Plan Ahead
“The key is to go in primed, which
doesn’t necessarily mean you go
in telling the person doing the fit
exactly what you want,” says Lipski.
“Rather it’s being able to tell them
your own fitting history, whether
you adjusted the position yourself,
or did someone advise you, and
if so what was their reasoning?
Are you happy with your current
position? Do you suffer injuries, if
so where, when, how often?”
Know Your Purpose
“What is your discipline?” Lipski
suggests you go to your fit with a
purpose – how you’re hoping the fit
will improve your performance and
when you’ll start seeing results.
“Remember your bike position
will vary between disciplines
and distances. If you are a speed
monkey, interested in going as
fast as possible over a 10-mile
TT, it will be a different position
to an ultra-endurance type fit.”Is there homework?
“Will I need to tweak the fit when I
go home?’ It sounds unusual to go
home with an ‘unfinished’ bike fit,
but often it isn’t as easy as making
tweaks and walking out, niggle-free,
two minutes faster,” says Lipski.
“The body takes time to adapt and
you often find out what you need
to do after you leave: ‘what shall I
do with my saddle height?’, ‘shall I
lower the front end?’ It might mean
coming back for a re-fit.”Think Beyond The Bike
“Most of our bike fits are about
how you hold yourself on the bike
as it is the fit itself. Whether they
are to improve power, comfort or
aerodynamics, you can gain more
by changing the way you hold
yourself, or working on flexibility
and strength,” says Lipski. “You
can’t buy speed, but you can get
close with a good bike fit. You want
a fitter who will work with you to
identify your optimum position.”Elliot Lipski, sports scientist with trainsharpcyclecoaching.co.uk,
suggests you ask yourself some questions before firing off the right ones...ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS AT A BIKE FIT