At the start of the season or the end of the season? Or in the middle of the season?
Before a big event or after a big event?
Before buying a new bike or when you get one?
If you are uncomfortable on your bike I’d say that the answer is probably now, or at least sooner rather than later. Whatever form of discomfort you have.
I would say that though, wouldn’t I? I’m a bike fitter!
But then I do have a certain amount of experience in this area. And experience says that discomfort is almost definitely unnecessary. It’s a fallacy that a few aches and pains or a bit of saddle discomfort are part and parcel of regular1 cycling.
It’s possible, but not inevitable, that it’ll take a while to adapt to a new setup, but surely a short period of adaptation is better than being uncomfortable indefinitely. A good setup loads the muscles that can take it and adapt easily (the glutes and quads) and minimises the load on everything else – joints, pressure points and all of your other muscles.
If you’re looking for power or aero gains, and you are already comfortable, you should do your tweaking well before any important events. Giving up comfort usually means that you are increasing tension or pressure and this can be a big price to pay. That sort of adaptation, if it happens at all, takes much longer.
If you are planning to buy a new bike it definitely makes sense to have a fitting beforehand. Bike fitting as a ‘thing’, a stand-alone service, only really came into being with the advent moulded carbon fibre frames. Before then frames were constructed from metal tubes and it was frame builders who provided a ‘fitting service’. And they did it before they designed and built their customers’ frames.
Most people don’t need true custom geometry to get their ideal set up, but off-the-peg bikes come in a range of shapes (geometries) not just a range of sizes, and so do we. A pre-purchase bike fitting means that you know what geometry you should look for, and equally importantly, which geometries you should avoid. Once I’ve done fittings for people I’m happy to help them find bikes with suitable geometries. It can save a lot of pain and anguish.
Of course if you have already bought a new bike and it isn’t as comfortable and relaxing to ride as you were anticipating, it’s not too late to go for a bike fit. At the end of the day, that’s still what most people who come for bike fittings do.
- Irregular cycling on the other hand, like like doing anything physical that you don’t regularly do, is likely to lead to a few aches and pains. ↩︎