Friday, August 1, 2008

Cycling Log: Bike Fitting

The saga continues...

I had my bike fitting last night up at Bike World. And now I understand why people say it's a skill that requires experience on the part of the fitter.

First, there's the fit bike. Bike World has a rig from Waterford Cycles that has a series of pegs alongside the head and seat tubes which measure the angle of each. So if you want to find out what a 73-degree angle feels like, you unscrew the peg, tap/bang the tube int place alongside the 73-degree setting, and screw the peg back into place. Which is not the most glamorous thing in the world to do, I might add. Next, you set the head tube angle, and then the rig lets you slide it forward or backward to adjust the top tube length.

Lost you yet?

Yes, it's about as tedious as it sounds. And I also had to violate myself with a wooden peg to let Steve get a measurement of my inseam, and we had to get creative on how to measure the length of my spinal column from a sitting position, but in the end, I had the relevant measurements for Moots.

Now it's a waiting game to see what they come up with for a design, as well as a price tag. Honestly, the more I think about it, the more I wonder if it wouldn't just be easier and cheaper to go for a Cervelo RS, which is the best road-comfort bike in the world. But we'll see what Moots says first.

Spin easy, friends.

4 comments:

Grootveld said...

Easy? Cheap? Thou shalt not utter these words, nor shall they enter into consideration when thou dost consider thy new road bike.

I really hope Style Man doesn't read your blog... he'd have a thing or two to say about that, as well as your whining about getting measured. Bicycle perfection does not come cheap or easy (I happen to believe it doesn't come in 700X23 either). You're walking on thin ice, Paul. I thought you were a real bike geek, but maybe I was wrong...

:P

Cycle Ninja said...

Easy and cheap describes my taste in women, why not bikes? So there.

:P

Grootveld said...

Haha, fair enough... just keep in mind that although the RS is designed by those hosers Vroomen and White, it's built by 12 year olds in Taiwan... the Moots is made with 94.5 parts titanium, 3 parts aluminum, 2.5 parts vanadium, and 67 parts love. It will still be a work of art, a thing of beauty, a tribute to the craftsmanship of a bygone era, when the RS will be a cute reminder of how far we've come technology-wise. Gotta reduce that carbon footprint, man! Good luck with the decision, and seriously... enjoy the heck out of whatever you choose. Both are way better bikes than you or I will ever be riders.

Cycle Ninja said...

"Both are way better bikes than you or I will ever be riders."

Speak for yourself. But you got the pretty girl...you win.

And I think the Trek's getting jealous. Read my next post for details.

Scratch Peyton's ears for me.