Unlike other types of bicycles, road bikes are a fair bit more sensitive to proper size and fit - get it right and the machine is something you can ride comfortably for hours at a stretch. Get it wrong, and you end up with aching back, taint, hands, shoulders, neck and/or knees.
The bad news is that getting a decent fit or the correct size, atleast in India, is still not a given. The Good Guys, like Wheelsport, Crankmeister, Pro Bikers, The Bike Affair and others, will make sure they fit you properly. But too many bikes shops just have you straddle the bike and if there is enough gap between your boys (or your lady parts) and the top tube, they call it good to go.
To be fair, that's not an India-specific issue. I know several people in the US who have had this issue. When I bought my first road bike from Trek in Bangkok, they sold me a size 60 (I have very long legs for my height) - since then, I have discovered that I ride a size 56! But be that as it may, getting a poorly fitting bike results in a very poor cycling experience. Another way to think of it is that quite a few comfort issues, including saddle discomfort, back and neck issues and hand/arm aches, all directly originate from an improperly fitted bike.
So how do you make sure your bike fits properly? Get a proper fit done by a qualified fitter. Depending on how often you ride and how detailed a fit you want, this can work out to be fairly expensive - but it is the single biggest improvement you can make in your riding, worth far more than groupset upgrades, frame upgrades or wheel upgrades.
That said, getting fitted prior to purchase is not often a realistic possibility for most people. The purpose of this article is to help beginners get a bike whose fit is approximately correct - good enough to get by and with enough freedom to make small corrections to really nail it down in future.
Do note - this fit guide is for road bikes only, not for hybrids or MTBs.
BIKE FIT VS BIKE SIZE
When you sit on the bike, there are 3 contact points - your feet on the pedals, your butt on the saddle and your hands on the handlebars. Bike fit refers to the positioning of these 3 elements. At present, if you are starting out, let's assume you are going to be riding with sneakers and not clipless pedals - so your feet have some flexibility and the pedals are where the pedals are: not much you can do about it. That removes 1 of the 3 elements and leaves you with 2 elements that you can adjust:
- How high is your saddle and what is its position on a forwards-backwards axis
- How high and how far forwards is your handlebar.
A properly fit road bike is one where these 2 contact points are set correctly, to provide you a comfortable and bio-mechanically sound position from which you can exert power on the pedals.
How do you achieve this? You achieve this by sliding the seatpost up and down, by moving the saddle forwards and backwards on the rails, by moving the handlebars up and down on the steerer and by using a stem of a different length and angle.
Now, the range of variation offered in each of these dimensions is typically far more than the different in dimensions of adjacently-sized bikes. In other words, the difference in going up or down one size on a bike is much smaller than the range of adjustment offered by changing the length of the stem, or by moving the seatpost up/down or whatever.
So what this means is that any given rider is quite likely going to be able to get the correct fit out of more than 1 bike size. Eg, i ride a size 56 bike with a 120mm stem and 20mm spacers - I can get the same fit on a size 58 bike with a 90-100mm stem and maybe 5mm spacers. I even made that size 60 bike fit by using a 70mm stem.
Another way to think of it is that a given bike size can accommodate a pretty large range of fit coordinates - and what you need to do is set up the bike to accommodate your fit coordinates.
However, just because you can make many differently-sized bikes fit doesn't mean you should buy whatever size you get. Ideally, when you are starting out, you want a bike size where your fit coordinates are NOT at the extreme ranges of what is possible with that bike, because that limits the amount of adjustability you will have in the future.
THE BASICS OF GOOD FIT
A good fit is pretty simple- it is a position where you are sitting comfortably balanced while leaning forwards on the bike, and the handlebars are where your hands would naturally fall.
The key starts with being "comfortably balanced".
If you look at a photo of a Pro Tour cyclist, he is likely in a very aggressively low and stretched out position, with his upper back almost horizontal. Most likely, you are not going to be able to achieve not - not to start out with, anyway. For one, most amateur riders - especially beginners - lack the core strength and years of acclimatization to that position that pro riders have achieved. For another, they likely have a larger layer around the belly than a pro rider, which also affects their ability to get very low.
So you will likely want to be in a more upright position - however, you dont want to be sitting bolt upright either. Road bikes aren't designed to be ridden with the rider's torso is entirely vertical. They are designed to be ridden with the rider's torso leaning forwards. And this position is only comfortable if your torso lean is suitable for your flexibility, core strength and size.
So in essence, a good fit is all about finding a comfortably balanced riding position which lets you pedal efficiently.
If you recall the previous section, this consists of 2 parts:
- Setting saddle height and fore/aft
- Setting the correct handlebar height (stack) and distance (reach)
Let's get into the specifics of how to do so.
SETTING SADDLE POSITION
This is easy. Put the pedal at 6 o'clock and put your heel on the pedal. Raise the saddle to such a height that your leg is completely extended when seated in this position (but make sure you dont drop your hip on that side). Now, when you put your forefoot on the pedal, there should be a small bend of about 20-30 degrees in your leg. That is the correct saddle height.
As for saddle fore-aft, for now, adjust the saddle such that when the pedal is at 3 o'clock (pointed forwards), the front of your knee is more or less above the pedal spindle. This is called "Knee on Pedal" neutral or KOP Neutral.
This used to be a parameter for setting fit in the earlier days but is no longer a valid fit target - in other words, there is nothing inherently good about being KOP neutral or not. I am just using this as a starting point, not as an end goal.
Also, set the saddle to be perfectly level for now. You can use an app like Clinometer to do so. You dont want your saddle to be sloping downwards, as it will push your weight forwards and you will have to support it with your hands. You don't want your saddle to be sloping too far upwards either, as that will push into your perineum or taint, and cause numbness in an area where no one wants numbness.
With that done for now, let's go to step 2
FINDING THE HANDLEBAR POSITION
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Now comes the tricky part - setting the handlebar position. Handlebars have 2 axes of positioning - up and down, which determines how high they are (stack) and forwards/backwards, which determines how much forwards they are (reach).
Let's talk about what we are trying to achieve here: when you are in your correct riding position, your upper body, though leaning forwards, is balanced and do not have a lot of your weight supported by your hands.
In order to achieve this, you need something to counter-balance the forward lean of your torso - and this is your hips. So when you are in a comfortable riding position, your torso is leaning forwards and your hip is counter-balancing, and when the two are in equilibrium, so are you.
So try leaning forwards right now and find an angle where you are feeling comfortable. Bend at the hips, dont arch your lower back. Also, make sure that as you lean forwards, you counter-balance a little with your hips being pushed backwards.
Once you have this position of balance, reach forwards and grab the handlebars. If the fit is correct, the bars should be where your hands naturally fall . Your arms should be a little in front of you, and you should feel in control and really balanced on the bike, with minimal weight on the arms: a little weight is ok - enough to make things comfortable for you, but not enough that you need it to keep your torso in position. Your arms and shoulders should be relaxed at all times.
If you feel too stretched out, the handlebars are too far away. You can try a shorter stem or a different size. If you feel that you have to bend a bit more in order to comfortably grab the handlebars, and that throws off your balance, the bars are too low - you need to raise them or go with a bigger size bike. Regardless, you need to fit a setup where the bars are where your hands would naturally fall in that balanced position I talked about.
If possible, ride the bike on a trainer for a short while to make sure that you truly are comfortable even when pedaling. If not, adjust as described above.
Once this is done, it is time to do a feedback loop to make minor corrections.
A word: sometimes, you might find that even across a few sizes, you are struggling to get a good fit on a particular bike. That is normal. Some bikes are designed to fit people looking for a low, aggressive fit. Others are designed to fit people looking for a more upright, relaxed fit. So make sure that the bike model you are trying is designed for your riding position. More info on this in Part 2 of the article as well.
FEEDBACK LOOP
You may find that when you adjust your hips to balance, they move a little further back - if so, you can slide the saddle a little further backwards to accommodate this. You may also find that while you can bend your torso fairly low and are fairly comfortable in that position, your upper leg is hitting your stomach or you are finding it a little harder to breathe when you are pedaling in that position. If that is the case, try moving your saddle forwards half a centimeter or so. This opens up your hip angle and makes it easier to get lower (there is a lot more detail to this stuff, but that is beyond the scope of this article).
When you move your saddle forwards and backwards, you may also need to check the vertical height again (same way as we did earlier). And you should re-confirm the handlebar position is where you need it to be after doing so.
ENSURING FLEXIBILITY FOR FURTHER UPGRADES
In a proper fitting bike, the handlebars should be in a position where
you could be comfortable if they were just a little bit higher, lower,
further or closer - in other words, they should be more or less in the middle of your ideal fit coordinates. This gives you flexibility to adjust things later, if need be.
So this means ideally a stem which is 100mm in size (or 90-110mm, atleast). This gives you the option of reducing it down to 70-80mm if you find the reach is too long, or increasing it to 120-130mm if you want a more aggressive position.
Also, if possible, get a fit where you have one or two spacers (10-20mm) under the bar to achieve your ideal fit. Fit is not static but will change as you ride more, gain core strength, perhaps lose some belly flab, etc. While experienced riders like having a bike with no spacers below the stem, that is not a good thing for you, as a beginner. You want the ability to get your bars lower later, if need be - and the easiest way to do this is to remove a spacer or two from underneath.
SUMMARY AND ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS
Keep in mind that this fit guide just lays down some general
principles for figuring out bike fit. Fit is a very personal thing and
general principles are no substitute for getting an expert to help you
with the fit in person -
they will get into a lot more details and nuances than I can explain in
a general article. The bike shops i recommended at the start of the
article are shops which I know for a fact will do so correctly (that is
not to say these are the only ones who do so... these are just the ones I
know and can vouch for).
The biggest challenge for a beginner getting fitted without an expert
providing in-person advice is deciding how to balance a low position
(good for going fast) with comfort. If you set up a bike that is very
comfortable when you start out, you may be more upright than needed.
If you set up a bike that is a little uncomfortable, is that something
you will adjust to or is that a bad fit? An expert can answer these
questions.
And here are a few additional tips, in no particular order:
- When in doubt, go with a smaller size. You can make a smaller bike fit longer, but it is much harder to make a too-large bike fit smaller without affecting handling. Of course, this assumes both the smaller and the larger size can both be made to fit equally well.
- A good bike shop will spend time with you in setting up the bike so that it fits. While raising or lowering the handlebars is relatively easy to do by adding or removing spacers under the stem, bringing them closer in or further out may involve changing the stem. Speak to the bike shop about your options for this - many shops will let you swap a stem, although the cost for this will vary (for an entry level bike, you may have to pay a fee - for a superbike, this is typically done for free).
- Don't abuse a bike shop's service - go through this fit exercise only when you are serious about buying the bike. If you just waste their time, you make it harder for the next person to get good service
- Good fit is a far bigger parameter than obsessing about whether one bike at a specific price point is better than another (see my article on What Bike to Buy). Buy your bike from the shop that goes through the effort of doing all these things for you, rather than trying to save a few thousand rupees. An entry-level bike that fits well will be a lot better and faster to ride than a high-end bike that doesn't fit properly.
- A word on how much weight you should have on your hands: a little weight is ok. It helps balance you and spreads the load. However, if your arms were to magically disappear, you should be able to hold yourself upright by engaging your core - if you rely on your hands to prevent your torso from slamming into the handlebars, you have too much weight on the hands.
- Make sure you also try one size up and one size down, to confirm that the size you are trying is indeed optimal. Sometimes, you may find changing a size can feel different.
- If you are new to road biking, your body will acclimatize to the riding position and you will be able to get lower with time. So make sure you leave yourself room to get more aggressive - as described above.
- Similarly, if you are feeling a little uncomfortable, that's is ok as well. Do a few rides and you might find yourself getting used to things. Of course, if not, you can bring yourself a little more upright - again, this fit guide is designed so that you have the ability to do so.
Remember, fit evolves. As does a rider's body, as it adapts to cycling. Your bike setup will evolve as you gain experience. So to start out with, don't worry about getting it perfect - get it close enough, and then you can always tweak it. And while this guide will not replace an expert fitter, it should (hopefully) be able to get most people to find a fit that is good enough.
Good luck. If you have any questions, feel free to ask on the BikesZone Facebook Group.
There is a Part 2 to this guide, getting into a little more technical details and also talking at greater length about bike geometry and how it affects fit.
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