Food For Thought: Custom Fitted Cycling Kit

There was recently a video posted showing Nairo Quintana being scanned by Endura technicians that will help in making marginal gains by allowing further wind tunnel testing using a manikin of Nairo Quintana. (Video at bottom of post)

This isn't necessarily new as time trial specialists like Tony Martin have had custom fitted skin suits made to improve aerodynamics, but it looks as though Endura are refining the technique by the use of a scanner. But this got me thinking, what if this method was widely available to everyone? 

The idea is simple, as part of a bike fit the bike fitter would scan a customer onto a computer, creating a 3D model. This model would then be sent to Endura or any other participating brand to have custom tailored cycling kit created. Just as an example, Trek's precision fit would be able to integrate this idea into their fit service. Potentially the use of multiple Kinect camera's and some savvy software could make this concept work instead of a costly full body scanner.

This type of service would be very costly so it would only be an option if you're a serious cyclist or enjoy being at the cutting edge technology. But I think as a concept for the future, it could be quite practical for certain bike shops. Think about it, the best bike fit services offer pressure mapping for saddles, pedal analysis, etc. So why not offer custom fitted cycling kit to further optimise a cyclists position and performance on the bike.