Bike Fit

Having the right sized bicycle that fits in all the right places makes a huge difference to enjoyment and performance when cycling.

A bike fit will check your position of your whole body on your existing bicycle and make adjustments to avoid injury and improve performance.

The bicycle is fitted to a trainer so the rider can peddle the bike, allowing a holistic view of the rider in action.

Changes should be made in small increments and tested before making further changes. A rider may need time to adapt to changes, so follow-up consultations are be invaluable, especially if significant changes to rider position are identified.

NOTE: consider a professional in-depth bike fit for long distance or high performance riding

Mini bike fit

A mini bike fit should ensure that a rider is in a good position for the bicycle they ride.

• Cleats alighted correctly
• saddle height to ensure legs are not stretching or bending excessively
• saddle position and angle, ensuring correct body contact
• rider reach to handle bars and controls, ensure a comfortable position
• hand positions on handlebars, ensuring comfort remains in various positions

Measurements are taken of the existing bike geometry, so any changes can be reset if they prove ineffective.

The height and inside leg measurements of the rider are taken to help identify their bike fit window.

Peddles & Shoes

A bike fit always starts with the feet and peddles, as this is where the body drives the momentum of the bicycle.

The correct size riding shoe should ensure the foot is not pinched or squashed. Badly fitting shoes lead to pain, blisters and deformation of the toes.

Wide-fit shoes are available from Lake and Bolt.

NOTE: cycling shoes are notorious for optimising aero efficiently over comfort.

Saddle

The three aspects that control the comfort and effectiveness when sitting on the bike are:

• Pitch
• Heigh
• Set Back

Changing one aspect of the saddle will affect the others, e.g. adjusting the 'Set Back' affects the saddle height.

Pitch

The top of the saddle should be level horizontally.

A saddle that drops at the front can push the rider onto the handlebars, placing more strain on the wrists, arms, shoulders and neck.

When a saddle has a raised (slightly curved) rear section, the saddle level should be measured from the front of the saddle until the curve.

Height

A quick gauge of saddle height is to place the heal of the cycling show on the peddle and sit on the saddle. The leg should be straight and the hips level on the saddle (the rider does not have to lean to one side to straighten the leg).

When clipped in, the leg should be just below level when the peddle is at the top of the stroke. The leg should still have a small bend when the peddle is at the bottom of the stroke.

Set Back

The position of your saddle in relation to the peddles (bottom bracket).

Moving the saddle back by 3 cm will typically increase the saddle height by 1 cm.

Handle bar

The most significant measurements of a handlebar are:

• width: inline with the riders shoulders
• reach: the riders hands should can reach controls from any position on the handlebars

Width

Width is measured from the center of each forward facing arm of the handlebars.

Sizes range between 360 mm (XS) to 420 mm (Large).

Reach

The measurement from the centre of the stem to the handlebar controls.

Handlebars may have slightly different reach, up to 3 cm between extra small and large handlebar sizes.