Bike Fit - Bicycle Touring advice from Adventure Cyclist Steve Williams

BIKE FIT

1. When you’re training prior to your departure, riding say ride an hour or two a day, it may seem like your seat and handlebars adjustment are just fine, but it’s quite a different experience to pound out the miles day after day. In my experience, one of the most overlooked adjustments is in the width of the bar. Most are set far too wide to be comfortable for long distance touring. Imagine if you were crazy enough to do push-ups, where would you place your hands? Directly in front of you or way out to the sides? Try the push-up test and you will see why it’s important to keep your bars the width of your shoulders.

2. Back in the “old days” of bicycle touring it was common wisdom that the handlebar and seat should be as close to level as possible. With the advent of the “Ahead set” and more useable length on the steering column this now is allows for more precise adjustment. The ”stack height” under the stem can now be adjusted in 1mm, 2.5mm or 5.mm increments.

3. Shoes and pedal are as important and the seat and bars. Consider the force you are placing on each foot on average 75 times a minute. I was one of those “clip less skeptics”. Now I can’t even imagine riding without them and here why I think they are much safer. You use the same motion to release the shoe from the pedal every time. I hate to say this publicly and they are not paying to endorse them but the Shimano pedals rock and I highly recommend using their Multi-Release #M-55 cleats.