Fit Werx N Effex

Okay all you loyal readers (ha ha), I told you that I would follow up with the results of my fitting session and here they are.

It was a beautiful Boston afternoon (-9 degrees with windchill), and after removing the walrus skin parka I had worn for the bike ride to Enterprise Rent-A-Car and picking up my non-shiny, newish Chevy HHR, Laura and I were off to the bike fitting. The drive went quick, and before I knew it I was in Peabody - which is pronounced "pee-buddy" by the denizens of this fair city.

Upon arriving, a hot cocoa was placed in my hand and my bike was whisked away to the back room for measuring by Dean, part-owner and bike fitter at Fit Werx, while I changed into my kit. After my bike was finished being prodded (see monkey image below), it was my turn to be measured:


Despite my apparent structural deformity, Dean surprisingly found me to be acceptably symmetrical, meaning that my arms and legs are the same length (plus or minus 6"). Anyways, after being measured, it was time to be tortured - ahem- measured for flexibility. Dean here ascertained that I can, in fact, touch my toes, that my hamstrings are at least pliant enough to get into awkward positions like the one below, and other interesting anatomical facts.


Then, it was time for the part I had been looking forward to most: walking the runway. I was told to strut shoeless down this beautiful and regal red carpet once, and then to my immense satisfaction, again as an encore. My feet are flatter than Ashley Simpson's voice sans pitch correction software, and they pronate like something very, very pronated. The bunion doesn't make them any more lovable either, so it was a huge victory for them and their self-esteems that somebody actually wanted to watch them at work.


After the runway show was over, it was time to mount the sketchiest looking bike imaginable. The Serotta fit bike has no front wheel, and every tube and angle on the thing is completely adjustable. This being my first personal encounter with a Serotta, I was somewhat surprised by its non-race-readiness. Not only was it missing one half of the required wheels pursuant to USCF official rules, but the lack of a downtube, presence of only one single cog and a single large chainring, and lack of working brakes made this only a moderately acceptable bike to keep in one's "quiver" for race day. Here it is in all of its glory:


Nevertheless, it was set up to exactly match the measurements from my beloved Tarmac, and when I mounted up on this monstrosity it felt very familiar. After spinning for a little while, a video of my pedal stroke as shot from the side popped up on the screen in front of me.


Using a computer program called Dartfish - which, despite the common misunderstanding, is not an Amazonian vertibrate waiting to swim into unsuspecting orifices - Dean was able to determine the angles formed during my pedal stroke by my legs and upper body. Below is a before/after mashup. On the left, you can see my original position in which my leg is slightly overextended and, due to the bars being too low by a few mm, my upper body is stretched out too far as well. On the right you see the post-fitting position with some moderate changes in body angles. While these may not seem significantly different, my saddle moved forward by a few mm and my bars came up by a mm or two.


The most significant change was to my cleat position and the tracking of my knees. In order to measure this, Dean switched to a camera directly in front of the Serotta unicycle, and fitted my knees with some sensors for the camera to track. Below is another before/after mashup showing the results. On the left, note the red mess showing the path of my left knee. Because I apparently have a twisted pelvis (band name anyone?) on the left side, my leg length is effectively shorter on the left. This was somehow causing my left knee to track to the outside on the upstroke, which is inefficient and can lead to injury and other nasties. In response, Dean took a couple of plastic shims and fitted them under the cleat on my left shoe. He also fitted small varus wedges under both of my shoe insoles to give my mutant feet some more support. The result is on the right.


As you can see, the left knee is tracking significantly straighter. I haven't had too much of an opportunity to test out the new position yet. I did a few intervals on the trainer last night after the fitting, but today the roads look relatively crap-free so I think I'll head out for a spin. I'll let you (me) know how it goes, but overall I'm pretty excited with the whole thing.

Oh and also, this sight was waiting for us on the drive home:


Not bad at all.