Bike Fitting!

On Monday, I FINALLY got a bike fit for my “new” bike (which I’ve now had for nearly 1.5 years, but because of a big injury last spring, I’ve never raced on her). I headed out to Gear West Bike and Tri, and I Instagrammed this Monday evening:

Caption: Big thanks to Trent at @gearwestbike for fitting me on Eiffel today.
(And to @jared_voorhees for helping with some wheel issues.)
Lots of "minor" adjustments seemed to make a big difference. Thanks guys!

Here’s what (I remember) was done to Eiffel:

COCKPIT:
- Spacers under aerobar pads to move them up
- Aerobar pads moved outwards *
- Aerobar pads angled inwards
- Shorter stem
- 1 spacer taken off top of headset to lower everything down
- Entire cockpit angled downward a bit **

SEAT:
- Seatpost moved up
- Old seat installed (it’s a bit longer)
- Seat slid forward
- Seat tipped down a bit ***

RANDOM:
- Left foot cleat moved inward to get foot outward to stay more over knee

Basically, I was a little “stretched out” on Eiffel before, which I was aware of. Most of the adjustments were in the name of “tightening” it all up a bit, and getting my legs more under my hips so I can produce more power. (That’s my understanding of the situation at least.) We'll see how it feels!

* My aerobar forearm pads used to be quite close together. It was the SLIGHTEST bit uncomfortable, but I never brought that up to Trent. He moved them out because they were actually causing my shoulder blades to pop up. So by widening them, I maybe became a LITTLE less aerodynamic, but I maybe gained some of it back because my shoulders flattened out more. And it’s more comfortable now. Nice.

** I might be tweaking the angle of the entire cockpit after another ride or 2, but I think that’s pretty set.

*** Tipping the seat farther downward is one of the last adjustments I may be making on my own in the name of comfort. We’ll see if I think that’s necessary or not.