Bike Fit Guide

Why get a bike fit?

• Comfort. When you're in the right position, your bike feels good.
• Power. Recruit the right muscles to maximize your power output.
• Sustainability. Hold your position and put out power for longer periods.
• Aerodynamics. Your position is the biggest factor in your aerodynamic drag.
• Injury prevention. Help prevent joint pain and common cycling injuries.

When should you get a bike fit?

• New bike day. Find the right position on your new bike.
• Deal with pain or discomfort. Small changes can help address problems like numb hands, knee pain, or a sore neck.
• Try new things. Maybe you want to get lower to be more aero, or try a more relaxed position for a long endurance event, or try different equipment.
• Transfer a fit between bikes. If you have a bike that fits well, you can use Fitter to transfer your fit to a different bike.
• Periodically. Bodies change and adapt. It's a good idea to do a fresh fit every year or so.

Gather your equipment

• Bike
• Camera (you can use your phone, tablet, or computer)
• Tripod or stable surface to mount your camera (a phone tripod mount works well)
• Masking tape or Velcro dots (for body markers)

It's best to put your bike on a stationary trainer. If you don't have a trainer, you can carefully lean against a wall and backpedal (or remove your chain and pedal forward).

Take a video

• Pedal for at least five seconds.
• Use moderate effort and a natural cadence.
• Sit in a normal position. If you're on a road/gravel bike, put your hands on the hoods (not the drops or tops).
• Upload the video to Fitter. (Fitter will use the first five seconds of the video, so consider using the editor to trim the video to about five seconds.)

Make adjustments

Fitter will guide you through each step to analyze your fit and make adjustments. For each section below, follow this process:

• Upload a video.
• Drag the dots to line up with your body markers.
• Adjust your bike as recommended.
• Upload a new video.
• Repeat until you're in the right range, and then move on to the next step.

It's important to do the steps in order—start with saddle height, then move on to saddle fore/aft, and then finish with handlebar reach/drop.

Saddle height

• Check your knee angle at the bottom of your pedal stroke (with the crank in the 6 o'clock position).
• If the angle is too small, raise the saddle.
• If the angle is too big, lower the saddle.
• The saddle should feel comfortable and your hips should be stable (or only rocking a tiny amount).

Saddle fore/aft

How far forward should your saddle be? There are a few approaches:

• Knee over pedal spindle. This is the traditional method. The front of your knee should be aligned over your pedal spindle. You can use Fitter's crosshairs tool to draw a vertical line from your knee.
• Center of mass. Your body's center of mass should be vertically aligned with the center of your bottom bracket. You can use Fitter's center-of-mass tool to measure this. (This is not recommended for time trial bikes because your position is so far forward.)
• All the way forward. There's a trend toward moving the saddle as far forward as it can go. This gives you a lower torso angle with the same hip angle, which can offer benefits for aerodynamics and biomechanical efficiency.

Minimum hip angle

• Check your hip angle at the top of your pedal stroke (with the crank in the 12 o'clock position).
• If it's too small, you can try moving the saddle forward. Shorter cranks can also help.

Handlebar reach and drop

Adjust your reach and drop until you find a comfortable position with the right torso angle. A larger torso angle gives you a more upright and comfortable position. A smaller angle gives you a lower position, which is great for aerodynamics but can be hard to hold for long periods.

Handlebar reach is the horizontal distance from your saddle—i.e., how far forward you need to reach to put your hands on the bars. Drop is the vertical position of the handlebars. Reach and drop are related: if you lower the handlebars, you'll increase the reach, and vice-versa. You might need to adjust both incrementally until you converge on the right position. Start by adjusting the reach.

Things you can adjust:

• Handlebar height (the amount of spacers between the stem and the frame)
• Bar rotation
• Brake lever position
• Flipping the stem (for example, a -6 degree stem becomes a +6 degree stem when you flip it)
• Saddle fore/aft
• Brake lever rotation (rotate them inwards to slightly decrease reach)

Equipment you can change:

• Stem length (for a road/gravel bike, a good starting point is 100mm)
• Stem angle
• Handlebar width
• Handlebars with shorter/longer reach

Your position should feel comfortable. In a neutral position (hands on the hoods for a road/gravel bike), you should feel relaxed with your elbows slightly bent. If your arms are straight, there will be too much weight on your hands when you're riding, which can cause numbness and tingling. You should be able to look up the road without neck pain.

A lower position is more aero, but it's only faster if you can stay there without getting too fatigued. It's often faster to have a slightly more upright position that's easier to hold. If you want to try a lower position, do it gradually: decrease your torso angle by a few degrees and ride for a few weeks to let your body adapt, and then repeat. It's also helpful to work on core strength, mobility, and flexibility.

Other adjustments

• Cleat position. Position your cleats to match your natural foot alignment, usually with the ball of the foot slightly behind the pedal spindle, to maximize power and reduce joint stress.
• Handlebar width. Use handlebars that roughly match your shoulder width for optimal control and comfort, with narrower bars offering better aerodynamics and wider bars providing more stability.
• Crank length. Choose crank length based on your height and flexibility. Shorter cranks can improve comfort and reduce knee and hip pain while allowing a more aerodynamic position.
• Q-factor and pedal spindle length. Adjust your stance width through Q-factor and pedal spindle length to match your natural hip structure, ensuring your knees track properly during pedaling.
• Insoles/wedges. Use specialized insoles or wedges to stabilize your feet, fix alignment issues, and prevent hot spots or knee pain caused by improper foot position.

Learn more

• Phil Burt's book Bike Fit is one of the best resources on bike fitting.
• RETÜL has a series of YouTube videos on bike fitting.
• Escape Collective has several great articles on bike fitting, including here and here.