Fit:

Probably the most important aspect of buying a new frame or bike is how you fit.  If you don’t fit I don’t care who built it, how cool it looks or how much it cost.  Your new bike will ride like a pig and you will be the unhappiest person on the planet.  Not to mention a few $$$lighter!

There are three ways to achieve a proper fit:

• You have lots of riding experience and your current bike is so comfortable you can ride or race all day with no pain or fatigue.

• The time honored system of taking standardized measurements and cross referencing the data against known calculations.

• Consult a Fit Specialist, besides taking the standard measurements and checking flexibility, a fit cycle and a computrainer are used…watts don’t lie.

When you fit your bike, the ride is comfortable and efficient.  As you’re pedaling your riding is relaxed and your bike handling skills are almost second nature, it feels almost effortless.  Getting a good fit doesn’t have to be hard.  Variances in body sizes and proportions, levels of fitness, flexibility, technique and style, all affect a cyclist’s best position on the bike.  Conflicting advice and formulas, “a friends” positioning, and twenty magazine or internet articles a month tell you what is right.  Bottom line, what worked for Fausto, Eddy, or Lance might not work for you.

The following is an easy straight forward approach to a proper fit.  It will be easier and much more accurate if you have a friend help you take all the necessary measurements.  After you’ve taken the measurements I’ve listed below we’ll talk.  I prefer to talk with you, whether it’s in person or on the phone about likes, dislikes, riding style and goals rather than just have you just fill out a form that I’ll question anyhow.  Please fill in the blanks, make any additional comments, copy and paste your answers (if you are or using a Fit Specialist, contact me for an additional form that needs to be used) and email those sections to me.

Date: _________

Name: ____________________     Age: _____     Gender: _____

Address: _________________________     City: _______________

State: _____    Zip: __________    Best time to call: ___________

Phone: ________________    Email: _____________________

Riding Style:     Recreational     Racer     Miles a year: ______

Race Category: ______     Type:    Road     Criterium     Track

Frame:     Made-to-measure     Signature Series

Frame Material:     Aluminum     Steel     Titanium

Frame Style:     Road     Cyclocross     Track

Clavicle notch to floor: _______        

Inseam: _______    Femur Length: _______

Shoulder width: _______    Arm length: _______

Cycling shoe size: ______        

Flexibility:     1        2        3        4        5        (a board #1 to a pretzel #5)

Clavicle notch to floor:

Standing with your back against the wall and your bare feet shoulder width apart.  Locate your clavicle notch (run your finger down your throat pressing lightly, you’ll feel a notch below your adams apple where your collarbones come together) and measure down to the floor.

Inseam:

Stand in bare feet (wearing cycling shorts) with your back against the wall. Place a book with a 1” binding between your legs, with the binding facing up. Hold the book firmly into your crotch (you should feel the same pressure as you would when sitting on your bike saddle).  Make sure your legs are straight, and hold the book square against the wall.  Measure the distance from the floor to the binding, this is your inseam length.

Femur:

Kneel with your thighs shoulder width apart and 90 degrees to the floor.  Hold the same book you used to find your inseam firmly in your crotch and measure from the floor up to the binding.

Shoulder width:

Stand against a wall with shoulders back and measure horizontal to the floor from Acromain Process to Acromain Process.

Arm length:

While standing, hold a pencil in your dominate hand and find your Acromain Process, which is the outer most bone of your shoulder. While moving your arm up above your head and down slowly feel on the top of your shoulder and arm joint for an indent, now position your arm straight at a 45 degree angle from your body. Measure from the indent to the pencil.

Measurements of your current frame:


 

Year: ________    Make: ____________    Model: ____________

Material:     Aluminum     Steel     Titanium     Carbon

Wheel size:  700    650      Seat post:   Straight     Laid back

A. Seat tube length (C to T): ______    B. Saddle height (C to T): ______

C. Top tube length (C to C): ______    D. Top of top tube to ground: ______

E. Seat tube angle: ______    F. Stem length: ______

G. Bottom bracket drop: ______    H. Chain stay length: ______

I. Wheelbase: ______    J. Axle to Ground: _____

K. Bar center to ground: ______    L. Head tube angle: ______

M. Fork Rake: ______

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