If you ride a bicycle for long distances, as I have been wont to do lately, you want to feel comfortable on the bike and ride with a posture that doesn't lead to injury. If something is so obviously uncomfortable that you notice it right away then of course you correct it or at least try something else, but it's the subtle poor riding posture that can insidiously lead to long-term injury.

I often get numbness in my fingers after a long ride, and my own brother had to give up cycling after a long ride left him with chronic pain. As I move toward more serious cycling and a more serious bike (and further into an age where injuries take a long time to heal if they heal at all), I thought I'd take the precaution to do things right by having a session at Vincent Flanagan's PedalForth Fitting.

Vincent is a former professional cyclist with an impressive resume... Australian National Mountain Bike Champion (1991), and two-time All-Japan National Mountain Bike Champion (1996, 1997). His non-cycling background is nursing and sports massage.

I thought I'd learn what size bike was appropriate for me, and perhaps how to adjust the seat and handlebar locations to best suit me, but I was surprised to learn so much more.

But first, let's look at some of what a “bike fitting” entails. German friend and ultra-marathon runner Thomas Busch, who cycles just to augment his run training, did a fitting just before me, graciously allowing me to watch and photograph.

I couldn't photograph (or remember) everything that went into it, but here are a few of the high points...

First there's an interview where Vincent asks about your cycling history, equipment, goals, desires, relevant medical history, etc.

Then Vincent takes an inventory of your current bicycle setup...

The shape and construction of the bicycle frame apparently has a strong impact as to how it rides, but from a rider-posture point of view, only three things matter: the location of the pedals, seat, and handlebars. Those are the locations where the rider attaches to the bike, so nothing else really matters, from a posture point of view.

Everything is measured with respect to the crank axle at the bottom of the frame. From what I recall, for the seat the measurements include how far above and behind the crank axle, as well as its tilt and size and cushioning. For the handlebars, how far above and forward. For the pedals, how far from the axle and how they attach to the shoes. Of course, proper shoes and how they attach to the bike are also important.

Vincent takes an inventory of your current setup prior to making any adjustment.

After taking inventory of the current setup, Vincent takes inventory of some important body characteristics that influence what kind of riding posture is appropriate...

Finally it's time to measure posture on the bike...

In the end, an experience cyclist may end up finding out nothing more than “your current setup is good”, and if that's all you get for the $200 fee, it may at first seem steep, but I look at it in the same way as insurance: you do it because you don't know the result ahead of time. I spent $1,000 on travel health insurance for the family's RV trip across America earlier this year. We ended up not needing it, thankfully, but that doesn't meant it was a $1,000 waste.... it was a prudent hedge against uncertainty.

After Thomas' fitting, it was my turn. Thomas kindly took a few photos along the way...

I have very flat feet, with no arch in my foot whatsoever. When I did the single-foot squat test, most of my energy was not spent on lowering my body, but instead on trying to stabilize my body above my foot/ankle. A normal person with a normal arch wouldn't have to waste that energy. Vincent then placed a small folded towel under my arch to provide makeshift support, and the single-foot squat was suddenly much easier.

This revelation was shocking to me, as I never gave a thought to the mechanical problems caused by flat feet. Until now, I thought it merely impacted shoe-fit comfort.

I'd done that single-foot squat test a week prior when I'd stopped by to make and appointment (and ended up chatting for an hour), so when I came today I brought a box of various arch-support insoles that I'd accumulated over the years. I didn't have any cycling shoes at the time, but Thomas lent me his for the fitting.

(As I write this, I'm visiting my folks in The States, and through the magic of Zappos.com I now have two pair of cycling shoes of my own. It seems that European sizing is used for cycling shoes regardless of where you are in the world; my pairs are size 48 from one company and 49 from another.)

The bike-fitting machine includes the ability to monitor the power output of your pedal stroke, and that data, along with much else, is displayed on the computer display...

The machine went up to 450 watts, which I could do easily for a short period. The pros can do that for long periods, which is why they're pros and I am not.

In the end I got lots of good tips about posture and shoes and riding styles, and detailed specific information about what size bike is appropriate for me. I'm in the process of ordering a “real” bicycle now, which hopefully will be waiting for me when I return to Kyoto. Then I'll go back to Vincent to put the fitting's results to practical use in final adjustments on the new bike.

( Update: I did get a new bike and did have Vincent set it up for me. )

Overall it was a great experience and I learned a lot; if you are near Kyoto and ride often, I highly recommend it. His web site is currently in Japanese only, but of course he can conduct the fitting in English as well.