How to Size a Bike That Helps You Find the Right One
When people shop for a new travel bike. One of the most common questions, we hear is what size bike should I buy?
Here we described short and quick tips and methods on how you can size your bike firstly.
Number Based System
Some people may have an idea of their bike side based on previous bikes.
They’ve ridden and said I ride a 54 well the manufacturer’s website says I’m a medium while that’s commonly how people do their bike shopping it is also a surefire way to end up with a bike that is their own size.
The problem is that traditionally bikes are categorized using a t-shirt sizing method or bike they’re labeled small medium and large. A number-based system is also used where bikes are labeled 52 54 56 and so on.
This is important to clean your bike chain properly and here is a piece of information on how to clean a bike chain with household products.
Neither of these methods tells you how one buy compares geometrically to another.
If you compare actual measurements of two bikes from the same brand in a 54 you may get drastically different results even though they are advertised as being the same size.
Rode bikes we normally use measurements called frame sack and frame reach frame sack and reach measures a vertical and horizontal distance from the center of the bottom bracket to the top of the head tube.
The bikes only using frame size is an incomplete picture as the ergonomics and geometry of the Aero bars on bikes can vary from brand to brand and bike to bike some bikes.
The points of contact you have with the bikes can be very different depending on the brand bike and level of integration.
Armed Stack
At very first all use the same concept arm pads stack and arm pad reach measuring the vertical and horizontal distances from the center of the bottom bracket to the top edge of the arm pad.
We need to calculate the possible minimum and maximum positions using the stock equipment to get an understanding of the range of appropriate configurations for the bike.
We spent dozens of hours digitally measuring bikes to get a proper understanding of how one bike relates to another and the results are startling.
Take for example two bikes so felt v-series a classic triathlon platform from felt design for value and ease of ownership and the felt IA felt category killer providing Superbike performance and more accessible prices.
When comparing the felt B Series and the felt IA measurements show that the felt B has a minimum arm pad stack of six hundred and thirty-nine millimeters and a size 54 which is nearly an inch and a half taller than the felt IH which has a minimum arm pad stack of six hundred and five millimeters in the same size.
The minimum reach also has a significant discrepancy with there being about an inch difference from the same two bikes in the same side.
This effectively means that if you fit on one of the bikes the other doesn’t fit well even though they are from the same brand.
We’re not trying to pick on felt either this type of scenario exists throughout the Viking
world whenever someone comes into the shop and says they’re looking for a 54 doesn’t really help us all that much finding something that fits them well as a fit-centric shop.
This is a problem we tackle there making sure that people are getting the best bike for their money to help solve this problem we ignore traditional bike sizes and explicitly use arm pad sacks and arm pad reach as our go-to measurement to determine a bike size for bikes.
The only way we can be absolutely sure that you’re being sized right once we know you’re sick ordinance your contact points on a bike.
We can compare the emerging stack and reach measurement against the databases by geometries.
We’ve created to find the perfect bike for you this prevents scenarios we’re using traditional frame sizing leads.
You to buy an improperly sized bike. you can see many examples that bike rallies and races where people are using excessive spacers and memorized to try and compensate for having a bike that isn’t sized correctly.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, most bike shopping experiences start with questions about brands and test rides.
While those things are important those questions come after a proper fit session with a good bike fitter to determine your ideal fit coordinates.
When you go bike shopping – so armed with the correct measurements and shop with confidence knowing you’re going to buy a bike that is right for you.
If you want to learn more about bike repairing guidelines check OutdoorXsports for bike repairing posts.
