Does your bike fit?

I’ve been thinking lately that my bike doesn’t fit as well as it could. In pictures of me racing last weekend, I don’t look very comfortable. My position on my bike has also started to feel really long, like I am reaching for something. My butt always hurts after a long ride and back has also been acting up.

So, I went to the web for some research and found Peter White’s excellent article, How to Fit a Bicycle. This article addresses a lot of issues I have had with “Rule of Thumb” fitting techniques like the relative position of my knee and foot or whether the handlebars line up with my front hub – none of which made much sense given that each cyclist is proportioned differently. Maybe I’m sensitive cause I’m 6 foot 4 and 180 lbs, much larger than a “typical” cyclist.

I went through Peter’s methodology and it made a lot of sense. I ended up moving my seat fully back (it was fully forward), pulled my handlebars back more than an inch and dropped them about an inch. On my trainer I feel much more comfortable, streamlined and efficient. Tomorrow I’ll hit the open road and see how it really feels.

Check out your fit – it may make a big difference.

ps: for those of you interested in marketing, check out his rant about recieving so much email on the subject of bike fitting. There is obviously a gap in the market for bike fitting and people are clamouring for solutions. Peter has some great ideas (imho) and it’s too bad he doesn’t see himself as a contribution to fill that gap and claim the rewards.

Tagged as: Gear