Bike fit is a marriage between the bicycle and the rider. If the two are incompatible, the marriage will fail. There is an important qualifier to this rule. The bike can be adjusted to the rider’s anatomy in multiple ways, such as moving the saddle up or down or changing the stem. The body can be adjusted only in minor ways, such as with a carefully designed stretching program.

Make the bike fit the body; don’t make the body fit the bike. It is easy to adjust the bike, but difficult to stretch or contort the body into some preconceived “ideal” or “pro” position. For example, long legs coupled with a short torso and arms require a bike with relatively short top tube/stem combination, which is referred to as reach. Stubby legs and most of the height in the torso requires a bike with a long top tube and stem. Forget what your favorite pro rider looks like…unless their body is a carbon copy of yours.

Dynamic bike fit is better than static bike fit. This means that fit while pedaling the bike needs to be considered when fine-tuning such things as saddle height and cleat position. Static formulas for deciding saddle height are only starting points. They must be overruled with dynamic findings, such as observing the rider on a trainer.

Cycling is a sport of repetition. A cadence of 90 revolutions per minute is approximately 5000 revolutions per hour. A six-hour Century would require 30,000 pedal revolutions. Every pedal stroke is almost identical, so it needs to be in the safest position to allow for this kind of repetitive activity. A saddle that is five millimeters too low on a six-hour Century can lead to major knee pain problems over that time. Because of this, the most important bike fit for a cyclist is the first one, to assure a long, comfortable, healthy cycling career.