Bike Fitting at BCSM

Category: Gear, Off The Bike | 2 comments

Chris Matthews from Specialized came out to Boulder this past week to attend a Bikes Belong meeting that was happening here at the St. Julien hotel. He also decided to take the opportunity to head up to the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine with me to  get a fit on his road bike, while I got fit on my new Stumpjumper. For those of you how aren’t familiar with BCSM, it is one of the world’s leading facilities for athletes from around the world in the areas of biomechanics, nutrition, recovery, physical therapy, and a host of other related services. The center is led by Andy Pruitt, Ed.d, PA, who has been instrumental in developing the BG Fit System used by Specialized dealers around the globe. He has worked with many ProTour teams, including the entire Saxo Bank team, fitting the likes of Fabian Cancellara and the Schleck brothers. Sean Madsen is the lead biomechanist at BSCM and he did Chris’ fit as well as mine.

I’ve had some knee issues over the course of the last year and have been to see both Andy and Sean; in fact I wrote a continuing column about my experiences at BCSM, which you can find here: http://velonews.com/article/85817

There are several different types of fits available at BCSM, however, the 3D fit process is the most comprehensive that you will find anywhere. There are six infra-red cameras surrounding you as you sit on your bike, in addition to a video camera that captures the entire process from the side view. You are fitted with “anatomical landmarks,” which are little globe-looking dots, strategically placed at critical points on your body to track your movements on all planes. As you pedal, the cameras capture the data which is then fed into the computer system. Then you can see an animated version of “you.” You can then watch your knees, feet, and hips as they go through the entire pedaling process–for better or worse.

Since I’ve done extensive 3D fits on my other bikes, a 3D fit wasn’t necessary for me at this point, but we did set up the suspension for my weight and riding style as well as adjust the saddle height and the width of the shifters and brake levers.

The end result was the saddle was raised a few millimeters, and the shifters and brake levers were brought in a few millimeters and the suspension was set at 190psi for the rear shock and 80psi for the fork. I’m heading out today to try it out for the first time since the fit. I’ll report back later.