GURU Bike Fit

Last week I finally got around to making my appointment for my bike fit on my new CAAD10. Now I had been fitted before on my last bike and while it was mostly in tact it had evolved ever so slightly over time (mostly handlebars getting lowered 2cm). The shop offered to transfer the fit from one bike to the other over (well I could have done that) and while I’m comfortable with that fit I chose to go through a whole fit session just to see where I am today. The CAAD10 is more racy than my TriCross so geometry differences could mean a slightly different fit.

My last fit was done at a Specialized shop and was a standard BG fit. The fitter videoed me on the bike, used some on screen tools to get angles, made changes to the bike and then rinse and repeat like a half dozen times. All in all it was only about a 45 minute process, either I was that easy of a client or the fitter was that good. All in all, like I said it hasn’t changed much only the bar drop with my flexibility.

This particular shop uses the GURU fit system if you haven’t already guessed from the big logo at the beginning of this post. The difference here is that your bikes measurements are entered into the computer and then you ride this “contraption” and the fitter is able to make adjustments in real time as you pedal. I was excited to try this out and it is a weird feeling to feel bars moving and saddle going up and down as you pedal but you can really feel the difference as it happens. It was cool to see what a 100mm stem felt like, it felt great at first but as we kept going it tired out my shoulders, I was too stretched out, so a couple of button clicks and back to 90 we were. Same when for when the saddle got too high and I could feel myself start rocking in the saddle.

Besides the adjustable bike, the system also takes a video of you to figure out your height, joint lengths and a bunch of other dimensions. This allows you to see on the screen your knees tracking etc… It’s all very high tech. On the low tech side of things the fitter still checks leg angles, cleat position etc… Nothing short of thorough.

Here is a video produced by the shop highlighting the fit process.

Once I was happy with my fit on the GURU bike the computer spit out a report with the exact measurements that needed to be transferred to my bike. My bike was mounted in a Cyclops trainer so that I could test out the changes on my bike and make any fine tuning adjustments. None were needed in my case so we were good to go.

All totaled I was there for about an hour and a half, which included spinning on said trainer for about 15 minutes prior to getting on the GURU bike (while it was being set up to match my bike). One thing that is desperately needed is a FAN, because even at low intensities I was working up a sweat with the stagnant air in the shop.

So how did this fit compare with my last? Well surprisingly saddle set back and height were pretty close within ~2mm of each other. Saddle to bar drop is the biggest difference with the CAAD10 being ~2.5cm lower than the TriCross. Going in I expected this to be the biggest difference, although knowing height and setback were so close was reassuring as well.

I haven’t been out on the road yet with the new fit but have been on the trainer for about 7.5 hours over the past week and it feels great. Hours on the trainer will really make you feel any fit issues.

Overall I was impressed with the fit and the attention to detail given to it. It is certainly a better way to try all sorts of options on the bike while feeling the results real time.