Elite Bicycles: 7 Hour Fit to Individual Perfection

At 4:45 PM, I was more than four hours into my bike fit at Elite Bicycles in Philadelphia on Friday afternoon and I had not even climbed on my bike yet. I was what Elite Bicycles Founder and Fitter David Greenfield called an “advanced fit.”

I’ve raced well as a triathlete on my current bike and my current bike fit. I set an 8:51 PR at the Quelle Challenge 2007 with a 4:45 bike split over the 112-mile bike course. I’ve had three different bike fits done on this bike in the past and felt “fairly well” dialed in.

Why get a bike fit?

I always thought in the back of my mind that I could go a little faster and ride more comfortably. In addition, I’ve suffered from some hip and hamstring issues that began with the Ocala Marathon last February and have continued to plague me all year. Most importantly, my fit just didn’t feel 100% right. I wanted that 100%.

Why drive to Philadelphia for a bike fit at Elite Bicycles?

The answer: David Greenfield and his staff.

Over a total of seven hours, David, Richie and Max walked and talked me through an educational and informative journey to fit my bicycle to the unique me. In David’s words that I’m paraphrasing, “We determine the best position for your body then build the bicycle up underneath you.

Former pro triathlete and Elite Bicycles founder David Greenfield examined me from toe to head. What injuries have I had? How did I typically walk? What is my body position like? Do my shoulders roll forward? How is my hip and hamstring flexibility? Do I have a leg length discrepancy? Etc. I was impressed with David’s knowledge level and ability to illustrate examples in a way that I could both see and understand. Perhaps more importantly, David showed me a regimen of strengthening and stretching exercises that I can do to help “strength, strengthen, and create a strong sense of balance for the body and mind.”

When I finally climbed on my bike, a QR Lucero, at close to 5 PM on a Friday night, David, Max and Richie all watched me ride. How did I sit on my bike? Was I supporting myself in the aero position by my skeletal system or by muscles? Did my knees cant in or out? Did my feet rotate in or out? I pedaled and they observed. They conversed then made a small change. I pedaled again. The process repeated for more than 2 hours as they made incremental changes to move me to the ideal position within safe parameters.

What I learned about me:

• I tend to favor one hip, which has caused me to shift my position on my saddle to the right side.
• David put me on a narrower saddle to accommodate my narrow sit bones.
• My knees cant in against the top bar so David added shims inside my cleats as well as arch support.
• To address “hot foot” David switched me from Speedplay Zero’s to the wider platform of Shimano SPD-SL cleats.
• My aerobars were set too narrow and too far forward which hinders my ability to expand my chest for breathing and forces me to support my upper body with my muscles rather than my skeletal system.

It took Max, one of the Elite mechanics, half an hour to remove my old cleats. I should have put the “anti-seize” on my screws. You can see the sparks in this photo as he grinds them off the screws.

While I was working with David, Richie worked on my bike. “Any issues?” he asked me. “It creaks when I generate a lot of power?” “Ok, let me see what I can do.” He overhauled my bike completely, taking everything apart, cleaning it then putting it back together. He then walked me through the best way to set the shifting. My bike now shifts like a dream.

When it was all said and done, my fit took 7 hours. Because I was an advanced fit, I took longer than most, but David said that anyone who comes into the shop for a fit can expect the same service and attention to detail. “Each fit takes as long as each person needs,” said David.

What’s next for me?

I am still a work in progress as my body will need time to adjust to the changes in my bike positioning. I am not yet in an ideal position, but rather in an incremental position within safe parameters that will allow me to eventually transition to an ideal position.

I will be back in a month or so to pick up my new Elite bike – built to my uniqueness and optimized for comfort, control and power output – check my fit and allow David and his Elite team to make more incremental changes that will enable me to generate more sustainable power and ultimately ride and run faster in my Ironman races.

Be sure to check out Elite Bicycles on the Web or visit them in Philadelphia. They will do bike fits on non-Elite bicycles, too.

Live life richly and boldly!

David

—-

David B. Glover
Writer, Athlete, Coach and Race Director
Author of Full Time and Sub-Nine
Personal Web: www.davidglover.net
Business Web: www.enduranceworks.net

© 2009 David B. Glover

4 Responses to “Elite Bicycles: 7 Hour Fit to Individual Perfection”

1. The Beyer Project: Bill’s Quest for Kona » Blog Archive » Establishing a Baseline: Bike Fit and VO2 Max Test says:

   January 25, 2009 at 6:46 pm

   [...] The purpose of Bill’s bike fit was to set him up for ultimate comfort and speed. Like my bike fit with with Elite Bicycles a little over a week ago, Bill’s Elite fit also took about 7 hours from start to finish, although Elite did fit him for both a new road bike and tri bike. The beginning of the training season in January is an excellent time to do a bike fit because training volume is low and there is ample time for the body to adapt to the new position. For an idea of the comprehensive process Bill went through, you can read about my similar fit on my blog. [...]
2. bradydehoust says:

   February 17, 2009 at 9:45 am

   Getting a proper bike fit is something I’ve wanted to do for 2 years. Glover recommended I schedule a fit with Dave Greenfield at Elite Bicycles. The appeal to make the trip to Philly to visit Elite was two-fold: (1) David had been through the process himself and spoke highly of the Elite crew and their attention to 110% quality, and (2) just visit the slowtwitch.com forum and search on “Elite Bikes” or “Greenfield” and see if you can find one negative comment. However, this appointment would require a full day off of work, and 5.5 hours of driving; a long day to say the least. Was it worth it?

   It was well worth it. Like David, my fit lasted close to 7 hours. It began with a lot of testing: strength, balance, flexibility, improper alignment. I finally climbed on my completely overhauled bike (thanks to Richie) and began the adjustment process. It started with the feet, making subtle changes to my cleat position, adding inserts to my cycling shoes along with shimmies near the toe box. After dialing in the saddle position, and leg angles relative to the bottom bracket, we finally moved to the front-end where Dave G. and Richie “crafted” a make shift riser kit for my aerobar pads. The experience was fun, educational, and worth every dollar.

   –
   Brady D.
3. David says:

   April 16, 2009 at 4:54 pm

   One of my Ironman-distance clients went to see Elite on Monday. This is what he day to say:

   “Thanks for recommending Elite. I arrived at 1:45 and left at 8:15. Elite fitted both bikes for me and according to David, they really needed it. I had just had both bikes fit but he saw major errors.”

   I continue to be impressed by the amount of time Dave Greenfield and staff spend with every client.

   Cheers,
   David
4. Transitioning Between Triathlon Seasons: Three Purposes | The Blog of David Glover says:

   October 1, 2009 at 10:26 am

   [...] Getting a proper bike fit (see my write up about my bike fit at Elite Bicycles for an example), incorporating single leg and high speed spinning drills into your workouts, [...]