Evolution of my Bike Fit-Part 1

I thought it would be interesting to talk about the evolution of my bike fit as I start tinkering with my fit, as I usually do early in the season. It is a lengthy conversation and I will break it into 2 parts. The second will include some of my current thoughts on bike fit. Enjoy!
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My first bike purchase was one that I bought one night while on call during my fellowship. I was waiting for a patient to be brought to the OR from the ER and was leafing through a cycling catalogue and came upon closeout deal on a Fuji Aloha. I was prompted to close the deal quickly as some of the Vanderbilt residents were going to do a triathlon and I wanted to do it as well. I’d never owned a bike and certainly knew nothing about an appropriate bike fit.

Typical for most closeout deals, there were only a few sizes left. The online operator convinced me that I would be fine with one of the remaining frame sizes, so I went with it. Nine frames, 3 cycling shop fits, one custom 3D fit and 9 ironman later, my expectations from a bike has evolved and is quite different than where I started. My bike needs started with concerns about comfort, skipped to looking good, moved on to desire to go fast and has now returned full circle to comfort.

How I would define comfort has changed as well. My early rides were simply limited by perineal (crotch) comfort. I suspect my early discomfort was simply a process of learning to ride and finding a position that accommodated the particulars of my build and flexibility. These early fits however, were the result of my own fiddling and left a tremendous room for improvement. I went from a bike too large to one that was too small, before abandoning TT bikes for a road bike.

With help from Ken’s Bike Shop, I was finally able to ride comfortably. I was able to finally spend more time on my bike by 2002 and I actually logged some consistent miles for the first time riding consistently 3 times/week. When it became spring time and triathlon season, I slapped a pair of aerobars on the bike and rode on. This set up served me reasonably well and I finished my first IM in Brazil in the following year.

By this time, I began getting more serious about triathlon and wanted to look like on of the guys on the cool TT bikes. After a bit of research I decided to go visit David Greenfield at Elite Bicyles in Philadelphia. After receiving the best customer service during a bike fit I’ve ever experienced (and a day in the life with Richie and the gang is a story I will never forget), I decided to purchase a Razor. His attention to detail during my fit to accommodate my flexibility (or lack thereof), yet reach a reasonably aero position was greatly appreciated. Through a combination of increased training volume, improved comfort and aerodynamics, and inspiration from my cool new bike I was able to return to IM Brazil 2 years later in 2005 and improve my bike time nearly 20 minutes, gaining my first Kona slot along the way.