Bike fitting oversight or regulation is just about non-existent, so it is extremely important to ask some questions and do some research to find out about an individual fitter. There is no licensing or certification board, outside of the few fit schools, but even these, as I've said before, are really just a brief warm-up to all that needs to be known. To increase your chances of having a worthwhile experience, it pays to look for the following things:
Notice that bike knowledge is last on the list. This is purposeful. As I've said before; the bike part is easy when you have the other qualifications, but it doesn't work the other way -- if you know bikes but have no real experience working with the human body, making sound decisions about someone's mechanics and how it'll affect their efficiency and safety is next to impossible. Bike geometry has a relatively few variables associated with them (the angles, materials, tube lengths, size of crank, trail, and even learning how these might affect handling). And what's more; these variables are all visible, easily measured and quantified. The human body is much more messy. First of all, the shear number of variables is astounding -- at a given joint you are dealing with multiple tissue types, all reacting differently to positioning. You may position someone differently on their saddle if their hip limitation is muscular or ligamentous or both. Now factor in that something biomechanically in the feet can affect their low back, and something in the low back can affect their knees and it is easy to see why a weekend education isn't going to cut it for most fittings. Beware... ...of fancy gadgets. These include digital video and motion capture, power and pedal efficiency readings, lasers, infrared cameras, aerodynamic software and more. Don't get me wrong --these are fantastic tools and I use many of them myself. But the are not a substitute for knowledge. They may tell you what is wrong or needs attention, but they will not tell you how to fix the rpoblem. Using these tools is like a physician using an MRI machine: MRIs can provide great information if you have the extensive background necessary to read them AND you have experience in understanding the clinical relevance of this information. You wouldn't have your dentist read the MRI of your shoulder and you shouldn't have an individual with limited experience using high speed motion capture (other than what the sales seminar taught them) to try and tell you what the pictures mean for you and your bike. An individual with a weekend education in bike fitting will more often than not be left guessing at how to fix the problem. ...of fast riders who, because they are fast, think they have cornered the market on bike fit. Speed and talent does not qualify someone as a bike fitter. They may know what is efficient and fast for them, but have no real experience understanding of the body and often have a difficult time relating to the everyday athlete. I have re-done many fittings where a very skilled cyclist working in a shop has put a weekend warrior in a position that is altogether too aggressive, because that is where the employee is fast. |
Bike fittings schools are a great beginning point, but they are still weekend crash courses in the art of bicycle fitting, and inherently limited in their scope. They are great in teaching basic fitting principles, and a handful of injury scenarios. It's a lot like taking a weekend course in how to be a doctor: you will learn how to take a basic medical interview and treat a handful of basic problems, but without the years of training, you'll be left guessing on hundreds of scenarios. Example #1: If you have hand numbness while you ride they may suggest a new bar position or a new bar and/or gloves, to reduce pressure on the heel of the hand. But what if you have a previous shoulder injury that has caused a mild adhesion (sticking) of the nerve in the shoulder complex. Changing bar position or gloves is likely to not help at all. This exact scenario presented itself at The Studio , and instead of focusing on the client's hands, we altered his shoulder position and gave him a few dedicated stretches to do. He has been asymptomatic since. Example #2: A 52 year old female client purchased a $4000 road bike from a local shop and had toe numbness after a few rides. To remedy the problem, the shop sold her $50 shoe inserts that were purported to fix just such a problem. The symptoms only got worse as her whole foot felt too tight in the shoe with the new inserts. She returned again to the shop, and they convinced her she now needed a shoe a half-size bigger to accommodate the new insoles. Cost: $125. The foot discomfort persisted and she contemplated selling the new bike and going back to her 12-year old steel bike that was relegated to the trainer. She came in to see me and after a complete assessment it was determined that her cleats were simply too far forward on her shoe, putting undue pressure on her toes and forefoot. We switched her back to her old shoes and her cleats were moved back to a more rearward position on the shoe and the client was sent on her way. She experienced almost no issues on her first ride back on the bike, and within a week and a half all pain had resolved. She was now left with almost $200 in unusable (and unnecessary) footwear. Example #3: An experienced Masters cyclist came to me after months of back pain on the bike. His local bike shop kept moving his handlebar position higher and shorter in an attempt to relieve the pressure on his back. He came to me and after a thorough interview and examination on and off the bike, I discovered his pain started after a weekend of mountain biking where his position was very upright. Since he had such an odd confluence of symptoms that didn't respond as expected, I dug a bit deeper and upon physical examination, discovered that he had a "step" deformity in his low lumbar spine. Only x-rays would confirm, but it appeared he had a spinal deformity called a spondylolisthesis -- where one vertebral body is slipping forward on the one below it. The upright position on his mountain bike had put his lumbar spine into more extension and put pressure on his lumbar nerves. We returned his road bike to it's more aggressive (racer-like) position, and instructed the client in progressive abdominal strengthening exercises. The sum of these two corrections held his lumbar spine in better alignment and his back pain resolved within a few weeks. |
