The Bike Fit, Part One; Understanding bike fit.

In this two part article Todd Jones will discuss bike fit. We will touch on overarching philosophies behind the bike fit to provide our reader a basic understanding of what a bike fit is and some common considerations when looking at having a correctly fitting bike. Such as which Type of Bike Fit; Bike Fit Bandwidth; Pain Vs Performance; along with Aerodynamics, Comfort and Power

Bike fitting is process of adjusting a bike for a cyclist to optimise their comfort, performance and efficiency. A Bike fit aims to prevent injuries, increase efficiency, comfort and improve performance for all cyclists.

You have finally brought yourself that dream sled via Bike Chaser, it’s the right colour, it just looks fast and brings a massive smile to your heart but now for the all-important part, ensuring your machine is set up just for you. Let’s consider your new bike (or even your loyal current steel steed for that matter) to be an extension of you and you are an extension of it.

You are one with this weapon and it’s imperative we properly connect human and machine. 

All too often we come in contact with folks who are just beginning their journey into all that is great about riding only to hear that their experiences are plagued with sore lower backs, aches in the neck and shoulders, foot numbness or the dreaded knee pain. Whilst there will always be an adjustment period to a new activity or position, sustained discomfort should never be present.

So in this two-part piece, we are going to discuss bike fit. In the first part, we will touch on overarching philosophies behind the fit before discussing some of the basics of a bike fit in part two. 

Which Type of Bike Fit

Just like there are trade-offs when choosing a bike between comfort, performance, and weight, when we are choosing which bike fit, we face a similar trade-off in that between a traditional cost-effective solution or a professional dynamic video analysis based fit.