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My Bike Fit Failed. I Still Recommend the Fitter

9 May 2026 ~ 7 min read
TAGS · Being Healthy · Being Fast

For months after my first bike fit, my neck was still in pain. It felt like a complete failure... Seven years later, I know exactly why.

You can go to two different bike fitters and leave with two completely different positions. That’s why so many cyclists think bike fitting is a scam. But here’s the twist: my fitter was actually good. The real problem was me.
Like most cyclists, I showed up to the fit expecting the fitter to do all the work. That was naïve. And I thought twenty years of cycling made me bulletproof. I suffered like a noob.

Eventually, that same bike became a perfect fit. The fitter knew it would happen. I didn’t know a thing — and I didn’t want to listen. You’ll see it in my fit report.

But first let me explain the three things I wish I understood before my bike fit.
MINIMAP · Right Goals · Extra Costs · Body Changes

FIRST, DO YOU EVEN NEED IT?

A surprising number of cyclists book a bike fit convinced they know what they need, only to realise they don’t. I was one of them.
And that’s a problem, because there’s no one perfect position hidden somewhere inside your body, that a bike fitter will magically find.

A position that makes you faster may also overload your back, neck, or hands. And a position designed to reduce pain may sacrifice speed or handling. Sometimes fitting is optimisation. Sometimes it’s damage control.
Let’s take a look at the usual goals:
• improving performance, either in general or for a specific discipline or event,
• solving a pain point, recurring fatigue, or managing an existing injury,
• making the position more comfortable and sustainable,
• or simply making sure it won’t cause long-term problems.

Guess which did I have in mind for the bike fit? Well, I thought I wanted to get faster. I was wrong and later I’ll tell you why. But even “getting faster” is not really a complete goal. Faster where?

A bike fitter can help you balance aerodynamics, power production, and sustainability.

But first you need to decide: are you the kind of cyclist chasing personal bests in 200-kilometre brevets — or trying to win half-hour time trials?
Because fitting is largely the art of compromise.

And yes — “I want to look cooler on the bike” is also a perfectly legitimate goal. But you need to verbalise it.

Not telling your fitter — or yourself — your real priorities can quietly sabotage your bike fit. A bike fitter is like a doctor in that sense: no matter how good they are, if you don’t point to where it hurts, they can’t really help you.
MINIMAP · Right Goals · Extra Costs · Body Changes

IT WILL COST YOU MORE

Many cyclists imagine a bike fit as a single appointment where somebody adjusts your saddle height, rotates your handlebars a bit, and sends you home. And sometimes that’s exactly what happens.

But sometimes a bike fit becomes the beginning of a much longer — and more expensive — process.

You may leave needing:
• a different stem or handlebars,
• another saddle or seatpost,
• shorter cranks, new pedals or shoes,
• or even a completely different bike.

And this is where an important distinction appears: will you be fitting a bike you already own — or prioritise your body and fit it first?
If you already have a bike, most of the time it’s possible to make it work reasonably well for you. But expect compromises.

Changing a stem or saddle is relatively simple. Changing an integrated cockpit or an expensive carbon crankset just because the fit is slightly suboptimal may be financially unreasonable.

So in many cases, fitting an existing bike means working around the limitations of what you already own.

The good news is that no highly specialised equipment is absolutely required for this type of fitting, which means more fitters are available — and the process itself usually costs less.
But the smartest thing you can do is book a proper fit before purchasing a bike.

Compared to the price of a modern bicycle, the fit itself is relatively cheap — yet it may save you from an expensive mistake.

And if you already own a bike, what if that mistake has already been made — and you just don’t know it yet?

Speaking of expensive, a no-bike fit is usually done on a dedicated fitting rig — essentially an infinitely adjustable bicycle designed specifically for fitting.

These machines are expensive, which is one reason this type of session usually costs more — and why fewer fitters have them available.

Some may instead use smart trainers, which can also work well, even if the process is sometimes less convenient.
But don’t confuse advanced equipment with expertise. It’s not uncommon for a large bike shop to invest in an expensive fitting rig — and then have relatively inexperienced fitters operating it.

Here, the important part is that you first discover your optimal riding position without being constrained by a particular bicycle.

And only after that do you start looking for a bike capable of reproducing that position. Depending on what you find, some compromises or component swaps may still be necessary. But now you discover those limitations before spending thousands on the bike — not after.

After purchasing the bike, a second appointment to replicate and fine-tune the position may still be required. So yes, the fitting process itself may cost more in this scenario.

But the final outcome is often better — and sometimes even cheaper overall once you factor in the cost of swapping components.
And yes — I made that second mistake as well. You have probably already guessed what it was. And if not, I won’t tell you — I’ll show you. It becomes painfully obvious once you look at my fit report.
MINIMAP · Right Goals · Extra Costs · Body Changes

LAST, YOUR BODY WILL CHANGE

A good bike fitter understands not only your current body — but also how that body may change with time, training, age, fatigue, injuries, or lifestyle.

Sometimes they may even help you improve those limitations through off-bike work:
• strength training,
• mobility work,
• stretching,
• or referrals to medical or movement specialists.

But again, honesty matters. If you already know you are not going to do the prescribed exercises, say that right away. Otherwise you risk getting a riding position designed for a theoretical future version of yourself — instead of the body you actually have today.
And this becomes especially important because your position will likely evolve over time anyway. Many newer cyclists initially prefer a shorter and more upright position because it feels closer to a normal standing or sitting posture.

But as cycling-specific strength, flexibility, stability, and adaptation improve, riders often become comfortable in a lower and longer position — which is usually better for performance.

That may eventually require:
• a longer stem, if the bike still allows for one,
• fewer spacers under the stem — and possibly cutting the steerer tube shorter,
• adjustments to saddle position, provided there’s enough room for that.

And this is something many cyclists only discover after already spending large amounts of money on upgrades. A bike that comfortably fits your current body may become limiting surprisingly quickly as your position evolves.
But the opposite can also happen. With age, accumulated fatigue, injuries, or changing priorities, riders often move toward shorter and more upright positions again. And lower power output usually also means more pressure on the saddle, because less body weight is supported through the pedals.

That’s why getting a proper fit report with all your measurements is crucial. Without it, every component change, experiment, adjustment, crash, or maintenance session risks gradually moving your bike away from the professionally fitted position.

A good fit sheet allows you to:
• reproduce the position later,
• track how it changes over time,
• work with another fitter if necessary,
• or safely adjust the bike yourself.
And here’s a page from my fit report. All three mistakes are right there.

One. I had never even completed a full triathlon — yet for some reason I listed it as a goal. In reality, I didn’t need the fit to become faster. But instead, it accidentally helped solve some long-term problems I already had. Wrong goal, lucky outcome.

Two. Instead of fitting my body and then choosing a bike, I asked the fitter to help me choose the size for the bike I had already decided I wanted. A race bike with handlebars 15 cm lower than saddle. That part was non-negotiable, so the fitter had to compromise.

Three. The report literally says: “problems with the neck”. So the issue was not the fit. The issue was my body — and it needed time and effort to deal with pain that already existed. A bike fit is not a magic pill. It will not necessarily cure you.

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