Making Sure Your Bike Fits

The devil is in the details.

After you’ve decided on the perfect bike and the correct frame size, work with your local bike shop to fit the bike to you (as opposed to fitting you to the bike). The goal is to be comfortable (contrary to what you may have heard, saddle sores aren’t a given in the sport), prevent pain and injury and improve your pedaling efficiency.

This goes beyond adjusting the saddle and tilt of the handlebars:

Crank length is determined by your height and riding style. Longer cranks give you more leverage, helpful if you like to push big gears at a low cadence (climbing, time trialing, etc.). If you like to spin at a high cadence, you’ll do better with standard cranks.

Saddle height is correct when it allows full leg extension, with a slight bend in the leg at the bottom of the pedal stroke.

Saddle angle should be level. If the nose of the saddle tilts down, you’ll end up sliding off the front and leaning into the handlebars. Before you know it, your arms go numb. Ride like this long enough and you’re likely to develop tendonitis in the elbow.

Saddle position. The goal is to achieve what bike fit experts refer to as a neutral position. Clip in and pedal until the crankarms are horizontal. Hold a weighted string to the front of your forward kneecap. The string should touch the end of the crankarm. If the seat is too far forward, you’ll engage the quadriceps; too far forward and you emphasize the hamstrings and glutes. You’ll be more efficient—not to mention in less pain—if you engage both muscle groups equally.

Handlebar width should equal shoulder width to open your chest for better breathing.

Cleat alignment. The ball of your foot should be directly over the pedal axle. Cleat position should be neutral; there should be no twisting sensation in the ankles, knees or hips when you pedal.