersect the front of the crankarm.
Handlebar height – You will want to ride the bike around the parking lot a couple of times to determine if the handlebar height is too low, too high or just right.
WHERE TO START
The best
bike fitters understand human anatomy. Why?
Human Anatomy deals directly with understanding the different parts
of the human body to determine their position, relations, structures and
functions.
Kinesiology takes this
further to study the principles of mechanics and anatomy in relation to human movement.
My daughter is
an elite bike racer and has a Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology. She has a Doctorate in Physical Therapy. This is the ultimate
educational background to be the world’s best bike fitter. But, for those of us
that don’t have time to dedicate 8 years of our lives to college, what’s the
next best thing?
This was me asking that question several years ago. I looked
at taking anatomy and kinesiology in college, but I would have to start with
the beginning classes. Since I have a Bachelor’s degree in computer science and
math, I could skip the general education classes but still, the way college
classes are structured (1-2 classes in your major per semester), I would need
to put in 4 years for a kinesiology degree.
Searching for the next best thing, I
decided to become a Certified Personal Trainer. There are numerous organizations
that provide coursework, testing and certifications. Some of the big names
include NASM, NSCA, ISSA, ACSM and ACE. In my opinion, these structured
self-study courses really do provide a great background in anatomy and kinesiology.
For those that want to gain the deepest understanding, go through these courses
with a fine-tooth-comb, the certification should take you 4-6 months of study.
Next, I
recommend the following bike fitting courses starting with BIKEFIT.COM. They
are great at giving you the best basic instruction for those new to bike
fitting. I highly recommend their courses.
START
Start with
the BIKEFIT Foot/Pedal interface online course. After you complete this, take
LEVEL 1. If you will be doing TT/Tri fits, then take LEVEL 2, otherwise, you
can take a TT/TRI fit course later from any of the others listed below.
FIRST
|
1) On-line (detailed) Foot/Pedal
Interface course
2) LEVEL 1 – Contact Points on Road Bikes
3)
LEVEL
2 – Deeper dive into fitting with TT/Tri/MTB fits
|
The absolute best place to start
|
NEXT
|
1) Cycling Analysis Professional
2)
Contact
Point Analysis
|
Instructor for Trek Level 2, Level 3 courses.
Cyclologic is IBFI certified. Paraic is also the fitter for the Trek Segafredo
UCI World Tour pro cycling team.
|
Or
|
1) Range of
Right Fit Pillars
2)
Fitting for Speed (TT/Tri)
|
Best value is to take these 2 courses together
|
Or
|
1) SICI
Personalized
2) SICI
Advanced Fit
3)
Triathlon Fit
|
For 2018, looks to be 3 classes. More great
instruction.
|
NEXT
Once you
have completed BIKEFIT’s Foot/Pedal course AND
their LEVEL 1 course, then take any of the following (in alphabetical order); Cyclologic, GURU or Serotta. All 3
offer more advanced concepts taught with fitting machines such as Purely Custom
and Guru Dynamic Fit Unit (DFU).
You will
notice that Slow Twitch, Specialized and Trek are missing from this list.
Here are the
reasons;
a) Slow Twitch
was left off the list since they are specialists in fitting triathletes. If you
look at the educational systems above, TT and Tri fits are covered by Bike Fit,
Guru and Serotta. Cyclologic sometimes offers a specific TT fit course but they
briefly do go over TT fitting during their normal classroom instruction.
b) Specialized is
left off this list since you need to be a Specialized dealer to be allowed to
attend their bike fitting classes.
c) Trek is left
off the list for the same reason as Specialized. The good news is that since
Paraic is the bike fitter for the Trek pro cycling team, as well as Trek’s
chief instructor, you will get basically the same education taking the Cyclologic
classes vs the Trek classes.
So, there
you have it. Sign up for anatomy classes and/or look into becoming a Certified
Personal Trainer. THEN, start taking your bike fitting classes.
Have fun and
I promise, you won’t get bored since there is always something new to learn
