Bicycle fitting once again



IzzyG

New Member
Jan 14, 2006
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Heya guys, gonna bother you guys once again regarding this issue. Just got a 2005 Cervelo Soloist Team bike, stock with Centaur 10 speed. I purchased it used with only 120 miles on it and the previous owner had set it up with aerobars and triathlon positioning(seatpost reversed). Also, he had quite a few spacers on the stem and used a 110mm stem with a 15 degree rise(eyeballing it). I understood his config since he needed to get the aerobar pads on the same level as the saddle.

Anyways, I tried my hand at repositioning it into a road bike config;

1. Reversing the seatpost head(an ability of the Cervelo Soloist) to achieve the 73 degree angle
2. Reversed the stem so it's a 5 degree drop(the fork is leaning back and hence offsets roughly 10 degrees of the stem drop),
3. Raised the seatpost (so that when the bottom pedal is parallel to the seatpost, my knee has a slight bend),
4. Adjusted the cleats (so that the front of my knee is above the balls of my feet at the 3 o clock position),

After my first 2 rides, my lower back ached a tad, and so I rotated the handlebars back a bit and so far been feeling better. Still a slight strain after 15 miles.

My question is this, is it worthwhile to pay a very certified bike fit specialist(has over 20,000 fits under his belt, an Olympic medalist, bike mechanic, decades of exp, etc as his resume) to look it over? It'll cost me $100 and takes roughly 90-150mins, on top of an outside test ride. I'm very sure he can help with the source of my lower back pain. But I also think that the strain will go away as I strengthen my core. I feel better if he did look it over but at the same time, it is $100. I feel like the only major adjustment that could be made would be to change the stem, to what I don't know. Then again I'm a definite amateur at bike geometry and he could do more than just the stem change. Any advice? Thanks in advance.

Izzy G.
 
Sounds like you got yourself a nice bike. Do yourself a favor and spend the $100 to have it properly fitted to your body. It will make the miles much more enjoyable.
 
If you had bought the bike at a shop, the $2K price tag would have included some professional time spent with getting the fit right. My guess is that even with the $100 spent for some fit assistance, you would still have a great deal on the bike. It would probably be worth the money and the time, plus you won't waste additional money on stems that may not be right. Talk to the guy first to find out his philosophy. He should listen to you more than he talks to get the right information on your riding style, planned use of the bike, previous or current fit problems, etc...

If you really don't want to spend the $100, you could try some of the formulas on the web as a starting point:

http://www.zinncycles.com/fitsystems/default_ie.aspx
http://www.competitivecyclist.com/za/CCY?PAGE=FIT_CALCULATOR_INTRO