Friday, November 21, 2008

“We like to say that you can give a monkey a machine gun, but that doesn’t mean he’ll know how to use it.”


I found a reference to our local Central Wheel in an article about professional bike fitting in the New York Times today. Unfortunately the reference is not about the shops skill in high-level fitting abilities but rather cites the fact its owner sought a professional fitting before a multi-day trip to the French Alps.
I often suffer from numb toes, sore knees, and a stiff neck when I ride distances exceeding 50 miles and often fiddle with my bike's fit in order to alleviate these issues without dramatic success. I had hoped this article might offer some tips for a casual rider, but alas no. Fortunately I don't take my bike, or my riding of it too seriously. I guess if that was not the case I wouldn't be satisfied without anything less than a Pinarello and a full matching kit to boot.

I guess in this case I am the monkey and my bikes are machine guns.

So anyone got $400 so a poor grad student can get fit for a multi-day trip around the Farmington River valley?

6 comments:

Brendan said...

what happened to the first picture?

El Presidente de China said...

$400?!! I think you should just ride around with an allen wrench handy (and some extra spacers, if you have a threadless headset) and make minute adjustments until the ride feels perfect. Voila! Custom fitting, free of charge.

Brendan said...

the article didn't say, but maybe the $400 gets you a frame along with the fitting.

that seems like a good deal.

Karma said...

Didnt you read the article. It explicitly implied that monkeys with (allen) wrenches cant fit their own bikes, thus the metaphor. Ergo we must shell out $400 to get good fits. No amount of monkeying, spacers, or trail and error will do. So the argument goes.

If it included a properly sized frame, I'd be game.

Anonymous said...

$400? Where are you looking to get fit?

Pedal Power in Middletown is way cheaper than that - $200, I think.

Karma said...

Oh im not actually going to pay anyone anything. Pure sarcasm. The $400 was the price given in the article, I think even $200 is nuts. Perhaps not for a semi-pro or pro rider, but for myself indeed.