Is Posture Assessment important in the Bike Fit process?

Is Posture Assessment important in the Bike Fit process?

I have come across a few clients from other fitters who has not done posture assessment or a pre-fit assessment. It could either be that the fitter is not trained in this area or did not have a physio bed.

The question to me is, how do they fit the rider to the bike? Are they good enough to be called fitters?

1st scenario:
XX bike shop owner fitted this client with 1 stem and 1 saddle. He doesn't have different stems or saddles for the client to try. This resulted in the client buying various saddles which still eventually was not suitable.

When he was referred to me. I used a saddle sensor mapping software and managed to find the correct saddle for him. I also had a sample for him to try. He was happy and went on to buy a new one. I managed to convince him to do an overall fit rather than a saddle fit.

The necessary changes were made to his cleats position, saddle height and saddle position till he had no hand numbness.

2nd scenario:
A triathlon bike cyclist came to me from a previous bike fit. This cyclist came to me as she was feeling uncomfortable with her cleats position and her saddle position. I was surprised she went on this way for 3 years. I had to raise her saddle height by 2.5cm and changed her cleat position to save her calf muscles for the  running segment of her races. She was very happy with the basic fit, even though we have yet to use any computer to analyse her fit.

3rd scenario:
A client who had done a RETÜL fit contacted me. He had discomfort within 30mins on the bike. When i did a posture assessment, I was shocked to find a 3mm stack on one of his shoes when both are equal length. I performed a detailed leg length and hip check to ascertain he did not have leg length discrepancy.  The 3mm stack was the cause of his back pain and feet issues. The stack was removed and I continued with other necessary fitting required.

These are all true accounts from my clients. To be honest I may not be one of the top fitters in Singapore but it's a bane when fitters fit at a low cost and do more damage than good.

I hope you guys do your research before deciding on your choice of bike fitter – one with experience and knowledge with the human anatomy is definitely an added bonus.