12 Jul How to Perfectly Fit Your Bike Pro Way
Getting your bike set up correctly is the difference between an efficient, comfortable ride or an inefficient uncomfortable ride and maybe even causing yourself some injury.
So, in this article, I’m going to run through how to set up your bike correctly for you when to do it and how to know if you’ve done it.
Three Main Parts
Three main parts of the bike. You can adjust to ensure a proper fit of the Saddle, Stem/Handlebars, and Cranks.
If you’re buying a new bike from a bike shop, but make sure you get them to set things up properly for you. So, you’re taking your new pride and joy home because of some adjustments, but not all can cost a little bit.
This article great help to you if you want to know how to measure a bike frame.
Saddle
At first, you need to set up your saddle correctly. This included subtle height, how far forward or back to have it on the subtle tilt.
So be quick, adjusting your stand on bars affects how stretched out you are on the bike. This is one of the biggest changes you can make to how your bike fits you on how you feel.
You might not need to adjust anything, but if your bike is too long for you, you’ll feel far too stretched out and you might not have proper control over your steering.
You might get a sore neck and sore shoulders and your saddle will be uncomfortable too because you’re putting pressure on places that you just don’t want the pressure.
On the other hand, if your bike setup is too short, you’ll feel constricted. Your arms will be way too close to your body and you’ll probably ride around with Ben Thompson.
As a general rule, you don’t want to be sitting bolt upright. Then at the other end, you don’t want to have your chin on the hunt boss, something in between with your back at a 45-degree angle to the floor on a 90-degree bend between the back and arms when riding on your hoods.
If you want a position that allows you to be a little bit faster and a little bit racier and you are flexible enough to do so.
Handlebar
You can do this, by moving the handlebars away from you, either by lengthening in the stem or dropping the handlebars.
Likewise, if you want something a little bit more comfortable and you are maybe not so flexible, you can do the opposite. So, moving your hunt bars up a little bit clear. You can change the height of other stuff.
Yeah. There are two peers, depending on how many spaces you have, but, or underneath it, this will have a big impact on how far you have to lean over the bike and we’ll make a big difference to how comfortable you are and your speed on the bike.
For greater adjustment, you can even replace your stem with a shorter or longer one, but this does mean spending a little bit of money.
There’s also a degree of adjustment in your handlebars to why you leave us are fitted can change how far forward do you need to reach by a good couple of centimeters?
You can also tilt your handlebars upwards or downwards, which will affect you will leave a position, but only that will affect how stretched out you are on the pike.
Have a little play around with these until you find a position that you’re happy with. When you come to tightening up the bolts, make sure you adhere to the suggested torque.
It’s important to note that once your saddle is set up correctly, it should remain where it is. Don’t be tempted to adjust it forwards or backward to affect your reach.
Drop
Handlebar Come in all different shapes and sizes, the handlebars for your road, bike consist of the following measurement. The width of the drop and the reach.
The drop is the distance between the top of the handlebars and the bottom of the curb section. A shallow drop brings everything close together meaning your hands don’t have far to travel between positions.
I think drop that is far less common on road bikes requires a bit more flexibility as you have further to travel between positions.
It will usually suit a taller more flexible rider. The reach is the distance between the straight part of the bar and the curved section where your hoods are mounted.
A longer reach should be paired with a shorter stem and vice versa. If you have shorter bars along the stem out.
This all comes down to personal preference and you can have a little play around and see what you prefer.
The width of the bar is quite self-explanatory. The correct bar size is usually down to the terrain you’re going to be riding on, your riding style, and of course your style.
A smaller bar will be better suited for road racing whereas a wider bar will give you better control over rough terrain. If you’re riding on gravel and at lower speeds.
Of course, a smaller bar better suited to smaller riders too.
Cranks
Let’s look at the cranks now far less vital found the saddle and the reach adjustment, but it should also be considered in a proper bike fit too, to start with they come in a variety of different sizes.
Usually based on the size of the bike, a smaller frame, therefore smaller rider and there is a need for a shorter crank.
This is due to leg length hip mobility and to ensure the rider isn’t overreaching at the bottom of the pedal stroke or at the top.
However, not everybody is the same there is growing evidence that having shorter cranks is more comfortable and more efficient.
Mainly because in a very aerodynamic position, your hip joint is very close, making it hard to breathe.
Having shorter cranks will alleviate that being said, the difference in crank length is millimeters ranging from 160 millimeters to 185 millimeters with by far the most common length 172.5 millimeters.
If you do think you would benefit from a different length, make sure you test it out before you go and buy one because change that it’s not cheap.
This is where a professional bike fit will come in handy. Yes, it will cost you a bit of money, but they’ll be able to analyze your body and how it interacts with the bike and take into consideration all sorts of measurements you just can’t do on your own. Again, getting all these things set up before you purchase your bike is the best thing to do.
There’s no point buying something that just doesn’t fit you. Your body will adapt to work in most positions and it might feel okay, but you could be doing yourself some harm further down the line.
you know, when you’ve got it right? Because riding a bike, what it shouldn’t hurt. You might get some aches or pains on long rides, but it shouldn’t have a be painful.
Conclusion
If you did enjoy this article, then please give it a big thumbs up and I hope it has helped you get to your bike set up correctly.
If you do have any questions, please drop them in the comment section below, and we’ll try our very best to get back to you and you can visit OutdoorXsports for more details.