Last week I finally took my bike to Bicycle Sport Shop for a bike fitting. After owning my bike for more than 1.5 years, I decided it was time since after long rides I would feel sore and achy in all the wrong places. My friend would comment on our rides that I looked strangely hunched over at times, which added to my desire to get the bike fit looked at sooner than later.

I was always reluctant to get a bike fit because of the cost. Most bike shops charge anywhere from $50-$70 for a basic bike fitting which was something I always thought I could do myself. Even though adjusting the actual components of the bike is easy, knowing what to adjust them to is where the money is.

I originally bought this bike from an elite triathlete who had the bike adjusted to a very different configuration. For him, he was much more stretched out on the bike, sitting farther back and arms outstretched. So Skot over at Bicycle Sport Shop adjusted things a little more confortably, and also set things up for more efficient pedaling given my leg length, height and so on. The bike definitely feels so different now. In fact, it feels like a completely different bike. Looking at the GPS data from my recent rides, my average speed has increased by 2mph. That increase could be due to any number of factors, but the good news is that things feel more comfortable now.

How could I ride on a less than optimal fit bike? Well, the technician told me that the human body is amazing in that it can adapt to a wide variety of scenarios. A lot of people just adapt to circumstances that may cause them prone to injury and pain. The body can learn to work through that pain and just keep truckin. But getting properly fit on the bike allows you to put down the maximum amount of energy possible per pedal stroke, while at the same time allowing you to be as comfortable as possible on long rides. I'm glad I got the bike fit, because it will be much better when I do the long ride in April. I told Skot that I wish I come in much sooner. He responded, "Yeah, I hear that a lot from customers."