Hi! Hoping to get some good “bang for your buck” recommendations for parts for my bike after my bike fit yesterday. I ride a Cervela Caledonia 2021 with 11 speed mechanical 105. The bike fitter made big position changes: raised saddle up about 1 cm, back a few mm and said I need a 143 mm width saddle as my sit bones are 120 apart; removed 1.5 spacers, said I need to decrease to at most a 38 cm wide handlebar; also recommended I go from the stock 90 mm stem to 110 mm stem with a -10 angle (I think that’s the angle he said at least).
Hoping to get recommendations for good bang for your buck saddle, stem, and handlebars. I’m not a weight weenie and I don’t race, so I don’t care about having the lightest and/or most aerodynamic parts. I’m also open to exploring some Ali Express cheaper 3d printed options, but likely better and easier to get something through the local bike shop or ordering from a Canadian retailer online (I’m in Canada).
Just kicking this thread into gear, but I could be wrong; at the bike fit that you did, did the fitter NOT let you try the recommended changes during the session?
As in, say stem for example, did the fitter not swap stems to the required length, for you to try, to confirm that those changes would work for you?
The reason being that all these components may still present subtle differences that you may/may not like/get accustomed to, and it would be wise to try first, before you run off shopping for items that may ultimately not suit you well.
An example of this would be the handlebar, where some brands measure centre to centre at the drops, while others measure this at the hoods. Others may very well measure from the outer edges, etc.
He used an adjustable mock stem and took a single 38 cm handlebar for me to try. We tried it at 120, 110, and 100 reach. It was not the best bike fit experience to be honest. He refused to let me try the handlebars with the shifters pointed inwards despite me asking about this as I felt my hands were a bit extended still with the 38 cm bar and the position of the shifters. I will not be going back to this fitter in the future. Wish I could go back in time and save myself $400, but what’s done is done and I do t have another $400 to pay another fitter in Toronto. Now it’s about trying to source parts to meet the recommended sizes and adjust in the future as needed.
I’m sure others more experienced in bike fitting would chime in soon enough, but I get you. With all bike fits, there is sometimes a period of acclimatisation, as the body adjusts to the new normal, but you’d want to (as closely as possible) watch out for aches, sores, etc in areas like your lower back, upper legs, arms, etc.
If you were referring to the width of your forearms/hands when they’re on the hoods, then maybe rotating the shifters inwards might help, but then again, as with all bike fits imo, it really depends on the individual. It works for some, and not others.
In your case though, I’d try asking around friends and family, or anyone you know that rides, really, to see if they had 38cm bars, and stems in the required length, you could try for a long-ish period, so you’d know. It’s not going to be a 1 or 2 ride thing, that’s for sure.
By extended I mean my wrists were dorsiflexed when on the hoods of the 38 cm bar with the shifters in a “neutral” position in line with the bar. I wanted the shifters turned in a bit so that my wrists would not be dorsiflexed, but the fitter kept saying that’s just for “aero gains and reduces bike handling safety” so he wouldn’t move the shifters like that.
He didn’t have a variety of handlebars or seats or anything for me to try. The more I think about it the more I’m dissatisfied with the experience. We barely have any bike fitters in the city (Toronto) though, and this place had a good reputation from my searching, so I gave it a shot.
Bike fitting experiences can be a minefield, unfortunately, and sorry to hear that yours wasn’t great. For future reference, if it helps, I tend to look at the background of the fitter who would be fitting me, so not the “pedigree” or reputation of the company providing the service, but the actual person him/herself. Bonus points if they’re an experienced physio that rides road bikes regularly, and for extended periods of time. At least they’ll be able to explain to me what a dorsiflexed hand is (had to look that up ).
If you’re finding your hands in that position to be uncomfortable, what’s keeping you from adjusting the shifters yourself? I’d imagine dropping it (as opposed to turning them inwards) by an mm or 2 would be fairly straightforward. There’s usually a bolt hidden by the hoods that you’ll need to get at, for the adjustment.
When tightening, if you’re on Shimanos, they do recommend around 5Nm of torque as a maximum. Do also check what the torque limits are, for your handlebar, and use the lowest of the 2 as the threshold.
What reach were the 38 bars that you tried? Get something different and you’ll need a different length stem.
The fitter just saying you need a 143 saddle is poor? What shape saddle? The shape will have at least as much impact as the width.
How did they measure your sit bones? The position on the bike affects how your pelvis interacts with the saddle, which given the shape of the pelvis affects the width at the point of interaction.
They should have swapped out saddles for you to try, and bonus points for pressure mapping each saddle too to provide some data to backup you feedback.
I strongly suggest you go down the YouTube rabbit hole with BikeFitJames from UK and RCA (Neil Stanbury, i think) from AUS to learn more.
Hi, eBay used stems and bars would be a good place to start, especially since 110mm stems are stock on a lot of bikes. Cervelo stems are not good value for money in my opinion .
).