Professional Bike Fitting in Calgary
We have started offering professional bike fitting in Calgary at our Coach Hill clinic. Getting your bike properly adjusted to best suit your body can improve your comfort, performance, and overall enjoyment while riding your bike. Road racing bikes, mountain bikes, and even pathway cruisers can be adjusted to best fit their rider.
What Happens During a Bike Fit?
During a bike fitting appointment, the rider will first complete a mobility and strength assessment as well as an interview to determine how their body moves and their goals for the appointment.
Next, their on-bike position will be analyzed to determine what changes need to be made. The Bike Fitter will then use a variety of state-of-the-art tools and techniques to adjust the bike (and suggest changes of parts if needed), make changes to foot position in shoes using insoles and/or wedges, and develop an exercise program to address imbalances, immobility, and strength limitations that may be impacting the rider's on-bike experience.
Our experienced bike fitter, Colin Hillson, uses a biomechanical approach to ensure that bikes are not only adjusted to the unique build of every rider, but that the rider is given homecare exercises to help their bodies stay injury free for the riding season. This evidence-based technique helps tailor the rider's bike to them, but also properly trains their body for the bike.
What Issues Can
Bike Fitting Address?
Saddle Pain
Saddle pain is often caused by an improperly fitting or positioned saddle in relation to pelvic bones, but can also be caused by the way the body sits on the bike, or pelvic floor instability.
Hand & Finger Numbness/Pain
Hand and finger numbness/pain is a common complaint for riders who spend long periods on their bike. This is often caused by the way the rider is positioned on the bike putting excessive pressure on their hands. Additionally, the grips and handlebars are rarely positioned to line up with your unique arm, wrist, and hand structure when the bike is first purchased, which can put pressure on nerves in the hand, causing pain and numbness.
Foot & Toe Numbness/Pain
Foot and toe numbness can occur due to improper shoe fit and insole support, as well as the way a rider’s foot is positioned on the pedals of the bike. Often riders will experience a burning sensation (also known as hotspots), and certain toes will lose feeling or develop “pins and needles”. Like hand and finger numbness/pain, this may also be due to excessive pressure being placed on the feet from improper positioning or support on the saddle.
Knee Pain
Knee pain is common for cyclists due to the repetitive nature of pedalling. Often this occurs when a rider’s bike is forcing the knee into positions or movements that the knee does not have the mobility to deal with, or repeatedly causing an unnatural movement through the knee.
Neck and Back Pain
Neck and back pain while biking is often influenced by the position the rider is asked to hold on their bike, as well as immobility in other areas such as the hips causing compensatory movements from the neck and back to hold the riding position. If a rider is placed into a position that needs their neck and back muscles to hold themselves up, rather than being able to use on the deep spinal muscles in a more neutral back position, the neck and back muscles can become fatigued and painful.
Performance Considerations
Bike fit and positioning are paramount to producing optimal performances on the bike. An optimal position will give the rider the greatest biomechanical advantage for both power and endurance over a ride, as well as reduce the rider’s pain on the bike. If a rider is in pain, they will not be able to perform their best. Additionally, aerodynamic drag accounts for 90% of the total resistance while cycling on flat terrain above 40km/h, and improving a rider’s position to reduce drag can significantly reduce the energy needed to maintain high speeds.
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Our Bike Fitting Expert
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FAQs on Bike Fitting
Not at all. Everyone from professional racers to the most recreational rider should have a properly fitting bike. Every bike fit is tailored to the type of riding you are doing, regardless if it is once a month or every day.
The initial bike fit session is a 90-minute appointment where the rider will complete a mobility and strength assessment as well as an interview to determine how their body moves and their goals for the appointment. Next, their on-bike position will be analyzed to determine what changes need to be made to both the bike and the rider’s body. Once those changes are made, and the rider has had the chance to have a few rides on the bike, a follow-up appointment may be booked if further work needs to be done. Follow-up appointments are generally 30 minutes long.
A bike fit can be done on any bike, from this year’s state-of-the-art rocket ship road bike to the 30-year-old cruiser you pulled out of the shed. Our bike fitter has access to parts and techniques that will work for most bikes from the last 60 years of bike production.
The cost of an initial bike fit appointment is $150 for the 90 minute appointment, and then follow up appointments cost $50 for 30 minutes.