Bike Whisperer - Fitting Service & Workshop

Happy to hear it!! Now go out and hurt it dancing!!!!

hiya scherrit

I just wanted to add my experience to the list of glowing endorsements The Bike Whisperer are quite rightly receiving.

I've just had my second fit with Scherrit and once again I feel like I'm cycling on a cloud! A knee niggle dissapeared almost immediately and my average speed is up by a couple of mph too. To anybody who thinks that a bike fit isn't worth it, I can only say that this has been the best money I've spent in a long time.

Thank you to both Scherrit and Corinne for making me feel so at home, for the fantastic coffee and most of all for a brilliantly fitted bike.

Another big fan of TBW here.

Only had the one visit but it made the world of difference to my riding and I used the measurements to change position on 2nd bike. Now that one also fits like a glove.

thanks again

Scherrit's latest wheel build..

http://i53.twitgoo.com/s6svvk.jpg
http://i52.twitgoo.com/25jw1ow.jpg

Was just about to ask about people's experience with wheel building as I want a nice new rear wheel.

Also, whilst I cycle pretty much everywhere, everyday, I'm nothing serious like some of yous lot in terms of distance/speed etc but I find if I do anything over 40 miles in one go, I tend to get achy knees at the end of the day/next day. Is this just me not used to the mileage (prob only do those kinds of distance once or twice a month) or do you reckon something the Bike Whisperer could help with?

hmmmm im interested as i need to get my bike fitted properly... so how much is the total cost for a fixed gear bike with cleats... cuz someone has written £85 but on the web site it says £195..... can anyone shed some light?

think they've upped the prices over time (and rightly so) so old figures from here are prob not correct

Booked my fitting in today. Looking forward to it, chatted to the lady and felt straight away I was putting myself in the right hands. Conversely cyclefit put me off completely with the initial chat.

Just booked a fitting! Will be fascinating to see quite how off the bike is set up at the moment

^ jealous. Wish i could re-experience the sensation of riding a well fitting bike for the first time

Really excited - got to wait just over a month, obviously a popular place

So where is the shop based? Someone said twickenham on a drinks last night and the website is showing ealing address,
confused...

So where is the shop based? Someone said twickenham on a drinks last night and the website is showing ealing address,
confused...

It's not a shop... Scherrit works from his house in Ealing. It's an awesome setup

oh, ok, thanks, will give him a ring

Had my fit on Saturday and have promptly turned up here to sing the praises of TBW.

Did a long ride yesterday and, despite Scherrit cautioning me that I may have a few twinges as I adjust to my new position, I have never felt so good the day after a ride before. Very comfortable in the saddle too. The cleat fitting is particularly special and I defintely feel a stronger rider than I did before.

And on top of that, the fitting process is very pleasant. 4 hours chatting bikes and drinking excellent coffee goes down pretty well in my book.

We both attended the International Cyclefit Symposium over the last few days and it was pretty clear that Scherrit has knowledge beyond the majority of the bike-fitting community and he's a nice guy too.

His knowledge of lycra-fitting is considerably inferior, though.

Just back from an epic journey to Ealing. Getting the right fitting for my new Burls (Justin has also been awesome).

The guys were great, even though I turned up 40 minutes late due to a moron of a taxi driver.

It turns out I have been riding the wrong set up for years on and off the track and I'm over the moon I can finally get a correctly fitted bike.

Knowledgeable beyond words and a very relaxing and quick fitting, even though I didn't have my bike with me.

Can't recommend these guys highly enough.

I spent an enlightening four hours with Scherrit and Corinne this afternoon, I've had three previous fittings at different places and I've never had any where near as much confidence in a fitter and their methods. Completely comprehensive with a welcome lack of bullshit I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about how the body interacts with the bike/is after a new frame/has a physiological problem/wants to make sure they don't get one...

There are a lot of things in cycling that aren't worth the money but this a wonderful exception.

Yeah, yeah. Lovely and all that but did you get any biscuits? :-)

I didn't get frikin biscuits! Good coffee though.

Biscuits? I'm heading over there now...

The bacon and egg sandwich more than compensated for the lack of biscuits...

Makes a note to 'demand' b&e sandwich next visit :-).

I had my fit with Scherrit a week ago now but wanted to get a bit of riding in before I gave my feedback and having just completed the Dunwich Dynamo, thought it was a good time. Before I describe the process I'll quickly explain why I got the fit.

I started cycling properly about 3 years ago. However in the past I suffered from lower back pain, which at one point had gotten so bad I couldn't get out of bed, or even roll over without excruciating amounts of pain. I ended up missing days off work and subsequently required the services of an osteopath. Whilst cycling wasn't the cause of these problems, it certainly exacerbated it.

I don't wish to toot my own horn but I'm only 26 and consider myself pretty damn fit. I used to box (thai box) at a professional level which requires a hell of a lot of training and physical conditioning. The osteopath explained that I had muscle imbalances between my front and back, most likely due to all my training (the irony). He gave me exercises which I carried out diligently and got to the point where I could box and cycle again.

However any ride over 30/40 miles would still trigger it, so every time I hop off the bike I have to do these stretches that relieve tension and crack my lower spine, the osteo tells me when I'm older I will pay the price for all this cracking. I also get knee pain which is a result of previous injury.

All of this culminated into a massive world of pain when I cycled to Rotterdam and back a few months ago now. By the end of it I was a corpse on wheels. Every bump would send shooting pains up my spine to the point of which I came to tears. My left knee hurt so much I could no longer pedal with it, instead I dangled it to the side and pedal with my right. I had just about had enough of cycling and considered calling it quits as it was just too much pain to bear.

Instead I gave Scherrit a call and got myself on the 6 week waiting list.

And finally last Monday I had my session. He is massively enthusiastic and really cares about what he is doing. As he went through each stage of the fit he explained everything that was going on as though he hadnt done so a thousand times before. Incredible that he keeps that level of interest after all these years. Its always a real pleasure to meet someone who loves what they do. I'll describe everything that I can remember below, the order of which is most likely jumbled up.

He spent a few hours examining my feet, measuring distances between joints and observing my movements as I did a series of motions such as squats, knee bends etc etc. We did some neuro-muscular stuff to. He also spent some time observing my flexibility and stability. We also discussed my previous injuries and what might be affecting my cycling today.

He then popped my bike up onto a turbo and measured up my current set up. He took me through every measurement and how to replicate it at home. His methods are very practical for people without specialist tools which was nice.

After that I hopped on the bike and he began noticing things straight away. My left foot was whipping at the bottom of the stroke, a sign that my saddle was too high. My knees were tracking funny too which he said he would remedy with cleat wedges and arch supporting insoles. He also noticed my deltoids were overactive which was wasting energy and restricted oxygen intake.

I think at this stage he tinkered my cleats (look keos). My right cleat ended up moving back about 7mm and my left only a couple. He also rotated them to make sure I had equal float left to right during my pedalling.

There was some other stuff too that I cant remember in detail, but regardless, he then set about tinkering things on the bike. My final setup had my seatpost move down 15mm (!!) which he tells me is the opposite of what 80% of his customers end up having (normally posts go up). My saddle to BB offset moved a bit and he also rotated the angle of the saddle so it was at 4deg pointing down. Luckily my bar and stem combo was ok, he just rotated the levers a tiny bit around the bars and kindly rewrapped them far better than I had done myself.

As he made changes he would put me back on the bike and iteratively move towards the final result.

As for my feet, he has a very clever system for determining appropriate cleat wedges and arching requirements. I ended up having two wedges on the left and one on the right. He then put insoles in, a high arch supporting on my right and a low arch on the left. Its shocking how different my insole requirements are considering my feet look the same.

After a bit of trial and erroring and him observing, we were just about done. He measured up the new setup and gave me a sheet with everything. I had told him I was intending to replicate it on my fixed gear bike when I got home as I was doing the Dunwich Dynamo the following weekend. He warned me that it usually takes upto 3 weeks for the rider to get used to the new setup if it is a drastic change, which i believe mine was, but regardless he hoped i would be a lot more comfortable anyway.

After the fit, I cycled about 10 miles to get a feel for it. It immediately felt right. My feet felt planted, I could smash down on the pedals with all my might without the feeling of impending knee failure. The arch supports in the insoles and the wedges is what did it I think. I can really feel them supporting my feet as I stroke.

When I got home I replicated the measurements onto my fixed bike and then patiently waited for the dynamo. I didnt ride anything over 20 miles that week so it was impossible for me to tell if my back issues were going to come.

And now its a day after the dynamo and i am shocked to say that i have absolutely 0% back pain. Astonishing, I literally couldnt believe it. I am usually quite sceptical about this sort of stuff so as the miles poured in I was just waiting for it to come but it never did. The man is nothing short of a genius.

My knee issues were also largely non existent, with only a tiny twinge remaining which I felt at the end, but is just a mere shadow of its former self. I fully expect this to disappear completely in the coming weeks as my body fully adapts to the new position.

So there you have it, for me the service he has provided was absolutely priceless. There were times during my Rotterdam ride where I would have gladly paid someone thousands to make the pain go away, and now that wish has come true.

Am thoroughly looking forward to many more years of pain free cycling!