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Match your bike to your body

June 13th, 2005 by Mike

Via HoustonChronicle.com

WASHINGTON — Seemed like when we were kids, everyone rode a bike. But if you haven’t cycled since the last oil crisis — or maybe even if you have — you probably need a refresher on how, exactly, your body should fit on a bicycle. Improper fit can cause discomfort and promote injury. It can also make you give up on a fun and healthy form of activity.
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Todd McDonald, membership assistant at the League of American Bicyclists, a 125-year-old Washington-based advocacy group, offers these pointers.

• Sitting on the seat, you should be able to touch the ground with your toes, but not your whole foot. If you can stand flat-footed while seated, raise your seat.
• While seated, put one foot on a pedal and extend that leg down: Your knee should be slightly bent — at a 10-degree angle. A fully locked knee can cause injury and bending it much more than 10 degrees reduces efficiency.

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2 Responses to “Match your bike to your body”

  1. 1 Owen Hund 

    Thanks for the seat & leg angle tips. I have just purchased a bike & am struggling to get comfortable. Have raised seat to max, i can touch ground with ball of foot. I am wondering if the frame is not too small, how do i tell. The frame is an M, I assume this is a medium, looks to me like a 19 inch. I am 6 foot.

  2. 2 oki 

    me and my bud are both 6′2″ ,he has a 19″ and seems totally unstable and cramped on his ride and constantly moans about needing a bigger bike, im on a 23″ xc which seems to fit just nicely although i get loads of comments about it being too big ( it is a garry fisher with genesis geometry(longer top tube), required me to fit a smaller stem to get it feeling right,pauls cycles where i bought it didnt seem at all interested in helping me size the bike to fit on sale),,my previous was a 19″ which caused me no end of pain due to stem to kneecap impacts, to be honest i felt more in control with my 19″ but the 23″ is lovely to ride and it actually feels like i got something under me rather than it feeling non existant, that said my other bud is 5′10″ and rides a 19″ xc, it seems to fit him perfectly and when ive ridden it it seems nice but slightly on the small side.
    i suppose you just need an experienced bike shop that actually gives a sh1t to help you get your correct size and fit.

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