How to Fix the Mistakes When Setting Up Your Bike at Home

We have talked about 5 mistakes of setting up your bike at home few days ago. Today we are going to talk about the solutions.

Now let's find out!

Solution for: Seat is too low or high 

One common way to measure how high your seat should be is to stand next to it and adjust the seat so that it's even with your hips.

Another way to measure is if you stand on the floor next to your bike with your feet flat and raise the leg that's closest to the seat. If you raise it up to a 90-degree angle, the height of your leg should be at the same height as your saddle, because that's about the length of your pedal stroke.

Once you're on the bike you can do one more check to make sure the seat is adjusted correctly. When you're at the bottom rotation of your pedal stroke, you should have a slight bend in your knee. [Aim for] a 3% to 5% bend in your knee where you can still look down and see the top of your foot.

Solution for: Seat too far from or too close to handlebars

A great way to measure [seat distance] is usually the length of your forearm from your elbow to your middle fingertip. Before you sit on your bike you can place your elbow at your seat and slide the seat forward to where your fingertip touches the handlebar.

Solution for: Handlebars are too low or high

Make sure your handlebars are in a position so that you feel like your shoulders can relax and aren't too high up toward your ears, and make sure you're not hunched over the bike as well.

Always try to keep our shoulders pulled down away from our ears, relaxed, but squared off. If you have lower back problems, try adjusting your handlebars higher. It will help you feel like you can sit up taller, more upright in the saddle and like you're not bending over to hold onto those handlebars. Ideally you want your handlebars to be about even [with], or a little bit higher than, the height of your seat.

Solution for: Death grip on the handlebars

Keep a light grip on the handlebars and be mindful of your posture and form as much as possible. Your hips would be pulled back over the saddle and your hands should be lightly resting and balancing you on the handlebars. So your grip is light but strong.

The goal is to keep your body long and lengthened and keep the hips back so your core, hamstrings and glutes can support you.

Solution for: Wrong foot position/pedaling

You want to keep everything in alignment facing forward. So your knees, your toes, your ankles, everything is facing forward. You also want to keep your knees aligned and avoid crossing them or bowing your knees out. That's going to put pressure on your IT band all the way down through your ankle.

Avoid turning your feet out, and keep a flat foot when you peddle, again avoiding pointing your toes down. To prevent ankle and foot problems, It's better to have a flat foot and lead with your heel for an evenly distributed pedal stroke.