No fitting for a Trek Hybrid?

Went by the bike shop today to look at a Trek 7300 Hybrid and asked the guy
about fitting the bike and taking measurements and stuff and he just looked
at me. He says 'you should take a 17.5 frame, but there's no 'fitting',
that's for a Road bike'.

I said 'what about measuring me and adjusting the seat height and the reach
and handlebars?'

He says, 'no we'd just adjust the seat height, but that's it, you can
adjust the handlebars with this lever or screw; with a Hybrid, you just
straddle it.'

After all the talk here of getting the bike fitted and having a good LBS
being your best part of the purchase, I was puzzled.

Is this true, Hybrids don't require measurement? This is the only Trek bike
shop in town, (one other sells Gary Fishers), and the ppl seem nice enough,
offered me lifetime adjustments free, etc.

-B

Badger_South wrote in
:
Is this true, Hybrids don't require measurement? This is the only Trek bike
shop in town, (one other sells Gary Fishers), and the ppl seem nice enough,
offered me lifetime adjustments free, etc.

With a normal road bike, riding positions are pretty well defined, so a good
shop can usually give you a good fitting.

Hybrids are used for a wide variety of purposes, from cruising on flat bike
paths, to fairly rough off-road, to fast road riding. The fitter needs a lot
of information about the rider to do a good job. Maybe that's why your shop
want to leave it up to you. I think they should have at least tried,
especially if the customer knows what they want.

To me, it shouldn't matter what bike you get, it should be the correct fit for
you. If it's not, you can end up with a bike that's uncomfortable to ride.

From the description you gave, I'd be walking out of that shop and *not* buying
from the guy. Whilst not expecting the same level of "fit" as if buying a
custom-built jobbie, I don't think it's unreasonable that it's worked out what
will fit you with a bit more thought & consideration and the chance to try the
bike out before you buy. To me, his couldn't care less attitude speaks of how
he may be less than willing to work out any probelms you find with the bike if
you buy it.

Cheers, helen s



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On Wed, 21 Apr 2004 14:53:07 -0400, Badger_South
wrote:
I said 'what about measuring me and adjusting the seat height and the reach
and handlebars?'

He says, 'no we'd just adjust the seat height, but that's it, you can
adjust the handlebars with this lever or screw; with a Hybrid, you just
straddle it.'

Sounds like a jerk, no matter how pleasant he was about it. Either
that, or so unknowledgable as to not know what "reach" means.

Do not buy from them. It doesn't matter that they're the only game
in town; you might as well buy mail order, for that kind of service.

A more distant bike shop with better service is worth the drive.
--
Rick Onanian

Went by the bike shop today to look at a Trek 7300 Hybrid and asked the
guy
about fitting the bike and taking measurements and stuff and he just
looked
at me. He says 'you should take a 17.5 frame, but there's no 'fitting',
that's for a Road bike'.

I said 'what about measuring me and adjusting the seat height and the
reach
and handlebars?'

He says, 'no we'd just adjust the seat height, but that's it, you can
adjust the handlebars with this lever or screw; with a Hybrid, you just
straddle it.'

Truth be told, there is no objective way to measure "fit" for a hybrid.
Seat height is a given, and this can either be measured or checked visually
enough (with the pedal at the bottom, foot flat, there should be a slight
bend at the knee, and the cross-check is to place the crank roughly in line
with the downtube and look for a 90-degree included angle between the upper
& lower leg).

But that doesn't mean that fit isn't important. If the shop suggested that
it was *your* job to adjust the handlebars, that's simply wrong. It's the
shop's job to look at you on the bike (preferably while riding) and check
out your position. They should be looking for how relaxed you are, and
making sure that, if you're going to be riding any distances, you're not
*too* upright (because that puts too much weight on your tail end, making
you more saddle sore). There are just too many ways that people want to
ride a hybrid... you can't create a hard-and-set group of rules or
measurements to them.

In all cases, whether hybrid or road or mountain bike, the reach from the
saddle to handlebar is really the most important consideration, and, on a
hybrid is no different from a road bike in that a taller frame size will
have a longer top tube. For that reason, standover height alone is *not* a
singular criteria for determining frame size. It's a beginning, but from
there you have to see how everything else plays out.

So it's like this. Measurements don't mean so much for a hybrid, but sizing
is a lot more than mesurements. If the shop said that they'd check you out
while riding and make adjustments, they may very well be doing a decent job
of fitting you. If, on the other hand, they said that the standover
height's OK, go home and play with the handlebar adjustments... no. It's
the shop's responsibility to fit you, or at least explain how the
adjustments affect what you'll feel.

--Mike--
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com

"Badger_South" wrote in message
...

Went by the bike shop today to look at a Trek 7300 Hybrid and asked the
guy
about fitting the bike and taking measurements and stuff and he just
looked
at me. He says 'you should take a 17.5 frame, but there's no 'fitting',
that's for a Road bike'.

I said 'what about measuring me and adjusting the seat height and the
reach
and handlebars?'

He says, 'no we'd just adjust the seat height, but that's it, you can
adjust the handlebars with this lever or screw; with a Hybrid, you just
straddle it.'

After all the talk here of getting the bike fitted and having a good LBS
being your best part of the purchase, I was puzzled.

Is this true, Hybrids don't require measurement? This is the only Trek
bike
shop in town, (one other sells Gary Fishers), and the ppl seem nice
enough,
offered me lifetime adjustments free, etc.

-B

On Wed, 21 Apr 2004 22:24:45 GMT, "Mike Jacoubowsky/Chain Reaction
Bicycles" wrote:

Measurements don't mean so much for a hybrid, but sizing
is a lot more than mesurements. If the shop said that they'd check you out
while riding and make adjustments, they may very well be doing a decent job
of fitting you. If, on the other hand, they said that the standover
height's OK, go home and play with the handlebar adjustments... no. It's
the shop's responsibility to fit you, or at least explain how the
adjustments affect what you'll feel.

OK, thanks, all. I'll prob. print out some of the replies and take them
with me when I go back.

'preciate it! ;-)

-B

Badger_South wrote:
Went by the bike shop today to look at a Trek 7300 Hybrid and asked the guy
about fitting the bike and taking measurements and stuff and he just looked
at me. He says 'you should take a 17.5 frame, but there's no 'fitting',
that's for a Road bike'.

*snork*

Sounds like the experience I had at my local Trek dealer...

I've had several people tell me I should have gone with a 7300 vs. the
lowend hybrid I got from Giant... but I'm happy, and I'm out riding...

On Thu, 22 Apr 2004 11:25:46 GMT, B a r r y
wrote:

On Wed, 21 Apr 2004 14:53:07 -0400, Badger_South
wrote:

He says, 'no we'd just adjust the seat height, but that's it, you can
adjust the handlebars with this lever or screw; with a Hybrid, you just
straddle it.'

We usually check the saddle height, adjust the stem, and check the
rough saddle fore/aft adjustment on a hybrid. If the customer has
purchased clipless pedals, we install the pedals and adjust the
release tension, if applicable.

Other than that, we don't do all the steps we would do on a full-on
road bike fitting. Things like handlebar width are either not as
important, or the parts don't come in as many sizes.

Barry

Thanks. That sounds reasonable.

On the pedals, I'm planning on getting cages installed, b/c I tend to pedal
with my arch centered on the pedals, instead of the ball of the foot, and I
think cages will help correct this. Does that make sense on a hybrid?

When measuring the seat height, should the leg be just under straight but
with the ball of the foot on the pedal?

-B

On Thu, 22 Apr 2004 08:13:00 -0400, Badger_South
wrote:
On the pedals, I'm planning on getting cages installed, b/c I tend to pedal
with my arch centered on the pedals, instead of the ball of the foot, and I
think cages will help correct this. Does that make sense on a hybrid?

Clipless would work just as well if you'd prefer them. Either way
will be okay. More importantly, do you _want_ to "correct" it? If
you're comfortable with it, don't worry how you look whilst riding.

When measuring the seat height, should the leg be just under straight but
with the ball of the foot on the pedal?

That's fine. A similar method is to have the leg completely straight
with the heel on the pedal. It's not rocket science until you find
that very long rides hurt; and by that time, you've made your own
very minor adjustments anyway.
--
Rick Onanian

On Thu, 22 Apr 2004 16:38:14 -0400, Rick Onanian
wrote:

On Thu, 22 Apr 2004 08:13:00 -0400, Badger_South
wrote:
On the pedals, I'm planning on getting cages installed, b/c I tend to pedal
with my arch centered on the pedals, instead of the ball of the foot, and I
think cages will help correct this. Does that make sense on a hybrid?

Clipless would work just as well if you'd prefer them. Either way
will be okay. More importantly, do you _want_ to "correct" it? If
you're comfortable with it, don't worry how you look whilst riding.

Clipless prejudices you to wear clipless shoes.

Toeclips: no such commitment.

If you're going to have only one bicycle, make it one with toeclips.

-Luigi


When measuring the seat height, should the leg be just under straight but
with the ball of the foot on the pedal?

That's fine. A similar method is to have the leg completely straight
with the heel on the pedal. It's not rocket science until you find
that very long rides hurt; and by that time, you've made your own
very minor adjustments anyway.