67 votes
Accepted

I am a beginner to commuting by bike and I find it very tiring. Is it my fitness level or my single-speed bicycle?

Was going to comment, but I'll make this an answer - it's the bike, not you. No, I really do mean it's the bike..... The bike as a fixie with 48/19 gearing is suitable for a cycle fit 20-something ...
mattnz's user avatar
  • 50.1k
29 votes

Is it possible to measure your sit bones at home?

None of the above techniques worked for me. I made no impression on the corrugated cardboard and the foil just showed a nice big bum-print after sitting a few different surfaces. I came up with my own ...
eMTB's user avatar
  • 291
24 votes
Accepted

Why don't seat tube lengths on modern bikes match their assigned sizes?

ANSWER The "frame size" is no longer a physical measurement on the bike. Instead its a "virtual" distance. Remember traditional horizontal top tube frames? These have been "...
Criggie's user avatar
  • 124k
22 votes

Is it possible to measure your sit bones at home?

I know this is an old thread but it's the top one on Google and I found it helpful. I tried all the methods above and I didn't have a lot of luck so I wanted to share what I tried. I made some ...
Char's user avatar
  • 221
22 votes

Making bigger steel frame smaller

It isn’t possible to resize a bike like this. You would be talking about removing each individual tube, cutting it down to size, and then rejoining them. We would be talking about all the tubes, not ...
Weiwen Ng's user avatar
  • 31.2k
21 votes

I am trying to find a trailer for a disabled adult

There are a lot of options that don't involve a passive trailer. Moving two people with the energy of one person means that hills are to be avoided. You'd struggle to get up an overbridge or short ...
Criggie's user avatar
  • 124k
21 votes
Accepted

Should saddle height be changed in relation to different crank arm lengths?

Actually, imagine your leg at full extension. With longer cranks, your foot is 5mm further away. To maintain the same leg extension at the bottom of the stroke, you would lower the saddle with longer ...
Weiwen Ng's user avatar
  • 31.2k
19 votes

How to be certain a Boardman ADV 8.8 would fit without prior road bike experience?

This is why people recommend not going to Halfords. (For the benefit of people outside the UK, Halfords is primarily a car accessory shop, which also sells bikes). If you go to a proper bike shop, ...
David Richerby's user avatar
19 votes

I am a beginner to commuting by bike and I find it very tiring. Is it my fitness level or my single-speed bicycle?

Great effort on both the write-up and the commitment to start riding again. Try and separate the issues: Your route was suboptimal due to trusting google Getting off and walking a bike is ...
Criggie's user avatar
  • 124k
17 votes

Why do people seem to choose "aero hoods" over "aero drops"?

Short version: If you raise the bars, now the drops are too high for their best use: steep and technical descents. Longer version: “Aerohoods” are used in flats. You can get the brakes if you need to, ...
Paul H's user avatar
  • 4,102
16 votes

Unable to get into a 'TT' position, is my bike fit wrong, or am I just fat?

A bike fit is not intended to make any position you can adopt on your bike work. If the bike fitter did their job correctly, then would have set you up for your current level of flexibility, ...
Argenti Apparatus's user avatar
15 votes
Accepted

Adding gears to my grandson's 12" bike

If your grandson is that young, he's likely to have trouble keeping up with you no matter what bike he's riding. It may be that it's your expectations, not his bike, that should be modified. It seems ...
jeffB's user avatar
  • 582
15 votes
Accepted

I'm an absolute beginner in bike touring, about to buy a bike. Is it worth it to hire a bike fitting service before the purchase?

Welcome to the cycling world. This is a good question. It may not be possible to answer entirely objectively. My vote is not to get a professional fit now, but I'll outline some considerations that ...
Weiwen Ng's user avatar
  • 31.2k
15 votes

Do smaller riders tend to need a wider saddle?

No - smaller riders tend to smaller saddles, all other things being equal (like gender). However females tend to have wider hips for biological reasons, so the sit bones are further apart on average ...
Criggie's user avatar
  • 124k
15 votes

Does it really matter if my stem doesn’t block the hub?

No, it doesn't matter. Riders have different body weight distributions, degrees of upper body strength, body proportions, and sets of priorities for their hunched-over versus upright positioning, even ...
Nathan Knutson's user avatar
14 votes

Why do I have to keep on changing my fit?

Often, I get on my bike and things feel a little off. I put it down to varying fatigue, stiffness, amount of sleep, mood, stress or a hundred other things. I then try to get get warmed up, then ...
Argenti Apparatus's user avatar
14 votes

I am a beginner to commuting by bike and I find it very tiring. Is it my fitness level or my single-speed bicycle?

4.1 miles, mostly flat, are on paper doable by any human with two legs in about 90 minutes. Walking. A bicycle? it should be at least 1/3 quicker (although I would expect it to be 3 or 4 times faster ...
EarlGrey's user avatar
  • 3,518
14 votes

Is a dropper post a good solution for sharing a bike between two riders?

Using a dropper for this purpose is not a good solution. Droppers do not let you easily choose a set height other than all the way up or down, and most of them don't give you a quick visual way of ...
Nathan Knutson's user avatar
14 votes

Is Lemond's saddle height method outdated?

(The Lemond method is to measure inseam by 0.883 in socked feet and use that to set the distance between the BB center and the top of the saddle). The Lemond method gets into the ballpark of correct ...
Nathan Knutson's user avatar
13 votes

Safely Switch Bicycles before a Century?

I would strongly advise against that. Your legs are not going to be the problem, and neither is your overall conditioning/strength. If you are going to be around other riders, you need to be able to ...
david1024's user avatar
  • 501
13 votes

How much can we change our bike wheel diameters before needing another bike fit?

The thing about bike fit is that it's almost exclusively about relating your body position to the mechanical parts of the bike. The relationship between handlebar, saddle and pedals is unaffected by ...
Chris H's user avatar
  • 58.4k
13 votes

I think I chose the wrong road bike size

Almost all road bikes have your torso leaning forward to some degree, meaning you have to hold your head up constantly. If you've never ridden a true road bike before, you've probably never had to do ...
Andrew Henle's user avatar
  • 10.5k
13 votes
Accepted

What are, if any, the signature postural differences between riding a 26″ bike and a 29″ bike?

Wheel size can sometimes have repercussions on fit due to the bike design considerations where wheel size is a factor. But, those considerations largely deal with design choices rather than absolutes. ...
Nathan Knutson's user avatar
12 votes
Accepted

Can I modify a slightly too big bike?

Try stopping with one foot down, leaning the bike over and leaving your dominant leg on the pedal with the pedal forward and up ready for a power stroke. By leaning the bike over you can get lots of ...
Rider_X's user avatar
  • 30.6k
12 votes

Adding gears to my grandson's 12" bike

Is he extremely short? An 8-year-old is almost 9 years old, and: "26 inch mountain bikes are suited for kids that are 9-13 years old." Don't fix up the 12 incher. Head into a local bike shop and get a ...
Tom Anderson's user avatar
11 votes

Is there more than one ideal seat post height based on type of riding?

Yes. However, it varies by type of riding and conditions. All Mountain is probably the extreme example of this (and the main market for dropper seatposts). All Mountain bikes are designed to be ...
Deleted User's user avatar
  • 9,978
11 votes
Accepted

What is the problem with adjusting brake levers to end their travel "too close" to the handlebars?

The issue with having brake levers which have travel that ends very close to the bars is that, as the brake pads wear down, the brake levers will hit the handlebars before the brakes are fully engaged....
Ealhmund's user avatar
  • 2,065
11 votes

Pedal foot position - balls or arches

The ball of the foot gives a large, strong, stable area to use on the pedal, and gives you a nice lever to use your muscles effectively. Conversely, the arch of your foot is soft, elastic and not ...
Swifty's user avatar
  • 12.8k
11 votes

I am a beginner to commuting by bike and I find it very tiring. Is it my fitness level or my single-speed bicycle?

This is an updated form of my answer, partially in response to the other answers. It is you, not the bike. The bike may be a bit of a tough, perhaps over-ambitious choice, but it is in principle ok ...
leftaroundabout's user avatar
11 votes
Accepted

Does a bike fit "carry over" from one bike to another?

In the abstract, yes - unless something changes in your body (joint mobility, upper body strength and mass, power output etc), then for a given discipline of riding and with a given set of goals (all ...
Nathan Knutson's user avatar

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