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Kevin and Andy (PPP) outside the shop

Recently I met with Kevin Schmidt, the Owner/Founder of Pedal PT, one of the only physical therapy offices in Portland specializing in physical therapy for cyclists and bike fitting. Kevin found his passion during a major life shift: In 2007 he left a corporate job and took a massive pay cut in favor of reducing his car commute and working closer to home. He started riding to work every day and while he felt miles better physically and mentally, he noticed that daily cycling was taking a toll. He found that even in his field of physical therapy the answers he was getting about how to avoid this were incomplete, so he set out to learn more about how to fix this. “85% of people who ride regularly develop pain,” Kevin says. “What we do is look at the body, the posture, the pedal style, and adjust the bike from a holistic perspective. We see dozens of people a week just for bike fit.”

Kevin in the Pedal PT bike fit shop

The office is centrally located in the Clinton district with indoor bike parking, in a gorgeous open office space. They’ll adjust the bike in-house, in the physical therapy/shop pictured to the right. “We’re half physical therapist, half wrench monkey,” says Kevin. While you might spend 300 bucks at some shops for non-medical bike fitting, Pedal PT offers bike fit from a specialized physical therapist for $150, without the product upselling you might get at a shop.

Kevin is one of the more passionate folks I’ve met–a bike geek and cycling advocate–involved in the community and excited about it. His Rivendell bike is swoon inducing and I’m pretty sure I need a bike fit ASAP, since I ride everywhere and don’t own a car. In other words, I’m sold.

At Portland Pedal Power, we understand the importance of riding a bicycle that has been properly fitted for its rider. I recently had a chance to head down to River City Bicycles with my father Len to get his bike fitted. I got to see how the magic happens, and ask a few questions as the bike fitter, Amy, talked us through the process.

Amy explained bike fitting isn’t an exact science, and deals more with matching your body structure to the bike structure. There is some exact measuring to the bike, but a lot of the measurement and adjustments are trial and error, based on what feels right. As Amy put it, “Some people feel good in what looks like a terribly uncomfortable setting, but it’s what they like.”

The first step of getting your bike fitted is getting the initial measurements of your bike. This way, we could compare at the end of the fitting what changes were made, and what that resulted in. As Amy did this, she had Len mark down any physical issues he may have during his ride, such as a stiff knee, bad wrist, neck issues, etc. Amy explained this is done to find out where the problem area may be, and what to focus on during the fitting.

(more…)

Riding Healthy: How Physical Therapy Can Improve Your Commute

Finding the Right Fit at River City Bicycles