Getting a really good fit on your bike for triathlon is difficult.  It shouldn’t be, but it is.  There are reasons why it’s difficult but I’m not going to dwell on those today, instead, we’re going to focus on getting a bike fit that works for you.
 
 
First step– have a few specific goals and do your homework. 
 
A good bike fitter can only set the bike up for you correctly if you can tell them what you want to achieve.  This can be as simple as “I want to finish my first Sprint distance race” through to more complex tasks like “I’m looking to go under 5.30 in my next half ironman, my previous best was a 5.40 and my bike leg was terrible”.  If you want to go to Kona then be honest and tell your fitter that is the goal.  It’s also a good idea if you have a few smaller goal races along the way… 
 
On the homework side, it’s a bit more complicated.  There are lots of bike shops and nearly all of these bike shops have a resident bike fitter.  BUT…  Most bike shops are owned and operated by roadies, many of whom were very good bike racers back in the day.  Being a great bike rider does not always equate to being a great bike fitter and being a good road bike fitter does not mean that person will be a good fitter for triathletes.  There is a widespread misconception among bike shop staff that a time trial bike fit or a road bike fit will work for triathletes – they wont.  What you are looking for is a bike fitter that works mainly with triathletes.  Talk to your coach, your friends and go into a few bike shops.  If you get any attitude from the shop staff – leave.  The questions you might ask a prospective bike fitter should run along these lines:
 

1. How do your tri bike fits differ from your road fits?
2. Do you fit triathletes differently to time trialists? (the correct answer here is ‘Yes’).
3. How many tri fits would you do per week?
4. Do you fit long course and short course athletes differently?

 
You can use these questions to gauge how helpful the bike fitter is and also to see if you think you can work with them.  A good bike fit involves some brutal honesty from you about your strengths and weaknesses and a level of experience (and sometimes even tact) from your fitter.  Good bike fitters do not:
 

1. Use jargon to cover up a lack of knowledge (they should be able to explain what they do in straight forward terms).
2. Talk down to you.
3. Think they have all the answers.

 
Lastly a few words about expensive and complex bike fits.  A good bike fit generally takes a few hours for the initial fit and then involves a few more visits or conversations to get your position dialled in just right.  The generally accepted cost for this service is about $120-$220 plus any additional parts (like stems or saddles etc).  There are some operations offering vastly more expensive bike fits using lots of technology (video/photo capture and Retul etc).  These additional technologies can be useful but a good bike fit is not a massively complicated task and the extra equipment does not guarantee a great outcome – the gadgets are only as good as the fitter using them.  In regards to a Retul fit, Retul is a very accurate motion capture system that measures all your body angles when you pedal a bike on a stationary trainer (think of it as Nintendo Wii for bike fit).  But Retul does not fit you to the bike – it just measures your dynamic knee, hip and shoulder angles with a great degree of accuracy, it cant tell the bike fitter how to fit you.  Gadgets are great but they can make a bike fit unnessasarily expensive and complicated without improving the outcome.
 
Second Step – Talk with your fitter
 
Before you leap into the bike fit, your fitter should run through a few questions such as:
 

1. Your history (races completed, other sports played)
2. Your goal races for the next year or more
3. Current and past injuries/orthotics etc
4. Your strongest and weakest legs of the race
5. How you feel during the bike leg and how you feel running off the bike
6. The bike and setup you currently use

 
You should also have a chat about your current bike if you intend to keep riding it long term or the best fit options if you are planning on a completely new bike (this is a whole topic in itself).  At the end of this conversation you and your fitter should be on the same page about what you both want to get out of the bike fit.
 
Third Step – Measure you and your bike
 
Your bike fitter will run a tape measure over your bike and you to determine if you and your bike are right for each other.  Your fitter will also get you to run through a few flexibility tests to determine how ‘aggressive’ or ‘relaxed’ to make the bike position.  You’ll get prodded and measured quite a bit during this process – try not to take it personally, just think about how your bike feels…  Once the measuring is done your fitter should already have a pretty good idea about the starting point for the fitting (estimate saddle height, stack/reach, bar drop etc).
 
Fourth Step – Bike fitting on the wind trainer
 
Most bike fits generally start on a stationary trainer because this allows the fitter to make multiple changes quickly and see their effects.  Every bike fitter has a different way they like to conduct the fit but a good example would be as follows:
 

1. Start at the back and work forward
2. Ensure saddle is comfy, change if not
3. Determine best seat angle and height
4. Ensure correct cleat placement
5. Determine base bar height/reach
6. Determine pad position/height
7. Determine best hand position
8. Check body angles at each stage
9. Make multiple passes if different seat tube angles are to be tested
10. Final discussion prior to road testing

 
The above points are only an example but you can see why a few hours can easily go by while you and your fitter work through this type of list.
 
Fifth Step – the real world
 
You can only learn so much on a wind trainer.  Towards the end of the fit session you should hit the road for an initial test ride to see how things are going.  A test ride might end in a big smile and you feeling a lot better or it might result in you going back inside for more work.  It’s almost impossible to get the fit perfect on the first pass.  What you’re looking for is improvements over your previous position.  Once you and your fitter are happy that your new position represents a marked improvement then you need to train and race in the new position to prove the gains.  You should expect to speak to your fitter over the next few weeks/months and provide them with information about what is working well and what is not so good.  It’s not unusual to make a series of small tweaks even to a successful position to see if you can improve just a bit more.
 
So to summarise all that bike fit stuff…
 
 

1. Find a triathlon specific fitter that gets triathletes
2. Find a fitter you can communicate with
3. Spend the time to get things right (don’t rush a bike fit!)
4. Give your fitter some feedback and be prepared for some fine tuning

 
Some helpful bike fit hints:
 
If your saddle is uncomfortable, then, IT’S UNCOMFORTABLE!!  It will not magically ‘get better’.  You will not ‘toughen up down there’.  You can’t have a good race if your saddle hurts – change it.  The best way to find a good saddle is to find a bike shop that has a saddle test program and test them.  There is no other way to ensure your seat will be comfy.  Do not tolerate a saddle that hurts you – its not supposed to hurt!
 
If you race in tri shorts then bring them to the bike fit and leave the super thick road shorts at home
 
If your bike fitter is telling you that your frame/aerobars/saddle etc is not working well for you - please listen.  By all means ask them to explain their reasoning but please hear them out.  You bike fitter is not trying to just sell you stuff as not all components work for all people.  Many of the ‘tri’ components on the market were designed for time trial (not tri) so sometimes we need to change stuff so you can have a great race.
 
And lastly… Bike fitters are generally a bit eccentric, please don’t be offended by us, its just how we deal with stuff.  Have a great race!
 
 
About the author:
Simone Jones owns and operates a small triathlon dedicated bike workshop and fit studio in Melbourne called Cyclespeed.  When she’s not working in the shop or running around after her two dogs, two cats and two men-children, Simone manages to sneak in the odd ironman between coffees and bike crashes.