Choosing the Right Bike Frame Size & Why It's So Difficult - BikeFitTuesdays

Summary

In this episode of BikeFitTuesdays, Cade Media discusses the complexities of choosing the right bike frame size. Despite the abundance of information online, many people still struggle to find a frame that fits them perfectly. The video explains that bike sizes have evolved significantly over the years, and many manufacturers' sizing guidelines are outdated. Factors like stack and reach, as well as personal measurements and preferences, play important roles in determining the right size. The video emphasizes the importance of getting a professional bike fit to ensure an optimal match, as typical size charts can often lead to choosing a frame that's too large. Ultimately, it's all about focusing on rider comfort and fit rather than solely on bike measurements.

Highlights

• Finding the correct bike frame size remains challenging for many 😬.
• Modern bike sizes differ significantly from those in the past 🚲.
• Manufacturers often mislead with their frame size labels 👀.
• The 'one size fits all' notion is misleading; personalization is key 🔑.
• Professional bike fitting is highly recommended before buying ✨.

Key Takeaways

• Choosing the right bike frame is tricky due to outdated sizing methods 🚴‍♂️.
• Many people end up with bikes that are too big rather than too small 🤔.
• Stack and reach are essential, but not absolute measurements for sizing 📏.
• Professional bike fitting is crucial before purchasing a frame to ensure proper fit 💪.
• Riders need a practical, informed approach to bike sizing decisions 📚.

Overview

Choosing the right bike frame size shouldn't be a headache, but it often is! This episode of BikeFitTuesdays dives into why finding the perfect fit is so tricky. With bike sizes having evolved over the decades, many manufacturers' rangings are still stuck in the 1980s. This outdating leads to a whirlwind of misinformation and confusion for potential buyers.

The discussion shifts onto the nitty-gritty details of bike geometry – elements like stack and reach come into play but are often misconstrued as definitive measurements. Instead, they're markers in the complex map of understanding bike fit. Ultimately, it’s about how the rider interacts uniquely with the bicycle, making a professional fitting almost invaluable.

Finally, the emphasis is on empowerment. Buying a bike isn't just about picking a 'medium' or 'large' from a lineup without thought. The video underlines the importance of fitting first to save money and ensure comfort in the long run. After all, most mishaps come from frames chosen too large, spotlighting the urgent need for more informed buying decisions.

Choosing the Right Bike Frame Size & Why It's So Difficult - BikeFitTuesdays Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 welcome to another brand new episode of bike  fit tuesdays in today's episode we're going over   bike sizes and why it's so difficult to find  the right one after a quick look online it's   obvious that there are loads of people out  there trying to find the right size frame   if you're in the market for a new bike and  struggling so we're going to try and address   some of the pitfalls and give a few tips on  how you can find the right frame size for you so why is it so hard to find the right frame size  is it because frame sizes are a bit misleading   i think we're still sizing bikes like it's  1984. so and i think this is the case with
• 00:30 - 01:00 seemingly with bike manufacturers it's  the case in bike shops it's the case with   a lot of the information that you read online  and by that statement i mean that in 1984 a   bicycle was designed and proportioned very  very differently so a 56 centimeter bike   would have a 56 centimeter top tube it'd have  a 56 centimetre seat tube an 80 millimeter stem   and no handlebar drop so the handlebar and salad  were more or less the same right i'm talking like
• 01:00 - 01:30 kind of great with monday fast forward 35 years  and a 56 centimeter bike is very very different   it has a 56 and a half to 57 centimeter top shoe  it's got 50 centimeter seat tube 120 ml stem and   10 centimeters of handlebar drop the  point i'm making is is a significantly   bigger bike than it than it would it would have  been 35 years ago and i i think that this whole uh   mindset hasn't hasn't really changed to put  them to give a bit of context i'm five foot ten
• 01:30 - 02:00 i ride a 52 centimeter off the shelf race bike  so if i was going to buy such a bike i'd buy   52 centimetres of cannondale or specialized or  trek uh most sizing structures put me in 54 maybe   even 56 in some cases i mean your bike i think we  were talking earlier off camera is a 51 but it's   but it's it it's which is a misleading size  in itself because there isn't a single tube   on your bike measures 51 centimeters there are  a number of examples of this across the bike
• 02:00 - 02:30 industry cannondale so i'd call you out but you  know how they make a bite for the synapse they   one of the sizes is 51 centimeter it's got  a 53 centimeter top shoe and this is one of   the things that we're going to try and look  to explore in this video is to actually give   you a little bit of context on actually how a  bike is sized so we've got a perfect example   here of why frame sizes are misleading if you  take me as an individual i'm five foot ten uh   i've got an eight centimeter in seam and i you  know if i if i go into a into a shop and buy a
• 02:30 - 03:00 t-shirt i buy a medium t-shirt i'm a medium-sized  human being so logic would dictate that i would   be a medium-sized bicycle that's a medium-sized  bicycle isn't it this is a medium-sized bicycle   and this is with the sun set kind of you know  at the upper end but it's six centimeters too   high for me the reach is five centimeters longer  than my bike it isn't remotely the right size   okay there are a number of manufacturers  doing this i find with myself that when
• 03:00 - 03:30 manufacturers group their sizing into small medium  large xl i almost always find myself on a small   and i think one of the uh considerations to make  actually with bikes from a fit perspective is that   you're actually a lot of the time you're better  off going with buying manufacturers that offer a   plethora of different sizes in their range trek in  particular is pretty good because they they do two   centimeter increments from 48 to 60 uh and you  know so you've got like eight sizes in between   that inside in in between that range yeah a lot  of the time with geometries um i think things
• 03:30 - 04:00 like giant for example where there are any four or  five sizes you often end up between sizes which is   a roundabout way of saying doesn't fit you uh so  i think that's that's something else to consider   you know if you go if you walk into a shop and you  know try on a pair of jeans and they're too tight   and they try the next size up and they're too  loose you wouldn't you just you wouldn't buy   either of them you go you go somewhere else i  guess what's what i'm trying to get across here   with with bike sizing is the you know not all  not all bikes will fit you i see stack and reach
• 04:00 - 04:30 written everywhere and in loads of videos what is  stack and reach i slightly struggle with stack and   reach because i think uh a lot of individuals a  lot of people tout it as the the be all and end   all of sizing the bicycle yes absolutely it's  important to take into consideration but there   are so many other factors that need to be  considered when uh beyond just stack and reach   to answer the question though stack and reach  is basically the vertical distance it's the
• 04:30 - 05:00 front end coordinates of the bicycles where the  hand work is it's a rough our guide of where the   handlebars are going to be placed in space so if  you draw a straight line up to the bottom bracket   reach is the horizontal distance between that line  and the center of the head tube right here if you   draw a horizontal line through the center of the  bottom bracket stack is the vertical distance from   the center of the head tube to that line all right  it gives us an understanding like i said roughly   of where the front end of the bike's going to end  up but what it doesn't take into consideration
• 05:00 - 05:30 is how many spaces are applied head angle top  tube length handlebar width handlebar reach   and control location and also control style so  it's not a constant with every single bike because   the hedging angle is different well if you think  about stack and reach takes a uh you're talking   about a single point in the head tube and  if you slacken the head angle of the bicycle   so that this angle becomes slacker essentially  what happens is these controls will come   closer to the rider the bike with a slacker  head angle is going to have a comparatively
• 05:30 - 06:00 shorter reach to the handlebar or to the  controls than a bike with a steeper hat   angle my point here is that stack and reach isn't  absolute there are other things that need to take   into consideration when i have clients with me  and they're asking which bike should i buy i   don't just look at stack and reach what stuck in  reach is good for is for giving a rough idea of   frame comparisons you know if you if you  need to get the front end 20 mil higher   the the stack certainly is is a pretty good um a  pretty good constant the reach on the other hand
• 06:00 - 06:30 is is a little bit trickier because there are so  many other variables that need to be taken into   consideration i often get asked by my clients  you know do i have an optimal stack and reach   well no you don't have an optimal stack on  reach and we have retool to thank for this   because stack and reach can can vary but you can  keep the same fit so for example stack and reach   stays the same but you you know put a short  stem on and put more spaces under the stem   that will give you a different fit the stacking  which will be the same so i always work in how the
• 06:30 - 07:00 human being interacts with the bicycle rather than  just the bike and this is the problem with bike   fitting in general is they make it all about the  bike i'm all about the rider and this is the thing   looking at the the new specialized ethos the  sizing structure puts me on a 56 slap bang   in the middle of a 56. that's there's two two  sizes too big for me you would be on a 54 which   is still too big for you and we've just been  discussing off-camera is there a formulaic way   of determining bike size and simply put  no there isn't there are a million and
• 07:00 - 07:30 one calculators out there and you  know they'll they'll some of them   some of them just go on site on ride height some  of them go on inseam some of them dissect the two   but i think ultimately they don't take  into consideration flexibility strength age   functionality strength there are so many different  variables that determine what bike is going to be   the right size for you and furthermore it isn't  just necessarily about the size you can be on the
• 07:30 - 08:00 right size bike but it doesn't necessarily fit  you you know we've discussed this about uh in   a video previously when you don't set your bike  up like a pro most consumers shouldn't be riding   race bikes it's is a fundamental fact because most  of them aren't they aren't strong enough they are   you know fit enough they aren't flexible enough  in order to ride these bikes that were designed   to win the talia or the tour de france so i  think the bike size is just one element of the
• 08:00 - 08:30 fit story i think fundamentally what i think  i need we need to get across here is that the   best absolute best way of understanding whether  bikes can be the right size for you or not go for   a bike fit first preferably in a sonata in a an  environment where you have the ability to flick to   uh to test positions which is why i use this jig  you know allows us to be almost infinite in our in
• 08:30 - 09:00 our experimentation and get a really understanding  of a rider's physiological needs and limitations   and only then only then only by understanding  and scrutinizing the rider can you determine   optimum size optimum fit that is the only  short fire way you don't have to come for   a fit with me job on the ibfys website  they've got you know a whole list of um   a whole database of fitters and they're all ranked  accordingly depending on their experience and the   technology that they use i would also counsel you  not to judge a bike fitted by their technology
• 09:00 - 09:30 but that is my fundamental point fit first by  later be more informed about it go about it in a   in a more empowered way and this is what i all  i'm all about is empowering riders to make more   informed purchasing decisions because  i guess one of the one of the pitfalls   that a lot of people fall into uh when  when trying to find the right size bike   is they'll go to an evans and they'll order six  bikes and they'll go and test ride all of them
• 09:30 - 10:00 every single bike's got a different saddle  height a different saddle different sample pitch   different cell four aft different reach  different stem length different hammer mode   handlebar width different handlebar reach  different crank length different geometry   they go and ride all six of these bikes and you  end up with a very confused individual what bike   fitting does is it it gives you uh very intimate  data as to where your butt needs to be where your   feet need to be where your hands need to be and  that is the best way of equipping you with the
• 10:00 - 10:30 information you need to go and buy a new bike  so this has been one of the hardest topics and   a lot of you guys have asked for it how to  choose the right frame size and it's again   a video that we just can't make because it's not  fair to be misleading give people a rule of thumb   to choose a frame size and then it end up being  the wrong size which nine times out of ten these   methods and calculators will end up doing well  the aim of this video from my perspective is to   just give you guys some more more things to think  about i want you know i want people to think about   the decisions that they're making rather than just  say oh you know i'm a medium that means i must buy
• 10:30 - 11:00 a medium bike i understand it's misleading  i and it is incredibly frustrating to me but   i this is really this really is why i i  pitched the whole fit first thing because   it does it takes the guesswork out of the  equation one thing i think we can safely say   is that the majority of people that come into  you who do end up having the wrong frame size   it's a size too big not a size too small so  generally based on the information that's out   there people end up choosing frames that are too  big that's an excellent point i i almost i almost
• 11:00 - 11:30 never see anyone coming in here with a bike that's  too small i actually can't think of anyone that's   ever come in here with a bike that's too small  bite size is generally a result of saddle height   or is generally driven by saddle height and if  you consider the the most common saddle height   reduction i make is about 20 millimeters that's  bike size so i think a lot of the sizing structure   is is built off of uh excessive saddle hunts  fundamentally that concludes today's episode of
• 11:30 - 12:00 bike fit tuesdays stop buying bikes that are too  big and get a bike fit first because it will save   you money in the long run thank you as always  for watching please like and subscribe leave a   comment down below and we'll do our best to answer  any bite for questions that you have equally if   you want to book a fit with james and you live in  london or you want to fly here we wouldn't be the   first person but a link down below to the booking  page for that as well see you next time you