I have been in the coaching industry for quite some time and have come across many, many products and bikes and while these are a come and go industry, bike fitting is what I term a "stay-put" industry within the triathlon/cycling community. I have had my fair share of bike fits and even dabbled in the fit process myself and while there are good fitters out there for sure, I never ran across one that just seemed to get it.
Enter my meeting with Scott Geffre at Fit and Tri. Scott is the bike fitter at Kompetitive Edge and has over 20 years experience fitting AND as a triathlete himself (both very important characteristics). You see, I have met fitters who have been health professionals and they understand human biomechanics but they lacked the athlete part. In contrast, I have met fitters who have been great athletes but have no experience with biomechanics. It can get quite frustrating for sure for athletes because the interaction of both are crucial parts of the bike fitting process (not to mention a good personality to be able to communicate with athletes).
Fast forward to my meeting with Scott. Upon arriving at Kompetitive Edge, he promptly escorted my Fuji D6 time trial bike on his elevated stand in front of a mirror, aligned his lasers and began the interview process. This is something I am always on the lookout for because if you don't understand where an athlete has been, is and wants to be in sport, you will miss a step in the fit process. He also asked about injury status and upon sitting on my bike and pedaling, he could quickly identify my muscular imbalances and challenges. Did I mention that he does this with his eyes and no software program? Yeah, a big seller for me because as I mentioned earlier, he gets it. I have found in the 18 years that I have been coaching that the really good professionals know the body, how it moves and understand the movement patterns associated with sport. Technology, while sometimes important, cannot replace common sense and know-how.
I was extremely pleased with the entire process that Scott provided. He explained why he was doing certain things (a huge plus in my book because I feel that every athlete should have an inherent understanding of the "why's"). The fit process took about an hour in the Kompetitive Edge bike shop (which is cool to be in for the cool chats that happen among the Ace bike mechanic Ryan and the owner Jared) and before leaving, Scott eloquently noted that I should contact him after the first 1-2 rides to make sure everything was okay. How many times does this happen? None. Nuff said.
Because I have spent the last 4 years away from triathlon, my body was not used to the time trial position and after the first ride, it let me know this. I quickly contacted Scott and he immediately said to come in because he knew what to do to fix it.
BAM! He sure did. He manipulated some things and I raced on the bike today at the Rattlesnake Olympic Triathlon with zero issues.
Who cares what bike you buy. If you do not get the right fit, it is money down the drain. Do yourself a favor and contact Scott and Fit and Tri now to make sure your body movement patterns and muscular imbalances (which every athlete has) is aligned with the proper bike fit.
Thanks Scott! See you at the races!
Coach Bob
coachbob@fuel4mance.com
