1607
« on: August 26, 2010, 11:43:38 am »
This fitting stuff is one of the recurrent gripes I have with bike shops. IMHO, you need to get on the bike and take a 2-5 mile test ride to see if the bike fits. None of my local bike shops have touring bikes in stock, so...
First choice would be to go somewhere that has touring bikes in stock, and try it out. Note this usually needs to be done around March-April, because that's when the year's allotment of touring bikes comes out (and gets sold). That usually boils down to a web search on bike shops in an XXX mile radius, followed by an afternoon on the phone asking each shop, "Do you have a touring bike about my size in stock?"
I do think a good fitter could do a decent job. I know (at least some) custom bike makers can do it remotely, although it helps enormously if you have a bike close to your size. (I can't figure out why no bike maker has a list of who's ordered, say, a Trek 520 or Surly LHT so you can narrow the search down!) You take your measurements, and measure the bike(s), send them to the maker, and schedule some time to discuss what you want to do, how you ride, what you do and don't like about your current bike, give them a credit card number, and some number of months later it shows up on your doorstep.
Third choice might be to order an LHT, then work with your LBS to get the sizing dialed in. You may have to be very firm (NO, I DON'T WANT A FLAT BACK!!!) with the mechanic/sales people. If you'll interview a few LBSs, assuming you have multiple LBSs near you, you can probably weed out the time trial only specialists, and find some you can work with. If you've got the right size bike, I'd expect the only thing you might need to change out would be the stem; there's still enough adjustability in seatposts to handle that end.
And you'll probably want to budget a couple hundred bucks extra to turn the bike kit you get from the store into your bike. In my case that entails putting on a B-17, blinkies, fenders, computer...
The good news is, Surly's LHT seems to work well. I estimate 35-45% of the other bikes we saw on our TransAm last summer were LHTs, and I didn't hear of any major issues.