Bike Fitting at 700

AT 700 WE BELIEVE THAT BIKE FITTING IS NOT ONLY AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THE BUYING PROCESS BUT ALSO CRUCIAL FOR YOUR RIDING ENJOYMENT.

Correct bike fit is essential for optimal performance, comfort, injury prevention and sustainability. However, these elements must be relevant to YOU as an individual and should be viewed and adjusted in the context of YOUR cycling.

The fundamental principle of bike fit centres around the rider in terms of their morphology (physical measures / dimensions); flexibility and functional range of movement; their type and frequency of riding as well as their realistic mid to long term cycling goals.

Ultimately, a good bike fit centres around achieving an optimal position that best balances bio-mechanics, power, aerodynamics and comfort. Your cycling discipline will determine the relative importance you place on each element.

It is important to realise that bike fit is dynamic and ongoing, it centres around our body's ability to adapt - if you are looking at making significant changes to your position or if you are recovering from injury for example, our fitters will encourage progressive adaptation over time as the key to getting the most from your cycling.

Bike fitting is not black and white and there are numerous other factors that have a bearing on the dynamics of a fit: age, weight, fitness, motivation, flexibility, injury and the objectives of an individual will all have a bearing.

Our GURU dynamic bike fit is a collaboration between you and our experienced fitter and as a consequence is decidedly more scientific, productive and time efficient than traditional methods.

To conduct our fits, 700 utilise the most advanced fitting tool in the world: The GURU Bike Fitting System.

Whether you are looking for a new bike, wish to optimise the position on an existing machine or are looking for the data to help drive the build of something custom, 700's GURU bike fits will deliver all the information you need.

Bike fitting has become as integral to cycling performance as the advent of power meters. Every instrument, musical or mechanical needs calibration and bike fit is essentially the calibration between rider and bike in order to achieve optimisation of your intended purpose, whatever that may be, from comfort to peak power output.

Over the years we have always offered three tiers of bike fit, namely the Bike Finder, Model Specific and the Full Fit. These have served us well, however as we take a deeper look at the actual fits over the past few years we realise that the Model Specific Fit has often required all the elements of a Full Fit in order to achieve effective results.

As we progress in bike fitting the Ideal Fit is still the driving principle that should dictate fit, rather than the model of bike you happen to be riding at the present moment. Your physical and biomechanical parameters are still in place regardless of which bike you ride and should therefore always be considered.

Given the data, we have decided to do away with our Model Specific Fit and offer just Bike Consult and Full Fit.

The Bike Consult (previously Bike Finder) will serve as the basis to determine model and size of the specific bikes we stock and to avoid the calamity of purchasing the wrong size or geometry bike. This service is limited to sizing and we still believe that to get the most out of your cycling and to prevent any injuries in the future, a Full Fit should be considered, this will both fine tune any potential purchase in terms of specific components needed and stand you in good stead once you start racking up the miles on your new bike. With most new bikes being integrated this is also a financially savvy move as changing integrated components can carry hundreds of Pounds worth of labour charges, not to mention the actual parts themselves.

The Full Fit will cover all bases, whether this is on an existing bike or whether you wish to use the fit to purchase a new bike. The fit will be agnostic of bike brand and we will strive to achieve your ideal fit in space.

The cornerstone of any fit is the pre-fit process. This will start with a relaxed interview around your riding history, your goals and any ailments you may currently have or injuries you may have sustained in the past, these often manifest themselves in ways we are not aware of. Post interview we will do a short battery of physical assessments in order to determine your particular parameters in terms of flexibility and stability. This will give us a scope with which to work in, it will also ensure that we are working within your confines and not attempting to fit you to an ideal but rather have your ideal fit in place and retrospectively fitting or choosing a bike.

Only once we have this information will we put you on the Guru Bike Fit jig. The dynamic nature of the Guru jig allows us to make real time changes as well as compare different potential fits while you are still riding, this will compare the efficacy and comfort of the various changes. There will be continuous dialogue as to your comfort level while working in the pre-determined range that we established earlier. We will move through all three contact points, from your feet to your saddle and finally your handlebars. During this process we will determine your ideal cleat position, crank length, saddle type and position as well as bar width.

The fit will then be finalised and we will turn our attention to either your current bike or your potential new bike (or both in some cases). We will retrospectively fit your bike as best possible and have you ride the new setup on supported rollers. It is important to note that if you do have a bike we are fitting there may be limitations in terms of adjustments that we are able to make on your bike however we will endeavour to get your current bike as close to your ideal fit as is possible, while maintaining sensible ride characteristics. In addition to this, other changes may take longer to implement if we need to source specific parts or book it into the workshop to have work done on the bike. Please note that any workshop time will be charged in accordance with current labour rates.

We believe the transition away from the Model Specific fit ultimately best serves those getting fitted as we will take the appropriate time and care needed to determine what is best for you, rather than fitting you to the bike that you are currently riding. We are essentially taking the long view to best serve your cycling goals.

THE GURU FIT SYSTEM™ enables cyclists of all ages and experience levels to find the perfect bike and/or riding position to match their personal preferences & geometry.

The state-of-the-art, computer-controlled GURU DYNAMIC FIT UNIT™ (DFU™) adjusts the riding position in real-time so riders can experience changes in meaningful terms in order to optimise their fit.

Incline/decline adjustment allows you to test riding positions while ascending or descending to simulate riding conditions.

Ultimately, good Bike Fit centres around achieving an optimal position that best balances bio-mechanics, power, aerodynamics and comfort and your cycling discipline will determine the relative importance you place on each element.

The GURU Fit System is the only fit system that provides cyclists with a truly "dynamic" fit. The GURU Dynamic Fit Unit™ is the only completely computer-automated fit bike - which delivers precise, on-the-fly adjustments that you can feel instantly. Other fit bikes require cumbersome manual adjustments during fit sessions - slowing down the fit process and reducing your ability to discern differences in individual riding positions.

GURU's revolutionary software can capture countless riding positions for you to compare - allowing you to toggle back and forth seamlessly between riding positions on command to ensure that you select the best possible riding position. These riding position comparisons are amplified by the DFU's™ incredible range of motion - which can replicate a comprehensive range of riding positions and bike geometries to help you find the perfect fit