Bike Fit part 1

Meet my new bike, Cannondale Slice 5. Isn't he a beauty? And yes, it is a he; what can I say, I want to be able to flirt with it/him, since we'll be spending so many hours so close together!


When I went to the bike shop for my fit I had 2 bikes in mind: Felt B16 and Cannondale Slice 5. I did a ton of online research and these 2 bikes seemed to fit my budget. But, I wanted to see what bikes would be suggested to me, so I kept silent about it.

Jay from 53eleven fit to ride did the fitting. He is a PT who specializes in biomechanics, and also an ex -ironman racer. We started out by getting my feet measured and than figuring out the appropriate cleat position. (Insert embarrassment here when I had to take my shoes off and show my 6 toenails). Apparently I am on my way to developing bunions; my big toe is very flexible at rest, but not when weight bearing, which in time will lead to bunions, if I don't work on weight bearing flexibility. Otherwise all looked good!

The bike shop guys had an entry level bike all set up for me. Turns out that I need a 50, which is one of the smallest bike sizes. Although I am 5'7'', apparently I am all legs and no torso. (All I say to that is you should have seen me when I was in the 8th grade. My arm pits were directly connected to my legs:), true story!) Since the bike they had set up for me did not work (too big), Jay did not charge me for the appointment (even though we ended up spending about 2 hours bike talking), and will meet again to finish up.

Jay suggested a couple of bikes for me, of which Felt B16 was within my price range. The fit was not quite good because the 50 came with 650 wheels which apparently makes for funky geometry and is also a pain in the butt bc very few people use that type of tire. One of the bike shop guys stopped by after a while - he used to do lots of bike racing and knows a ton about bikes - and he started trash talking Felt; apparently Felt bikes used to be great until a couple of years ago when the company started using chippo parts (bad breaks, tires), and the value of the bike went down. Who knows, maybe he just wanted to sell me a different bike?Anyhow, he wanted me to look at a Scott Plasma, but that was outside my price range, and then at a Cannondale Slice5 , which ended up being the right size for me (according to the internet, the best for those with short torso and long legs). I'll have to meet with Jay again in 2 weeks to finalize the fit (from his perspective, it's all about "points in space", of which I'll learn more next time we meet).

For now, I am beyond excited. I am also a bit nervous (will I be able to ride a tri bike???), outraged (I've never thought that I would end up spending this much money on a bike!!!), and proud (that I can choose to buy this bike).

I also picked up a little extra work so that I could get myself a powermeter wheel in the near future! Although I am a beginner and will most likely improve by just riding, everyone keeps telling me how much more efficient training with a power meter is. And I am all about efficiency!

Can't wait!!!