DR ANDY PRUITT

WHO IS DR ANDY PRUITT?

Dr Andy Pruitt is the founder of the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine and the godfather of modern bike fitting. He developed the Specialized BG (Body Geometry) Fit system that is now used in thousands of bike shops worldwide, and has worked with US Olympic cyclists, professional teams, and World Tour riders for over four decades. His work matters because he turned bike fit from a craft into a measurable, repeatable, evidence-based discipline. For amateurs dealing with knee pain, lower back issues, or numb hands, his frameworks for fit-by-injury are the most thorough in the field.

KEY IDEAS

The major positions Pruitt is known for in cycling and endurance sport.

• →Bike fit is biomechanics, not aesthetics — the goal is to put the rider in the position that protects their joints over thousands of hours.
• →Knee pain on the bike is almost always a saddle height or cleat alignment issue, not a training issue.
• →Saddle height is set off the hip-knee-ankle relationship, not from a generic formula based on inseam.
• →Lower-back pain is usually a core/hamstring strength deficit being unmasked by the bike position — fit is part of the answer, not all of it.
• →Aero positioning for amateurs has to be earned through flexibility and core work — the position the pros hold takes years to build.