fit

Another look at bike fit. As many of my readers and friends know I am a big proponent of bike fit. If it doesn’t fit right you would feel comfortable and you will stop riding. Here is a video that shows some basic bike fitting. The explanations are clear. It also doesn’t hurt that the fit subject is a beautiful woman, always good to see ladies riding!

There are many ways to fit you on a bike. In a previous article I wrote about selecting a frame based on STACK and REACH and showed you formulas you could use to calculate those measurements for any type of road frame. In this post I am attaching an Excel spreadsheet that purports to give you advice on frame size based on only two measurements.

Okay maybe more than one word, here goes …

This all started out about a discussion of how frames are measured today. Back in the day I had a 57cm Klein Quantum. It may have been a tad large but I was more flexible then and I could ride it for hours on end with no issues as far as comfort goes. So basically the Klein fit well. Now fast forward 18 years and I am ready to buy a more modern ride. I look around and find a 56cm Motobecane. I think to myself, this is good, just a hair smaller so I should be more comfortable. Well for the most part it fit but I needed several millimeters more spacers under the stem to get the handlebars in a more comfortable position. Now I have a PedalForce RS in a 55cm frame size and it is nearly a perfect fit.

Now that you are ready to buy your on-line bike, how will you know what size to buy. Please note that this information also applies to buying in a bike shop. The more you know about bike fit, the better consumer you will be.