Now it fits

I've been toying with the idea of booking a bike fitting session since they started the service more than a year ago but it just didn't materialize. It's in the realm of those Oh! I 'll definitely do that! kind of stuff that you forget after a while or just plain too lazy to do. Well, after all the fuzz, I'm proud to say that I finally did it.

Thursday last week at 3:00 p.m., I was in Joven Bike Shop with my bag of required gear - spandex cycling shorts, sleeveless shirt, socks, cycling shoes and slippers. I also brought my bike so I could make immediate adjustments.

After changing to the required attire, Toots made me stand on his bike measuring tool that looks like an old-school weighing scale. First, he made me stand up straight with my feet following the guide and measured my height and inseam. He also put a small mark on the upper center part of my chest. I don't know exactly what that was for. After he wrote the measurements down on his form, he asked me to go down the measuring device and spread my arms. He then put a mark on the edge of my shoulder at the tip of the shoulder bone. When this was through, he made me go back to the measuring device. Instead of facing forward like the first time, he asked me to face the left side and hold the bar with my hand. When everything was through, he went to his PC to input the data.

Now the exciting part of the bike fitting session begins. Toots came back from his PC and did some adjustments on the mock bike. After a few adjustments here and there, he made me ride it for three minutes to validate the recommended fit. Whee! Hehehehe! Then his assistant asked me to change to my "normal" clothes as Toots printed the results.

When he came back, he gave me three printed recommended bike measurements for a mountain, road and time trial bike and explained the steps in reaching the optimal fit. As he does that, we shift from paper to my bike and do some adjustments.

It was about two to three hours total and I had fun the whole time.

If you're unsure of your bike fit, consider booking a bike fitting session. It's held at Joven Bike Shop every Thursday and costs only P1,000. That's cheap considering it takes out the guess work in figuring out the correct stem and seatpost length for your rig. It's by appointment only (no walk-ins) amd the time slots are 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

Joven Bike Shop is located at 78 Amang Rodriguez Avenue, Santolan, Pasig. For more information and for booking, call (02) 645-6029 or (02) 645-0637.