Last week I packed up my new LOOK 595 into my car and headed down to Denver to meet Todd Carver at Retul for a bike fit. Last year I was riding a 585 but this year I have been given a beautiful 595 painted in red, white and blue. The only trick is that the geometry between the 2 bikes is different so I was feeling a little off, so to speak, on the new bike. And because I hadn’t had a proper bike fit in years, I figured it was about time to get myself fit right rather than try to made adjustments that weren’t best for me.
On April Fool’s Day I met Todd at his trendy Denver studio where we spent the first 20 minutes talking about all the connections that we have in common, from his PhD advisor to friends here in Ft Collins. Amazing what a small world this is. Once we got down to business it was, well, all business. Retul uses 3-D motion capture technology, an active system (compared to passive systems which use reflection to track markers) which uses LED’S placed on different points of the body to track a position quickly and accurately directly from the source. My bike was also mounted on a trainer that allowed Todd to manipulate the power output. As the power increased he was able to track changes in my position, such as knee extension and knee wobble. All this was going on while I was able to watch a stick figure version of myself pedaling away on the big screen. We made several different adjustments to my saddle, bars and cleats until we were both satisfied that we had dialed in the right fit.
In the end we made quite a few changes, changes that no doubt feel better and will help my performance. If you’re in the market for a bike fit, look on the Retul website to see if there are certified Retul fitters in your area. You won’t be disappointed. If you’re in Denver you know you’ve entered the right place when you see jerseys and pictures on the “wall of fame” from the likes of super stars like Alison Dunlap, Kelli Emmett, Chris Wherry, and George Hincapie.
