For a really long time now, I've been talking about getting a fit from Isaac to make sure I was 100% on my bike. It was more important to me that I be fit on the Tarmac because the Guru is custom geometry, and was always the more comfortable of the two bikes. The last round of changes I did to the Tarmac before I disassembled it made it feel fantastic, and after taking measurements, everything was identical to my Guru with the exception of the stem. The Guru has a 100mm stem flipped to -6*, the Tarmac had a 90mm stem flipped to +8*. Measuring from the saddle, the drop to the bar was identical, the Guru had a bit more reach.
Isaac has been ridiculously busy. With all of the changes happening at the shop, he hasn't had time to do anything. The shop recently sent Anna out to Specialized to get trained in BG Fit, and since coming back she's been itching to fit people because she needs the practice. Yesterday, before the power class, we made plans for me to get fit today. But before I get into that, here is what I had done to my Guru to date.
When I placed the order for the bike, John measured my inseam, arm length, torso length and did a flexibility test or two. He wrote down the numbers and sent them to Guru where they figured out the tube lengths and what have you based on their ideal geometry. Because it is a CX frame, it has a slightly less aggressive geometry than their road bikes.
When I got the frame, it seems like they used a 58cm bike's seat tube with the top tube from a 55cm bike. The top tube height is much higher than the 56cm Tarmac's (it's also a straight tube instead of sloping) and my gentlemen bits rest right on it when I'm flat footed on the ground, which really freaked me out at first. The bike was assembled with a 44cm bar, 100mm -6* stem and a setback seatpost that Jen never used from her Guru. The saddle was set in the middle of the rails. It became clear that the saddle height was too low, so I kept raising it until my knees stopped hurting. About a year after that, I slammed the saddle all the way forward. A few months after that, Isaac did a quick sizing with me and raised the saddle a bit higher. That's it.
Today, Anna went through the whole shebang. An hour off the bike testing my flexibility, taking a look at things that are unique to my body (like how my right foot pronates more than my left one) and taking measurements. Then we went to the on the bike stuff which is saddle height, fore/aft position, cleat location, stem length, angle and height, saddle angle, and physically looking at me from not only the side, but the front to make sure everything is moving correctly and that I'm not doing anything I shouldn't be. After all of that, the only changes that we made were the location of my left cleat and deciding that I should probably have a 90mm stem at the same angle, but that the 100mm I was using was perfectly fine.
Now, you're probably thinking to yourself "If you managed to get an almost perfect bike fit from trial and error, why would anyone spend $250 on a fit?" and I can't say that I blame you for thinking that. But think about this, it took me 3 years to get it right. In those three years, I was educated about fit fundamentals by someone that really knew what they were doing and I have continued to learn. I had a basic "fit" done in that time. My bike is custom geometry, the other parts were ordered by a guy who knew how to fit people and the only reason I ended up using a 100mm stem instead of a 90mm is because there was one in stock at the shop. I also, despie my numerous injuries, don't have major physical problems that keep me from having proper form. That's a ton of things in my favour. If it were an off the shelf bike, I had physical issues, I knew nothing about fit and had no one to ask question about fit and didn't want to spend 3 years trying to get a bike so that it felt comfortable every single time I got on it, $250 in 3hrs is a fucking bargain.
Today was piece of mind for me. I really just wanted to know if my stem length was correct and if my cleats needed to be adjusted. I was also curious if any of the injuries I had suffered over time was causing me to be less efficient than I could be. For other people, it can be a complete game changer. Isaac, for example, needs a fairly wide Q factor. He's riding a BB30 Tarmac that narrows the Q factor slightly compared to a threaded BB. It causes him a bunch of discomfort. Without getting a fit, he could never resolve his issue, and if he knew nothing about fit, he wouldn't necessarily even know there was a problem that could be fixed. Like most cyclist, he would just keep riding and thinking it was normal and just a part of cycling.
In summary, cycling doesn't have to be painful. $250 isn't cheap, but it is less expensive than most bike components and it's always nicer to know "I need a 90mm stem" instead of guessing, buying and finding out it wasn't the right size after all. If you're uncomfortable at all, looking into getting a fit, it's so worth it.
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