Communityinterview

THE CORRECT BIKE FIT SIMPLIFIED | DR PRUITT

with Dr Pruitt

33:32·21 September 2023

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DR PRUITT

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MOUNTAIN BIKING

Dr. Andrew Pruitt, the pioneer of modern bike fitting, breaks down how proper positioning isn't about copying the pros—it's about marrying the bike to your body. Learn why comfort and speed go hand in hand, how often you actually need a professional fit, and what the future of automated bike fitting might look like.

Key Takeaways

Bike fit is an ongoing process, not one-and-done: get a professional assessment once yearly, especially as your body changes with age and flexibility decreases
A thorough pre-fit physical exam (flexibility, foot mechanics, hip motion, spinal alignment) is what separates great fitters from average ones who only read screen numbers
Hand numbness in cycling typically comes from too much weight on the bars combined with poor core strength—raise your bars, strengthen your core, and upgrade bar material and padding
Comfort and speed are inseparable: an aerodynamic position you can't hold is worthless; test positions in the lab, physiology lab, track, then road before finalizing
Automated bike fit apps are coming but currently miss the front-view (Z-plane) data needed to assess knee alignment, hip rock, and foot dynamics—human interpretation remains crucial
Elite riders look beautiful on bikes because of genetic gifts and self-selection, not because that's the formula for others; make the bike fit the rider, not the rider fit the bike

Expert Quotes

"Comfort equals speed. You put somebody in an aerodynamic position but they can't hold it—well that doesn't work."

"Bike fit is not a one and done; it is an ongoing process. Once a year to have somebody look at you who has known you through this process is a superb idea."

"You have to marry the machine to the rider and not aspire to what felt good to the elite guy."

KEY QUOTES

“bike fit is not a one and done it is not um so how often do you think uh right or over the age Authority should be getting bike fit non-professional oh I think a once a year look is like and you should go back if you if you have faith in the guy that you the guy gal you know generic guy um that who fits you um they should be keeping really good records of what your flexibility was what how things feet flatten as we age so your need for more arch support more forefoot varus canting is probably going to go up as you age so once a year to have somebody look at you who has known you through this process is a is a superb idea”
Dr Andrew Pruitt — Pioneer of bike fitting, developer of the Body Geometry fit system

“I would suspect that that you've got too much weight on your hands that's number one so the bars probably ought to come up so how do you how do you determine bar height so that there's this Sweet Spot between being too far forward flexed and being too upright if you're too upright there's too much weight on your on your saddle if you're too far forward flex there's too much weight on your hands there is this sweet spot in the middle say let's call it 45 degrees of torso angle where you're splitting you're Distributing the weight saddle feet hands and your core is responsible for you to maintain that balance and keep the pressure off your hands”
Dr Andrew Pruitt — Pioneer of bike fitting, developer of the Body Geometry fit system

“comfort and speed go hand in hand”
Dr Andrew Pruitt — Pioneer of bike fitting, developer of the Body Geometry fit system

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT2 SECTIONS

Intro to Dr Andrew Pruitt

Bike fit is not a one and done it is not so how often do you think uh reuter over the age Authority should be getting bike fit non-professional it is a an ongoing process and body's age once a year to have somebody look at you who has known you through this process is a superb idea absolutely I would suspect that you've got too much weight on your hands that's number one so the bars probably ought to come up I'm saying I could point being is that comfort and speed go hand in hand he shows me his phone I'm going to show you the program I've developed he's got his iPhone automated bike but in my mind I'm going this guy scares me because he's gonna take my job right but it's so true so there are now several apps out there that you can do a home automated bike what you want your legacy to be I don't think that's for me to say foreign everybody and welcome back to the channel if you're new here my name is Anthony I'm a former lawyer turn cyclist turned podcast host who is based out of Ireland my goal with this YouTube channel is to introduce you the viewer to the people and ideas to help you optimize your health your happiness and your longevity you're gonna absolutely love today's podcast because I have an exceptional guest joining us Dr Andrew Pruitt who's the pioneer of bike fitting he was the very first guy to develop the systems techniques and strategies that we now rely on as athletes his early stories of bike fit and Connie Carpenter and having American football players hold her Aloft as she peddled backwards in the hunt for Olympic success are absolutely brilliant Dr Pruitt is a pioneer of the retail system worked heavily with specialized throughout his career I know you're gonna find this conversation super valuable before I get started I do have a small favor to ask you still around 90 of people watching this channel haven't subscribed if you could take a second and subscribe it means the world to me because the bigger the channel gets the bigger the guests will get that being said this is the roadman cycling podcast and now my dear friends it's Dr Andrew Pruitt Dr Andrew welcome to the robot cycling podcast thank you Anthony great to be here it's a privilege your work has influenced a whole generation of cyclists from the best world tour writers to Weekend Warriors narrowed it you're a little less busy than you have been in previous years how does it feel to reflect on the kind of impact that you've had in the sport well you don't always get credit for the things you've done when you're in the war when you're fighting the battle and it's been rewarding over the last few years in retirement to have people continue to look for me clinically or send me messages that that you you I mean I was undergravel ride the other day and some God wrote up to me said you don't remember me but you changed my life or you saved my life or um it just yeah I mean so I don't ever want to Pat my own back or blow my own horn but it's it's just been it's been a great ride you know it's and along the way I should have trademarked and I should have patented a few more things that um have been kind of stolen away but who cares it was a it was a great ride and we did change the life we did change the sport and um forever grateful that I had that opportunity yeah so if I was to hold the mirror up to myself my breadcrumb trail to how I've come to sit here it's law cycling entrepreneurship podcast if I was to trace that same breadcrumb Trail for you into the world of biomechanics and bike fitting what does that look like um I started out life as an athletic trainer so in um in Europe that's the Schwartz physio so I was I'm I was the guy that ran out on the football field when a player got injured right um it's been 11 years at the division one University of Colorado on the sidelines in the training room but I knew there was more to that and I really wanted to have contact with the athletic public and Boulder Colorado at the time was the hotbed of running and cycling was just beginning to Boom in the early 70s in in Boulder so it's the right place at the right time right and there was suddenly this need for post-collegiate athletes um to access the same kind of care they were once getting when they were at a college right so Frank short or two-time gold medal was in the marathon you know he was the real key that this guy needed help he was still running it it you know still winning world-class races and he needed help he he needed help so I I went to the university and said I think we should open the train and open the public I think we should accept Insurance blah blah blah and they said no we don't want any public people in our in our Sports Medicine facility so um I had actually started doing some bike fits in the back room with the training room Connie Carpenter and Davis Finney I don't know if that's before your time but no I know what I'm born into generation of Taylor but like yeah once I took in from Taylor and traced it backwards incredible athletes so so Connie Carpenter was the first medical bike fit I ever did and um she had knee pain and I brought her in the training room with her bike there was no trainers no no turbo trainers no wind trainers in those days so I had one of the football players hold her seat like a time trial start and she cut back and she pedaled backwards because that's what you had to do and that was my first medical bike fit and and we did we started working on uh saddle height and saddle position um it was had more to do with cleats in those days because we nailed the cleats on the bottom of wooden shoes right wooden Soul shoes oh my God you you never you're too young so anyway the shoes had wooden soles and we actually nailed the cleats on the bottom just a slotted cleat for a cool pedal and had more to do with her need for some float right so we were looking for ways to give her float in that slotted cleat and that just spurred me that there's this whole world out there that is mired in this antique process of how people sit on bikes so I got a hold of one of um the Italian national team's Bibles and it had it's very interesting I still have it today I had an English version of it and it was published in 1972 and had all the ways that that you sit on a bike and for the national team in Italy and it made a lot of assumptions one that you were a male two that you were world class and you know it it had a whole chapter on all the injuries that occur in cycling with absolutely no solutions to them so I set out to answer to solve those issues right um so I started doing medical bike fits um and I was using joint angles as my um is my landmarks not segment links as all the fit formulas at the time were based on how tall you were how long your femurs were how long your tibias were how long your torso was and those those measurements took nothing into account about how this person worked those those segments right so um Along came a Israeli biomechanism I'd moved away from the University I was in private practice scene just non-surgical Orthopedic patients at a orthopedic practice in Denver also working at the Olympic Training Center at the same time um dealing mostly with cycling but not not all um anyway this guy this Israeli biomechanist um idiot Gideon Ariel was his name called me and said I've got this motion capture machine I've developed um I'm studying throwing I'm studying running I hear you're the cycling dude if I set you up with all of the hardware think about this 1985 all the computer hardware took to do three 3d motion capture would you study cycling so I made an agreement with Gideon that I would I would study how much float we needed I would study knee pain and so we agreed that he would give me all the setup if I agreed to do the research into cycling biomechanics there you have it from there came retool came all the different motion captures uh Technologies the way all the things we learned about um the way the foot flattens the way the knee tracks the way the the hips integrate it all came from this gift from an Israeli guy that said if you if you'll study it I'll give you the the tools to study it and there you have it so that's fascinating so if you look at and you rewind the generation before that like I recently finished reading the road to Valor uh about Gino barthelei a brilliant book if anyone hasn't read it and if I look at the pictures from that area Kobe and Berkeley they look you know beautiful on the bike almost poetic this symbiotic relationship between man and machine but odor isn't a Peloton don't look as beautiful on the bike what was their process for bike fitting before this technology came in well most of the elite Riders of those Generations were self-selected they had appropriate flexibility they had long femoral levers they had so they they got to be who they were by a gift right by a god-given gift uh or whoever one don't want to get in to that side of things but they had a physiological um gift and that's why they got to be the top so the Italians then said wow that's what you must look like on a bike to be fast so they were trying to make other Riders look like Elite Riders you can't you have to make the bike look like you for it to be this symbiotic marriage between the bike and the man so some of them looked looked beautiful Lance never looked very beautiful on his bike big companies back couldn't get his back flat in the time trial that he had another gift that allowed him to overcome that right um so there you you have to be careful with trying to make wanting to look like somebody else who is successful uh you you've got to marry the machine to the rider and not aspire to that their processes or just that what felt good to the elite guy and then they tried to Shadow it from there so to an attempt to try and bring this complicated process back to something tangible for our audience can you distill some of the core principles of a good bike fit is it all science or is there an art to it as well oh absolutely there's an art to it um I've trained so through my relationship I specialize we developed two different fit systems one was the body geometry fit system that which then when the integrated 3d motion capture became retool um we trained over a thousand Fitters globally and of that thousand there's probably 15 that I would personally refer to right so there is definitely an art um just because you can put the sensors on and read the data on your screen and go ah your knee flexion a dead bottom center is 50 degrees it looks like your looks like your saddle's too low well maybe they're maybe they're plantar flexing their foot maybe they're pointing their toes so much that creates that high knee angle you have to be able to look at more than just the numbers on the screen um definitely an art to it um my advice to anybody listening who wants a bike fit or is who has some kind of suspicion that they're in need of a position on their bike that they don't currently have you need to seek out somebody who does a thorough physical evaluation and if we go back historically there were no there was no physical examination other than measuring segment links prior to bike fitting now you need you need an assessment of your foot mechanics your knee alignment your flexibility your hip motion your spinal motion your cervical motion you you so the thorough physical exam allows them to know what your limits might be on the bike as far as reach is concerned handlebar drop um saddle position all those things so it is it is the physical exam and how to interpret that exam's findings it's going to create the great fitter from the average fitter who's just reading numbers on a screen yeah I'm glad to hear you saying that because I have a force in both comps so to speak my background is very much in Academia but my riding education or as the French say the metier apprenticeship came through France which is anything both scientific at least at the time I was there so I had a little bit of a skepticism I noticed a local bike fitter here and he's a retail fitter and I've heard so many amazing things about retail but he's not a cyclist he's a tennis player and I was like this doesn't make sense to me and everybody was saying why would you not go to the local guy for a bike fit and it never made sense to me I always went back to my bike fitter when I was out in France because I I maybe stared too much into the traditional bike fit there yeah well I I think it's a marriage of both right um I mean my undergraduate degree is in anatomy master's degree in sports medicine um and it none of those prepared me neither of those prepared me uh fully to be a biomechanist I mean it's it's the body in motion so you have to um there's a lot of interpretation of the physical exam not to mention the the motion capture numbers you see on a screen there's this interpretation that blends them together and then writer feedback you know the old adage the customer is always right they are right they um and bike fit is not a one and done it is it is a uh an ongoing process um body's age um Juniors need need a bike assessment bike fit assessment every six months uh Masters wow in the peak of my work career my bike position went up my torso position went up I had you know so the the Ruby bicycle that from specialized right the the first endurance bike out there was partly if not mostly my idea um and I said I want more head tube height I want more I want a little suspension in the rear all and my position kind of went up because I was getting older and I was working a lot not stretching not lifting enough after retirement and I started getting fit again really concentrating my position today is the same as it was when I was 35.

Annual Bike Fits and Back Pain

You have this big bell-shaped curve and so bike fit is not a one and done it is not um so how often do you think uh right or over the age Authority should be getting bike fit non-professional oh I think a once a year look is like and you should go back if you if you have faith in the guy that you the guy gal you know generic guy um that who fits you um they should be keeping really good records of what your flexibility was what how things feet flatten as we age so your need for more arch support more forefoot varus canting is probably going to go up as you age so once a year to have somebody look at you who has known you through this process is a is a superb idea absolutely excuse the interruption I hope you're enjoying this conversation with these long-form chats they wouldn't be possible without the amazing sponsorship from our show sponsor wat bike if you're considering an indoor bike purchase it really is the perfect choice it has one percent power accuracy crisp gear changes and importantly for me it's super quiet in the apartment and in the studio what bike have kindly offered 10 of their Flagship atom bike for a Roman podcast listeners all you have to do is head over to whatbike.com and use the code roadman10 I check out to get 10 of the what bike back to the show one of the most common questions we get sent into the podcast for our q a episodes is uh reuter male or female complaining of back and or a neck pain what's the light because of that twofold one is lack of flexibility in those two body parts um so they're asking themselves to forward flex further than they can for an extended period of time and then cervically extend so if you're if you're reach is too long and too low you're going to cause your back to bend to get down there and then you're you look down the road you have to surgically extend um so it's typically too long and too low you know the the a lot of guys want to make sure their bike looks good leaning against the window at the coffee shop well um but it's true and they don't want to have a positive rice stem or they don't want to have Riser bars they don't want to have they'd be so much more comfortable and they'd actually be faster I mean Comfort equals speed um I just did a well another another podcast recently that the one before me were two guys that I trained talking about aerodynamic fitting and then I followed up the next week with a comfort uh podcast that you know to kind of play on the back of the aerodynamic fitting and the bottom line as I said you guys forgot to mention the word Comfort because if you put you put oh who's uh sepus is leading the the the the Volta right now also young station of mine several years ago if you ask if you look to his time trial position was she did I hope you're watching them I hope everybody's watching the Volta um yes time travel position was less than optimal because he's never had to ride a time trial and a stage race for the for the leaders jersey he's never had to so they they've never spent the time to optimize his his time trial position he was comfortable on his time trial bike but yet wrote the time trial of his life point being is that comfort and speed go hand in hand yeah this was my experience when I went to a wind tunnel before I went to the wind tunnel and time is money as you know when you're in the Wind Tunnel especially as you know a non-brand you're there as a customer and obvious there's a student athlete so I'd scrape together everything to get to the wind tunnel and to give you a position that you can hold in the wind tunnel for four or five minutes and now knowing what I know and having you know amazing people like Josh Portner on the podcasts from silke the wind tunnel should be followed up the second day with a track testing session so you come away from the wind tunnel with a range of positions and then go to the track to find a trade-off between comfort and speed I came out with just a fast position but when I brought that position back to the road like I couldn't hold it for more than five six minutes I was in agony well it's a three-step process I mean so s racing which is the racing division of specialized I helped start that um and Roman Court Ginger was our first uh our first guinea pig we we actually coached him we took care of all these positions blah blah blah and we started out just in the lab with three-dimensional or three uh 3d motion capture trying to optimize this position biomechanically we then went to the physiology lab measured his his physiology parameters in that position then we went to the track to see how long he could he could he sustain it for the four or five minute aspect of the track and then we went to the road um then we followed him in the car and stopped him every 15 minutes and took took blood work right so it but not everybody can afford to do that right I mean that so we were experimenting with Roman to be able to sell that to the other teams and then we start doing through the whole team so you're right it's it's the fit lab the physiology lab the velotrome the road and that position is going to migrate to the one that's actually usable when you pin on a number there's another common that I'd love to bounce off yet uh as I've transitioned out of a hardcore kind of a road racing career I've got more into bike packing ultra distance and one of the common problems in ultra distance seems to be no hands and I've spoken to you know Leo Wilcox Sophie and Shelley like some of the best in the world at it and they all just seem to say oh it's just kind of part of ultra but a friend of mine who I wrote Badlands with last year Aaron Kearney he's also coaches for the coaching company I have amazing writer and he's a bike shop mechanic and last year after Badlands I think he was two months where he didn't have full Sensations in his hands yep what's the likely cause of that several uh you got too much weight on your hands um and duration right so neuropathy or nerve inflammation is going to occur either from one big blow or low-grade trauma over a long period of time and so I would suspect that that you've got too much weight on your hands that's number one so the bars probably ought to come up so how do you how do you determine bar height so that there's this Sweet Spot between being too far forward flexed and being too upright if you're too upright there's too much weight on your on your saddle if you're too far forward flex there's too much weight on your hands there is this sweet spot in the middle say let's call it 45 degrees of torso angle where you're splitting you're Distributing the weight saddle feet hands and your core is responsible for you to maintain that balance and keep the pressure off your hands so core strength is crucial to hand numbness hand pressure to be able to extend the spine you know yeah core strength were cyclists man if you're going to take the second tidbit away from um Joe Friel last week it'd be core strength right never give up and core strength um so raising your handlebars strengthening your core um and then metal handlebars alloy handlebars just don't dissipate Road vibration like like carbon bars do um bar wrap what are you what kind of glove are you using all those things to minimize the vibration and the pressure it's a combination of back strength bar height bar material bar wrap material and glove padding I love your story about fit and Connie Carpenter and the athletes holding her open pedaling backwards we've taken such a giant leap forwards between Dan and now if you're to look ahead on your to project the next 10 years is there anything you see that could revolutionize bike fitting I'm thinking data analytics through artificial intelligence or is the human element always going to be Irreplaceable well it's funny you ask because that I was doing a well several years ago I was doing a talk in China at the basically the MIT you know of China and there's this room full of Chinese nerds with their headphones on for translation you know and um I'm sweating bullets and you've got all these really smart young Chinese kids and as always you say aren't any any more questions no hand goes up lecture is over and then they line up to ask you their one personal question right that's just so typical of giving a lecture and this one little guy comes up to me he's looking around like he's you know looking for the bad man behind the curtain he shows me his phone he goes I'm going to show you the program I've developed he's got his iPhone and he's developed this home homemade uh uh app for his phone for doing 3d motion capture at home set your phone up on on a book stand or something and so automated bike fit I mean so in my mind I'm going this guy scares me because he's going to take my job right um but it it's so true so there are now several apps out there that you can do a home automated bike fit and it's going to tell you raise your salary and they're all working on algorithms and and bell-shaped curves of Norm right so it's going to suggest the saddle height based on an algorithm not based on your hamstring flexibility so if we can do an automated physical assessment right so if the app can also help you measure your hamstring flexibility your spinal flexibility all things we do in a pre-fit physical exam then we're going to have a better chance of that automated bike that actually being useful the downside to all of them that I've seen to this point none of them are gathering data from the front view right there's the XY plane which is side and there's the Z plane which is from the front so none of them are gathering data from the Z plane the Z plane is crucial now can we automate Z plane I think we probably can um that it looks at foot Dynamics it looks at knee hip foot alignment uh it looks at medial lateral knee travel from the Z plane hip rock all those things cannot be seen from the side view so if there's a if there's a nerd out there that's working on an automated bike fit system it needs to assess the Z plane or the front view so you can get your hip hip knee foot alignment as part of all of them that I've seen from now from this pointer have been from the X Y plane so the you've consulted with uh go ahead no sorry go ahead I interrupt the well I just I still think the human I just don't think we can take a really good interpreter of the subject and the data out of the equation anything automated will always use an algorithm or looking for the bell-shaped curve of data is is AI better than that I don't know that's not my that's not my generation when you're working with the big bike manufacturers I know you spent a lot of time inside and specialized developing you know a lot of their in-house systems how receptive are they to incorporating ergonomics and bike mechanics into frame designs foreign and I don't want to over oversell them but um I mean their motto is innovate or die and and they listened I mean they they um I gave them some pretty crazy ideas and the rube bike I mean right so um I I think specialized likes to be at the bloody tip of the sword most bike companies like to be behind that Bloody tip a little bit they want specialized to fail or succeed before they end up copying them if you look at saddle design Dr Roger minkow and I were the ergonomic designers for the Saddles that specialized and I would tell you that that we helped eradicate erectile dysfunction and its association with cycling with saddle design and if you look at all the Gen all the companies now that make good quality saddles they look a lot alike right I mean so one company was able to change the industry toward improving ergonomics whether it be shoes and arch support and Orthotics whether it be saddles whether it be gloves Riser bars so I I think my my greatest input has been was specialized and they listened uh I have to I have to give them credit that they they listened we experimented and we were usually at the bloody tip of the sword mentioned erectile dysfunction and it just hits home to me how transformative your your work has has been in for people it's literally given them the ability to ride a bike when previously they would have canned it in and started running before working with both Elites and amateurs is there any transformational stories that stick in your mind as you're near in the end of that phase of your career now where you made a remarkable difference in someone's theater performance or quality of life the the last big project I worked on was to eradicate or help eradicate labial dysfunction labial disfigurement in women and it occurred to me that well it came to my attention that women were being disfigured by the bicycle saddle and by aggressive positions and the labias were being enlarged and scarred and ultimately were being having corrective surgery by plastic surgeons to reduce the scarring in their in their genitalia some of them returned to the bike some of them didn't um and I don't want to um let's just say there are is a multi-time world champion out there that we were able to create her position a new position and guide her through the surgical process of of labial scarring reduction and back to the point where she's back winning World Championships again and and when they say you saved my career and other women now come to me and say wow you know I could only ride one day a week and now I'm riding with my husband five days a week and yeah that that um that does your heart good you know that's really so that was my last project and that's the one that's most imprinted on me at the moment um is keeping women from needing surgery or keeping women off their bikes yeah what you want your legacy to be I don't think that's for me to say um I want there to be one I've worked hard you know um history always tells um I yeah I'll leave I'll leave that to the podcasters Dr Andrew I've absolutely loved this conversation thank you very much for your time you're very welcome you're very welcome if you enjoyed that episode please press here for another conversation that I know you're gonna love and don't forget to subscribe to the channel and share it with your Club mates foreign

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How often should I get a bike fit?+

Dr Andrew Pruitt recommends that recreational riders over forty get a bike fit reassessment at least once a year. The body changes with age, training load, and injury history, so fit is an ongoing process rather than a one-time event. Pruitt advises working with a fitter who knows your history so adjustments can be made in context.

What causes hand numbness when cycling?+

According to Dr Andrew Pruitt, the most common cause of hand numbness on the bike is too much weight bearing down through the hands. This typically points to a position that is too stretched out or a saddle that is tilted forward, shifting load onto the arms. Correcting saddle angle and handlebar reach usually resolves the problem.

Does bike fit actually make you faster?+

Dr Andrew Pruitt argues that comfort and speed are inseparable, meaning a properly fitted position directly improves performance. Discomfort forces the body to compensate, which wastes energy and reduces power output. A fit that allows you to hold an aerodynamic position without pain will always be faster than one that prioritises aerodynamics alone.

Can I get a bike fit using my smartphone?+

Dr Andrew Pruitt predicts that smartphone-based automated fitting apps will significantly reshape the bike fitting profession in the coming years. These tools use video and motion analysis to suggest positional changes without needing a specialist present. However, for riders with injury histories or complex biomechanical needs, an experienced fitter remains the more reliable option.

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Key Takeaways

Bike fit is an ongoing process, not one-and-done: get a professional assessment once yearly, especially as your body changes with age and flexibility decreases

A thorough pre-fit physical exam (flexibility, foot mechanics, hip motion, spinal alignment) is what separates great fitters from average ones who only read screen numbers

Hand numbness in cycling typically comes from too much weight on the bars combined with poor core strength—raise your bars, strengthen your core, and upgrade bar material and padding

Comfort and speed are inseparable: an aerodynamic position you can't hold is worthless; test positions in the lab, physiology lab, track, then road before finalizing

Automated bike fit apps are coming but currently miss the front-view (Z-plane) data needed to assess knee alignment, hip rock, and foot dynamics—human interpretation remains crucial

Elite riders look beautiful on bikes because of genetic gifts and self-selection, not because that's the formula for others; make the bike fit the rider, not the rider fit the bike

Expert Quotes

"Comfort equals speed. You put somebody in an aerodynamic position but they can't hold it—well that doesn't work."

"Bike fit is not a one and done; it is an ongoing process. Once a year to have somebody look at you who has known you through this process is a superb idea."

"You have to marry the machine to the rider and not aspire to what felt good to the elite guy."

KEY QUOTES

“bike fit is not a one and done it is not um so how often do you think uh right or over the age Authority should be getting bike fit non-professional oh I think a once a year look is like and you should go back if you if you have faith in the guy that you the guy gal you know generic guy um that who fits you um they should be keeping really good records of what your flexibility was what how things feet flatten as we age so your need for more arch support more forefoot varus canting is probably going to go up as you age so once a year to have somebody look at you who has known you through this process is a is a superb idea”
Dr Andrew Pruitt — Pioneer of bike fitting, developer of the Body Geometry fit system

“I would suspect that that you've got too much weight on your hands that's number one so the bars probably ought to come up so how do you how do you determine bar height so that there's this Sweet Spot between being too far forward flexed and being too upright if you're too upright there's too much weight on your on your saddle if you're too far forward flex there's too much weight on your hands there is this sweet spot in the middle say let's call it 45 degrees of torso angle where you're splitting you're Distributing the weight saddle feet hands and your core is responsible for you to maintain that balance and keep the pressure off your hands”
Dr Andrew Pruitt — Pioneer of bike fitting, developer of the Body Geometry fit system

“comfort and speed go hand in hand”
Dr Andrew Pruitt — Pioneer of bike fitting, developer of the Body Geometry fit system

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How often should I get a bike fit?+

What causes hand numbness when cycling?+

Does bike fit actually make you faster?+

Can I get a bike fit using my smartphone?+

THE CORRECT BIKE FIT SIMPLIFIED | DR PRUITT

Key Takeaways

Expert Quotes

KEY QUOTES

Intro to Dr Andrew Pruitt

Annual Bike Fits and Back Pain

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

NEVER MISS AN EPISODE

READ THE GUIDE

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THE CORRECT BIKE FIT SIMPLIFIED | DR PRUITT

Key Takeaways

Expert Quotes

KEY QUOTES

Intro to Dr Andrew Pruitt

Annual Bike Fits and Back Pain

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

NEVER MISS AN EPISODE

READ THE GUIDE

RELATED EPISODES

IS YOUR BIKE FIT POINTLESS? THE ONE EXCEPTION YOU NEED TO KNOW | RDMN CLIPS

HIDDEN CAUSE OF BACK & NECK PAIN IN CYCLING: HOW TO BEAT IT | RDMN CLIPS

WIND TUNNEL SECRETS FOR AERO GAINS ON YOUR BIKE | ROADMAN PODCAST

RELATED CONTENT

IS YOUR BIKE FIT POINTLESS? THE ONE EXCEPTION YOU NEED TO KNOW | RDMN CLIPS

HIDDEN CAUSE OF BACK & NECK PAIN IN CYCLING: HOW TO BEAT IT | RDMN CLIPS

WIND TUNNEL SECRETS FOR AERO GAINS ON YOUR BIKE | ROADMAN PODCAST

LIKED THIS EPISODE?

THE CORRECT BIKE FIT SIMPLIFIED | DR PRUITT

Key Takeaways

Expert Quotes

KEY QUOTES

1.Intro to Dr Andrew Pruitt

2.Annual Bike Fits and Back Pain

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

NEVER MISS AN EPISODE

READ THE GUIDE

RELATED EPISODES

IS YOUR BIKE FIT POINTLESS? THE ONE EXCEPTION YOU NEED TO KNOW | RDMN CLIPS

HIDDEN CAUSE OF BACK & NECK PAIN IN CYCLING: HOW TO BEAT IT | RDMN CLIPS

WIND TUNNEL SECRETS FOR AERO GAINS ON YOUR BIKE | ROADMAN PODCAST

RELATED CONTENT

IS YOUR BIKE FIT POINTLESS? THE ONE EXCEPTION YOU NEED TO KNOW | RDMN CLIPS

HIDDEN CAUSE OF BACK & NECK PAIN IN CYCLING: HOW TO BEAT IT | RDMN CLIPS

WIND TUNNEL SECRETS FOR AERO GAINS ON YOUR BIKE | ROADMAN PODCAST

LIKED THIS EPISODE?

THE CORRECT BIKE FIT SIMPLIFIED | DR PRUITT

Key Takeaways

Expert Quotes

KEY QUOTES

1.Intro to Dr Andrew Pruitt

2.Annual Bike Fits and Back Pain

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

NEVER MISS AN EPISODE

READ THE GUIDE

RELATED EPISODES

IS YOUR BIKE FIT POINTLESS? THE ONE EXCEPTION YOU NEED TO KNOW | RDMN CLIPS

HIDDEN CAUSE OF BACK & NECK PAIN IN CYCLING: HOW TO BEAT IT | RDMN CLIPS

WIND TUNNEL SECRETS FOR AERO GAINS ON YOUR BIKE | ROADMAN PODCAST

RELATED CONTENT

IS YOUR BIKE FIT POINTLESS? THE ONE EXCEPTION YOU NEED TO KNOW | RDMN CLIPS

HIDDEN CAUSE OF BACK & NECK PAIN IN CYCLING: HOW TO BEAT IT | RDMN CLIPS

WIND TUNNEL SECRETS FOR AERO GAINS ON YOUR BIKE | ROADMAN PODCAST

LIKED THIS EPISODE?

Intro to Dr Andrew Pruitt

Annual Bike Fits and Back Pain

Intro to Dr Andrew Pruitt

Annual Bike Fits and Back Pain