Professional bike fittings will make you want to ride more

I’ve been in Cycling For decades – riding with grade school buddies, kicking ass in college, then city hopping in Boston, Paris, Barcelona, ​​New York, and now Seattle. Somehow only in the past 10 years, when I became a volunteer mechanic for a bike-focused nonprofit in Seattle, have I thought about adjusting anything more than seat height. Now I’m keen to make sure I have the right bike and that it suits my body and riding style.

I wish I could’ve figured these things out sooner, so in this story, I wanted to gather expert advice on the basics of what people should look for and what questions to ask when buying a bike. (My colleague Michael Venotolo-Mantovani did just that More tips If you go that route.) Next, I’ll take my own bike to a professional fitter and delve into the nitty-gritty of bike fit to see what it means to have a custom ride.

I start without a bike at all. I walked to meet Rebecca Kuo, Seattle’s community resource manager Bike worksthe non-profit organization I volunteer for. Ko previously ran the sales floor as a general manager in the city Bicycle repairFor the purposes of this story, we’re pretending like I’m in the market for a bike that I’ll use for transportation and general enjoyment. We’ve established that it’s different from my own bike, so I won’t be comparing the two in the back of my mind.

Bike Works sells new bikes and Reconditioning old bikesAfter a round of questions about what I was looking for, particularly about how and how often I planned to use it, Kuo brought out the Trek Multitrack 7200, a powerful hybrid likely from the late 2000s. This ride is straight, pretty, silver and blue, with a short wheelbase, flat bars, grippy shifters, and a big, squishy seat, all very different from what you’re used to.

“Hybrid cars are a soft landing ground for many people looking to get into cycling,” she explains.

It checks to make sure there is about 2 inches of space between me and the top of the frame. She then asked me to place my thumb on top of my left thigh and extend my hand flat in the air next to it, adjusting the initial height of the seat directly below it. With Ko supporting the bike, I jumped up so she could adjust the saddle height, making sure I had a slight bend in my knees with the pedal at its lowest point.

“This slight bend helps make sure we’re engaging the larger muscles — like the glutes and thighs — where the strength comes from,” she says. “It also helps keep pressure off the knees.”

From there, it’s time to grab the rails, which can usually be raised, lowered and rotated. We then adjust the angle of the brake lever to make sure I have my hand on it in a comfortable position.

Koo makes sure I look relaxed, not exaggerated, without locked elbows or compressed neck, and not confined to what some call the “meerkat pose,” with a straight back and wrists and elbows so bent as if you were staring over them.

After these modifications, it’s generally a good time to do some initial inventory, as you’ll hopefully be spending a lot of time on this bike. So how do you feel? If the saddle feels wonky, consider a different saddle. If it’s good, it’s time for a test drive.

I hopped on the ride and pedaled around the parking lot, first noticing that giant squishy seat, which is kind of weird…but kind of fun! It suits the vibe of the bike, and I love it. The brakes are nice and attractive. The whole thing looks surprisingly clever.