Choosing the right bicycle saved Hartley Alley’s life.
Hartley, a college professor, took up bicycling back in 1959. At that time he weighed 195 pounds and smoked two packs of cigarettes a day. An electrocardiogram showed that one of his coronary arteries was already completely occluded.
“I had to do something to get back into shape,” Hartley told us. “Cycling seemed like a fun way to exercise.”
Right off, Hartley bought a road racer with big gears and tried to keep up with a younger, fast-riding crowd. But the big gears tore up his knees and he had to quit bicycling for six full months.
Hartley used his enforced rest to learn more about bicycling. He soon realized that the reason his bike was stashed away in the garage was due more to lack of know-how than to lack of physical ability. With a more suitable bike, he was sure he could do better.
Hartley sold the road racer. And as soon as he could ride again, he bought a lightweight touring bike with a wide range of gears. In a short while he was riding every day. His wife Jean also took up bicycling and they began to take touring vacations together. Hartley noticed dramatic improvements in his performance when first he quit smoking and then, a few months later, he went on a low-fat diet that he has maintained ever since.
As later electrocardiograms showed his heart developing a new artery system, Hartley’s physician credited bicycling for saving his life. His heart is now as good as new without surgery or drugs.
After finding the right bicycle, Hartley Alley at age
68 set out on a 2,300-mile tour from Colorado to Massachusetts.
“If I hadn’t found the right bike, I’d be dead today,” Hartley told me. “Once I learned what bike I needed, I went from a fat slob lighting one cigarette after another to a trim, athletic 150 pounds in a single year.”
Since then, Hartley and Jean have bicycled together all over the world, including China. And for 14 years they operated the Touring Cyclist, a Boulder, Colorado firm that pioneered the concept of nylon touring bags.
To celebrate his retirement, at age 68 Hartley bicycled 2,300 miles from Boulder, Colorado to Boston, Massachusetts to attend his fiftieth high school reunion. En route, Hartley carried a mobile ham radio transceiver and maintained constant radio contact with other ham operators as he pedaled along.
For this trip, Hartley knew he would need exactly the right bicycle. So he had a special touring model custom built by Lieper of Boulder, Colorado. Weighing only 25 pounds, it has 21 speeds and a gear range of 25”-106”.
“That was exactly the right gearing for me,” Hartley said. “When I reached Lynn, I easily rode up the steep, fifteen percent grade to my boyhood home. Which is something I could never do on the bikes we had as a boy.”
Hartley’s experience bears out what I’ve been saying all along: that choosing the right bike to begin with dramatically reduces any chance that you will want to give up on bicycling later.
What you are seeking, of course, is a good match between bicycle and rider. And that can be achieved only by considering your long- term bicycling needs. Thus if you expect to become fitter than you are at present, and able to ride farther and faster, you should get the best entry-level bicycle that your money can buy. That still translates into a medium-quality bicycle. You don’t need an Italian road racer or a custom-built touring bike yet.
But you still need to know which type of riding you expect to do. So to help you decide, let’s take a look at each of the types of bicycles you can choose from.
Road Bicycles
Weighing 22-27 pounds and equipped with skinny tires, road bikes are designed to glide gracefully on paved roads with a mini mum of effort. The majority have 10-24 speeds and drop-type handlebars, and they are used for fitness training, day rides, racing, and touring.
Road Racing Bicycles
Most people buy racing bicycles because of their sexy, sporty look. They have no more intention of racing than does the average sports car owner. But if you plan to ride competitively, or in triathlons or Masters races — or if getting ahead of the pack in club rides is your aim — then this is your bike. Its lightweight frame, rims, and tires let you cover longer distances in less time, and no additional skill is needed to ride it. But owning a road racer limits you to a type of riding primarily built around fast, short rides.
A racing bike’s aggressive frame geometry makes it a mediocre choice for touring, and its poor shock absorption makes it uncomfortable for all-day rides. Its narrow, delicate tires are vulnerable to punctures. Too, its high gears are designed for standing on the pedals as you “honk” up hills. Thus if you sit down to a climb, you can tear up your knees.
Although gears can be altered, most racers habitually use closely spaced gears. And these big gears need legs and lungs that most adult newcomers don’t yet have.
If your goal is recreational riding — day rides and touring — a road racer can be an unwise choice. Its load-carrying capacity is poor and stock models lack the gears for easy climbing.
If you do opt for a racing bike, you won’t need an expensive model. Competition among manufacturers is so intense that virtually every medium-priced road racer features such advances as step-in pedals, tight frame geometry, and a geometrically matched fork. So little difference exists among most makes that they all tend to have steep-angled frames with short chainstays plus top Japanese drive trains and componentry. They have two chain rings and six, seven, or eight cogs. And most come equipped with 700-size wheels and lightweight clincher tires. (Note: newcomers should avoid any road racer equipped with tubular tires.)
Sports Bicycles
Sports bicycles are equipped with slightly less expensive componentry than racing bikes but have greater durability and a wider gear range, and they provide a more comfortable ride. Sports bikes usually have either 700 x 25 or 700 x 28 tires, or they may have 27” wheels with 1 1/8” or 1 ¼” tires.
Most sports bikes have two chainrings and six, seven, or eight cogs, providing a total of 12, 14, or 16 speeds. You can quite easily convert a sports bicycle into a near-facsimile of a touring bicycle by installing a triple crankset, thus endowing it with 18 or more speeds. You should also switch to 700 x 28 tires or to 27” by 1 1/4”.
Alternatively, you can upgrade a lightweight sports bicycle into an entry-level road racer (good for novice races only) by installing lighter-weight tires. If the sports frame has a slack seat angle, such as 72° rather than the 73-76° found on road racers, you can compensate by sliding the saddle as far back from the handlebars as it will go. This will give you riding power almost equal to that of a racing bike.
These modifications allow you to try racing or touring with a sports bicycle. With or without these changes, however, a sports bicycle is an excellent beginner’s choice for fitness riding and for day rides.
Touring Bicycles
Touring bicycles, or road cruisers, are a compromise between the geometry of a sports bicycle and the low climbing gears found on mountain bikes.
However, to achieve maximum comfort, chainstays are made longer while both head and seat angles are often as slack as 71.5°. Add on more fork rake to lengthen the wheelbase to 40 - 42¼ ”, and you have a superbly comfortable bicycle that offers exceptionally stable handling under a heavy load. Regrettably, some speed and handling agility is sacrificed in the process.
All modern touring bikes come with brazed-on attachments for two or three water bottles and with eyelets for mounting front and rear baggage racks and mudguards. (Mudguards are commonly called fenders.) Even when using the widest tires, a touring bicycle should have ample clearance for mounting plastic mudguards. Though mudguards may spoil the sporty look of your bicycle, they can be lifesavers if you will tour in such perennially rainy areas as Europe, the British Isles, Ireland, or New Zealand. So make sure that any touring bike you buy will accept mudguards. Better touring bicycles are also equipped with the same powerful cantilever brakes as mountain bicycles. And the triple crankset, standard on all touring bicycles, allows you to climb hills as easily as with a mountain bicycle.
A touring bike
Rims are usually 700 x 32, or 27” with 1¼” tires (or optional 1 3/8” tires for unpaved roads). Some touring bikes offer the same 26” wheels and 1h/2 tires found on city and mountain bicycles. Gear- shift levers may be mounted on the stem, or on the handlebars if desired. And a flat handlebar can be substituted for the usual drop- style handlebar.
Alternatively, by removing the racks and mudguards, and using slightly lighter tires, your touring bicycle can double as a sports bike.
If you live in, or plan to ride in, hilly and mountainous regions, if you plan to do any extended touring, especially in wet weather, and if you may want to ride on fairly smooth, unpaved roads, a touring bike could be for you. Excellent models are produced by Trek, Cannondale, Raleigh, Miyata, Holdsworth, Claude Butler, and other makers.
All-Terrain Bicycles
The mountain bicycle’s ability to conquer terrain that many people would hesitate to even walk on, plus its familiar upright riding position and fat nonskid tires, have attracted thousands of adults who feel intimidated by road bikes that resemble racers. As the beginning adult’s most popular bike, the mountain bicycle has taken America by storm.
Other attributes of the mountain bicycle have already been noted in Section 1. But all of these merits apply only to the true mountain bike. Right at the start, I recommend that beginners avoid buying a mountain racing bicycle or a city or commuter bike.
Ultralight and designed for fast handling by off-road racers and racing teams, the mountain racing bicycle is a highly specialized race-oriented machine that is usually quite expensive. If you want to try off-road racing, your best bet is to sample it on a regular mountain bike first.
Second, city or commuter bikes (they’re the same) are simply slightly cheaper, stripped-down versions of the mountain bicycle with fewer gears and no advantages. They’re designed for riding in urban traffic and for commuting on potholed city streets while negotiating gratings and broken glass. A true mountain bike will do all this plus you can use it for off-road riding on weekends and evenings. Thus I recommend newcomers to consider only a bonafide mountain bicycle.
Until recently, mountain bicycles could not be used on indoor trainers, but new models now accept off-road bicycles. Thus you can continue to pedal indoors in bad weather.
The Mountain Bicycle
The mountain bicycle is a durable and versatile machine de signed for whipping down dirt roads and for riding on trails littered with rocks and stumps. With its wide, 26” wheels it is equally at home on pavement, though its heavier 26-30 pound weight and greater rolling resistance cut its speed during highway travel. Nonetheless, by using 1½” road tires—good on either pavement or dirt roads—you can still cruise the highways at a respectable 10-12 m.p.h. Alternatively, you can use the fat, knobby 1.95” tire, or the larger tractor-type 2” tire, for negotiating rocky trails. Before you take your bicycle on any trail, however, make sure that mountain bicycles are permitted and welcome (see Section 12 for further information).
A mountain bike, aka MTB.
Among features all mountain bikes have in common is a flat or slightly raised handlebar that permits riding in the upright position. The sliding seat post allows the saddle to be dropped several inches at the flip of a lever, permitting the feet to straddle the ground for negotiating rough descents. The combination of three chainrings and six to eight freewheel cogs provides 18-24 wide-ranging gear positions — more than enough to maintain a brisk cadence of 60-90 r.p.m. while pedaling over most terrain. And mountain bikes have powerful cantilever brakes that provide all the stopping ability most riders need.
Despite their high center of gravity, mountain bikes are safe and easy to ride. The handlebar-mounted gear shifters and the large, motorcycle-type brake levers provide instant control. Both front and rear derailleurs can be operated simultaneously, allowing you to jump from first to twenty-first gear within a second.
Frame sizes are smaller than for road bikes, ranging 16½ - 18 – 20 - 22 - 24” in size. Most women’s mountain bikes have 18 - 19” frames. Short chainstays and a fairly steep seat angle place the rider’s weight over the rear wheel for superior climbing traction while a longer top tube and a still relatively steep head angle makes for lively and responsive handling. Meanwhile, the large-diameter fork blades with their unmistakable rake provide a smooth, shock- absorbing ride and an overall wheelbase of about 42”.
Good Mountain Bikes Don’t Have to Be Expensive
Most experts recommend that beginners buy a bike with a wheel base of at least 42” and with chainstays of at least 17”. Also worth knowing is that, for the entry-level adult, mountain bikes priced near the bottom of the average price scale almost all provide surprisingly good handling and riding capability.
While mountain bicycles tend to cost about 20 percent more than road bikes, few beginners need a top-of-the-line model. If you plan to tour, however, check for adequate dropout eyelets and brazed-on attachments for water bottles, touring bags, and racks.
Many riders today use a mountain bicycle with 1½” tires for long- distance highway touring. One advantage is their ability to take to almost any kind of gravel or dirt shoulder should traffic conditions warrant. They are also less susceptible to punctures.
The mountain bicycle is not recommended for fast club or group rides. But for fitness, leisurely club rides, solo day rides, or touring; for climbing hills or mountains; and for any kind of dirt road or off- road travel, the mountain bicycle is hard to beat.
Women’s Bicycles
If you’re a woman 5’ 4” in height or under, you may find that a conventional bicycle doesn’t fit as well as it should. That’s because most conventional frames were designed for men, and women have marked physiological differences.
In comparison to men, women have shorter arms and torsos, smaller hands and feet, narrower shoulders, longer legs, a broader behind, and a wider pelvis. To ride a conventional man’s frame, a woman must stretch out, tilting the pelvis forward. This distortion often leads to discomfort in neck, shoulders, and pelvis.
The basic problem is that the top tube is usually too long while components such as brake levers may be too large for women’s hands, and crankarms can be too long for a short woman’s reach. Sliding the saddle far forward while using the shortest stem extension may help. But it doesn’t entirely compensate for a top tube that is nearly an inch too long.
Several manufacturers have overcome this problem by designing bicycles to match a woman’s physiology. The top tube is approximately 2 cm shorter than on a conventional bike, and on frames of 19” or under, components are tailored in proportion. On some extra-small models, either the front wheel, or both the front and rear wheels, may be only 24” in diameter.
New Women’s Models for Every Riding Style
The new women’s bikes are available for racing, sports, touring, or mountain bicycling. I recommend that women 5’4” in height or under seriously consider buying one of these new women’s models. The new women’s models have diamond frames with a top tube just as on a conventional man’s frame.
You should note, though, that these new models differ from the traditional step-through ladies’ bicycles in which the top tube is cut away or dropped to form a “ladies’ “or mixte frame. The problem with these traditional women’s models is that they are not as strong or as stable as a “man’s” bicycle, though the mixte frame is a good compromise. Incidentally, the step-through ladies’ bicycle will generally not fit a woman taller than 5’8”. Most taller women can ride a conventional bicycle.
WOMAN’S BIKE with MIXTE FRAME
Assuming a bicycle fits her, a woman of almost any height can successfully ride a conventional diamond frame. However, if for some reason you prefer a step-through cutaway frame, I recommend trying to locate one that has a mixte type frame.
The new women’s bicycles with frames of 19” or under usually have smaller components including short 165 mm crankarms; small toeclips; a narrow handlebar; compact brake levers; a short stem; and a wide, well-padded saddle designed to accommodate the female pelvis.
Among manufacturers recently specializing in women’s bikes is Terry’s Precision Bicycles for Women, 1704 Wayne Port Road, Macedon NY 14502 (1-800-289-8379). Other women’s road and ATB models have been made by Trek, Centurion, Cannondale, Bridgestone, Nishiki, Panasonic, Fuji, Lotus, Fisher, Raleigh and others.
Tandems
Since the average tandem buyer is aged 45, tandems are designed with the mature adult more in mind. A bicycle built for two equalizes two riders with unequal abilities. A person who enjoys cycling 70 miles a day can cheerfully share a tandem with a partner able to ride only 30 miles. Together they can easily rack up 50 miles. It’s a great way for couples to stay active together.
Tandem
But sharing a tandem requires a degree of compatibility that some couples simply don’t have. For example, the rear rider can’t turn around, lean out, or shift weight suddenly. The front rider balances for both, and also does all the steering, braking, and gear shifting. Both riders must learn to start off together and then to pedal in synchronized rhythm. A tandem requires more handling skills; for example, corners must be taken more widely.
Although aerodynamically more efficient, a tandem is slower uphill. Yet it literally rockets downhill, so much so that most tandems require three brakes. A wide gear range is obviously essential. The frame and components are all heavy duty. Thus tandems take longer to build and cost two to three times as much as a solo bike. You may have to wait several months for a stock model to be delivered.
But increasing numbers of tandems are showing up, ridden by couples of every age from yuppies to retirees. Tandem sales are doubling annually. The average age of members of the Tandem Club of America is 45 years. And special tandem rides, events, and tours are held all over the United States.
Santana, the largest maker, produces ten models, seven of which are for touring. Other tandems are made by Schwinn, Burley De sign Cooperative, Ritchey USA, and Cannondale, while Fisher Mountain Bikes produces a mountain bike version. Tandems also come in racing, sports, or touring models.
Choosing a tandem as your first bike can be riskier than buying a solo bike. A lot depends on your partner. If you’re considering a togetherness bike, try one out first, even if you have to rent a department store tandem. If you anticipate touring abroad, you’ll want to know that a tandem is more difficult to ship by plane. And its wheelbase is far too long to fit into your car trunk.
Which Bicycle Shall I Buy?
If you’re still uncertain as to which type of bicycle to buy, consider this. Experience shows that mature adults are more likely to take up touring than racing. So let’s eliminate a road racer. That leaves a choice between a sports or touring bicycle, and a mountain bike.
Some manufacturers are now producing a hybrid sports-touring bike. The sports-tourer has slightly tighter frame geometry than a standard touring bike along with caliper brakes and a triple crank- set. So for a road bike with a drop-type handlebar, a hybrid sports- touring bike is probably the best compromise.
Otherwise, a mountain bike is a fairly safe bet. You can ride it on highways or on unpaved roads, on day rides or on extensive tours, or you can ride it around cities and around the park if you want to.
Or if you might prefer a compromise between a mountain and a touring bike, the road/off-road hybrids is quite popular. A cross between a road and an off-road bicycle, the hybrid is a highly versatile machine that combines the best features of a mountain bike with those of a land cruiser. It looks like a leaner type of mountain bike with drop-style handlebars, and it can traverse both pavement and smooth dirt roads or hard-packed trails. But in its versatility lies its weakness. It is not as good as a mountain bike on a rough road nor can it equal a road bike on a highway. Yet for someone who still isn’t sure where he or she is headed in bicycling, the road/off-road hybrid can be a good compromise.
By now you will have gathered that there is more than one variety of hybrid. To identify the hybrid you want, ask for a sports- touring hybrid or a touring-mountain bike hybrid, always naming the two bicycle types that the hybrid lies between.
Brand Names and Decals
Having by now decided on the type of bicycle you need, you are probably wondering which brand name you should buy.
Some bicycles and components are still made in Europe. But today 90 percent of all frames and components are manufactured by a mere half-dozen companies in Taiwan and Japan. Thus these manufacturers offer the same technology to virtually all the 75 or so firms that assemble and sell bicycles on the U.S. market. Many of these firms simply buy the same generic frames from a manufacturer in the Orient and stick their own brand-name decals on it. This has led many bicyclists to believe that decals and brand names have relatively little significance.
Since a bike is the sum of its components, what you should look for is a bicycle that is well-built, not merely one with a well-known brand name. Quality construction counts more than decals, especially the workmanship in the frame. Today, Taiwan produces top- quality frames while Japan manufactures high-quality drive-train and other components. The best built, medium-priced bikes draw on quality parts from both countries.
If you’ve read and absorbed this guide so far, you should have formed a good idea of what you want in a bike. Each bike shop usually carries a limited number of brands so you’ll want to visit several bike shops for a wider comparison. Be sure to check the year of any model you plan to buy. Some bikes may remain unsold on the showroom floor for over a year. Thus a shop may try to sell you a last year’s bike that may lack important high-tech advances that are incorporated into the current year’s model.
Buy Only from a Quality Adult Bicycle Shop
Try to patronize only stores that offer adult bicycles. Most such stores carry only bicycles of dependable quality and your bicycle will be professionally assembled with a free tuneup and alignment provided after 30 days. That’s because spokes, cables, bearings, and other components tend to need adjusting after a new bike has been ridden for a month.
Through a bicycle shop you can also arrange a gearing swap, or you can arrange changes in chainrings, crankarms, saddle, handlebars, or virtually anything else. Most bicycle shops also provide their own shop warranty (such as free labor to replace failed parts for 60-90 days after purchase) in addition to the manufacturer’s warranty.
Study the manufacturer’s warranty carefully. Most guarantee the frame and fork against failure due to faulty workmanship or materials for the life of the bike — but to the original purchaser only. Components are also usually guaranteed for 6—12 months. All guarantees are void if the bicycle is abused or damaged in an accident.
By comparison, department stores usually carry production line bicycles with components of mediocre quality. Frames are usually of small-diameter tubing and parts lack the precision that is needed for smooth functioning. The bikes are then often poorly assembled by inexperienced help. No test rides are allowed, nor are you offered a free tuneup after 30 days. Spare parts are often hard to find, and most quality bike shops refuse to repair production line bicycles.
Sure, you can save some money. But if you’ve followed this guide so far, you will already know better than to buy a department store bike.
How Good are Internet-order Mail-order Bicycles?
How about a quality bicycle offered through internet and/or mail-order catalog? Here again you can probably save some money. But there is seldom a shop warranty, nor are you offered a free tune-up after 30 days. There is no experienced salesperson to make certain that the bicycle fits you. And to read the specifications in a catalog often requires more experience than most beginners possess.
Buying that Bicycle
In 2008 a no-frills bike of medium quality cost about $700. As the price increased to around $1100, so did the quality of frame and components. But $1100 was about tops for a medium-quality road bike. To pay more bought only subtle improvements of importance only to the more advanced rider. Mountain bikes cost about 20 percent more.
How about a used bike? What about all those great bikes that adults bought in past years and then stashed away in the garage, never to be used again? If you can find a quality bike in good condition that has obviously had little use, and that can be purchased inexpensively, you can be getting a bargain.
But if it is several years old, a bike won’t have recent high-tech advances such as tight geometry, indexed shifting, elliptical chainrings, or a wide gear range. Nonetheless, since quality components are usually put only on a quality frame, the label on a frame can be a good tipoff to the overall quality of an older bike. If the label says something like, “Guaranteed made with Reynolds 531 double butted tubes, forks, and stays,” an older road bike might be worth buying—at the right price! Even then, you should have an experienced bicyclist check it out for you before buying.
If your budget is limited, don’t plan to spend all of it on the bicycle. You will also need a helmet, gloves, a pump, and a nylon bag to hold tools, tire irons, and two spare tubes plus spare spokes. and brake and derailleur cables. You will also need one or two water bottles and cages, and possibly shoes.
Consider what you’ll do if it rains. Far too many riders take a chance and go without raingear. A summer thunderstorm can soak an unprotected rider in a few minutes, leaving the rider chilled and shivering and at risk for hypothermia. For the time being, a plastic raincoat or poncho might do. But eventually you may need more dependable raingear. You may also need a larger nylon handlebar or rack bag, and a rear rack. Most bicycle accessories and clothing can be quite expensive unless obtained through Internet or mail-order catalog.
Ensuring a Correct Fit
If your bicycle frame doesn’t fit, or if the saddle is wrongly positioned, you can look like a frog on a bicycle. Among the benefits of patronizing a quality bike shop are that you will get a bicycle with a frame that fits, and your saddle will be correctly positioned.
Frame sizes have already been explained in Section 2. To find the minimum frame size you need, divide your height by 3. Thus a 6’ person needs a frame of at least 24” and a person 6’ 3” tall needs a 25” or 25½ ” frame.
To ensure that a particular bike fits, straddle it, wearing the shoes you intend to ride in. With both feet flat on the floor, there should be 1- 2” of clearance between your crotch and the top tube of any road bike. For a mountain bike, the clearance should be 2 -3½”.
Bike shop personnel will also adjust the saddle to match your height and body build. Most novice riders position the saddle too low, creating unnecessary stress and pain in the knees. Saddle height is correct when the knees remain slightly bent at the bottom of each stroke (when the ball of the foot is on the pedal in the full-down position). Bike shop personnel will then hold the bike so that you can backpedal. If you rock from side to side, even slightly, the saddle is too high. When adjusting saddle height, at least two inches of the post must remain in the seat tube. Otherwise, you need a longer post.
SADDLE HEIGHT: Saddle height is correct when the knees remain
slightly bent at the bottom of each stroke. To adjust the saddle to the
correct height, place your heels on top of the pedal. (If shoes have heels,
use your instep.) At the bottom of the pedal stroke, the knee should have
only a slight bend. With toeclips, use the underside of the pedal when making
this measurement.
Next, you’ll be asked to sit on the bicycle with crankarms in the 3 and 9 o’clock position. When the saddle is correctly positioned, the bottom of your knee cap should be directly above the center of the pedal spindle when in the 3 o’clock (forward) position. Check both sides. Some bike shops drop a plumb line from the bottom of the kneecap of the forward knee. They then adjust the saddle until the plumb line bisects the pedal spindle. If your bike has a slack seat angle (72° rather than 74°) a good mechanic may also adjust the saddle slightly rearward for superior pedaling power.
Adjusting Your Bicycle for the Correct Riding Position
SADDLE POSITION: To check for correct saddle position, turn the
pedals to the 9 and 3 o’clock positions, parallel to the
ground. When the saddle is correctly positioned, the bottom of your kneecap
should be directly above the center of the pedal spindle in the forward
(9 o’clock) position. For an accurate measurement, the
ball of the foot must be on the pedal.
With road bikes, the same plumb line is often used to check a second fore-and-aft saddle adjustment. As you grip the handlebar drops (the part of the handlebar which curves downward closer to the ground), the bike mechanic will suspend the plumb line from the tip of your nose. If the saddle is correctly placed, the plumb should fall approximately one inch in front of the top of your stem. The handlebar itself is then adjusted so that the drops are almost parallel with the ground but facing slightly upward and forward. Meanwhile, the tip of each brake lever is aligned with the flat part of the drops.
The stem is also usually set about one inch below the saddle height. Many racers prefer it still lower while bicycle tourists tend to have the stem higher, the better to view the scenery.
Most bikes are designed for men of average height and build. If you’re so tall that there is dangerously little support left for the stem and post, you should consider a frame of 27”.
FINAL SADDLE PLACEMENT CHECK: When the saddle is correctly placed,
a plumb line dropped from the nose should fall approximately one inch in
front of the top of the stem. The correct position can be achieved by adjusting
the saddle, stem and handlebar positions. When both hands are on the drops,
the back should be at an angle of less than 45 degrees.
When Steep Geometry Isn’t Always Fastest
A. common difficulty with correct fit occurs when a rider with unusually long thighs tries to adjust the saddle on a racing or sports bike with very steep angles. With a seat angle of 750 the saddle can seldom be moved sufficiently rearward to allow a rider with long thighs to deliver optimal pedal power to the road. The solution is to buy a bike with angles slack enough so that the saddle can be adjusted further toward the rear to compensate for the long thighs. Thus if you have this body build, a steep-angled frame may not always be synonymous with speed.
To ensure an optimal fit for cleats, and for road racers in general, some shops offer clients a Fit-Kit session at extra cost. Since the fit is racer-oriented, a Fit-Kit session is worthwhile only if you will wear cleats or use clipless pedals.
After riding for a month you will discover if any further adjustments are needed and the bike shop will make these changes without charge during the 30-day tune-up.
If and when you decide to buy a bike, one final adjustment may be needed. If the bike has a kick stand, have the mechanic remove it before you leave the shop. A kick stand frequently causes a bike to fall, or to be blown over, and it adds unnecessary weight.
Experienced riders prevent unsightly frame scratches by leaning their bikes against a tree or post, or by laying them down, so that only the rack stays come in contact with other objects.
Next: Bike Care & Repair
Prev: Good Gearing
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