Your bike and You

“I want to ride my bicycle; I want to ride my bike” sang Freddie Mercury of the rock group Queen back in 1978. He’s not alone as each year we in Britain cycle about 5 billion kilometres. To prevent injury, it is important to ensure that your bike is the best fit for you so what should you look for?

Frame size

When you straddle the bicycle frame with your feet flat on the ground you should be able to comfortably clear the crossbar or “top tube” of a gent’s bike. Ladies who want a bike with the traditional “step-through” frame can get a good indication of suitable frame size by trying a gent’s bike first.

Once you have an appropriate frame size, think about the 3 points of contact the human body has with the bike – hands, feet and backside. Our body weight is spread over these relatively small points so correct positioning will improve comfort when cycling.

Saddle Height

Your saddle should be high enough that your knee is almost, but not completely, straight at the bottom of each pedal stroke. Riding with a “soft” knee like this ensures that the knee is not repeatedly overextended with each revolution of the pedals as this would stress the ilio-tibial band, stress the hamstring tendons and increase loading on the patellofemoral joint all resulting in knee pain. Riding with a saddle which is too low will inhibit leg power making you an inefficient cyclist and will also stress the quadriceps tendon again giving knee pain. Your saddle is too low if you can get both feet flat on the ground while sitting on the saddle.

Saddle size

Saddles come is 3 standard widths and it is well worth ensuring that you have the best fit for your anatomy as determined by the width of your ischial tuberosities or “sit bones”.

Handlebars

Handlebar height depends on personal preference but remember that lower bars require more body flexibility and promote a more aerodynamic riding style whereas higher bars reduce spinal flexion and therefore reduce neck, back and wrist strain. Handlebars should be the same width as your shoulders. If wider, then arms and chest create a large area for wind resistance to slow down speed of travel but if arms are too close together it becomes harder to breathe properly.

Pedals

Toe clips keep the ball of the foot over the pedal axle for an efficient cycling technique. The position of the toe clips is important. If rotated towards the bike there will be extra rotation of the shin bone resulting in knee pain, particularly around the knee cap. If the toe clips are rotated away from the bike frame this causes external rotation of the shin giving pain on the inside of the knee.

Get on Your Bike!

An ill-fitting bike can be the cause of knee, back, neck, shoulder, and wrist pain. Time spent ensuring the anatomy of your bike is a best fit for your own anatomy will help you stay on your bike to get fit, have fun and avoid unnecessary pain. We all want that!

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Published in Konect April 2020

Author: McNaughton Physiogrange

www.physiogrange.co.uk