Riding a bike that doesn’t fit you properly is no fun. The handling is compromised, it’ll likely be uncomfortable and you risk injuring yourself from either over-reaching or being too cramped.

There are no cast-in-stone rules for how to set up your bike, but there are general principles. Having the correct set-up simply means that your bike fits you for the type(s) of riding you do. This could be for more speed, better aerodynamics or increased comfort.

Getting the right fit means more than just having the right size frame; it means that your bike fits you at all the main contact points – handlebar, saddle and pedals – so you don’t have to adopt an uncomfortable position.

Bike

Make sure you are wearing your normal cycling shoes and shorts. Measure your actual inside leg with socks on or to the top of the sole of your shoe at the heel.

Do this by holding a level up in your crotch or just by pushing the end of the tape measure into your sit bone where you rest on the saddle.

Saddle top-to-pedal distance

Multiply this by 109% to get your saddle top-to-pedal distance. This may need to be modified up to 15mm either way to compensate for different riding styles. Set the saddle flat with scope to put the tip slightly up for men and slightly down for women (+/-8mm from the level). Set the saddle height to your 109% length.

Warm up enough so that you start pedalling naturally then stop with your leg at full extension. Your foot should be flat or slightly toe-down, but make sure you don’t change your natural style for the set-up as things will immediately change back when you get out on the road.

Reach to the bar

Once you’re happy with the saddle height, concentrate on the reach to the bar. On the tops, you should be relatively upright and comfortable.

Similarly, you should be happy to spend lots of time on the brake hoods or tri-bars. Adjust the reach by either swapping the Ahead stem for a shorter or longer one, or use an Ahead adapter if your existing stem is a quill type.

Brakes and gears

The drop portion of the bar should not be out of reach so spend time in this position to make sure that the brakes and gears are accessible.

If they’re not, take time to move the levers. A good starting point is to create a horizontal platform from the shoulders of the bar onto the hood of the brake levers. This provides a comfortable cruising position while still allowing access from the drops.

Riders with small hands can use bars that have reduced sections behind the shifters to allow easier access to the shift levers.

Handlebar

Check the handlebar width by comparing the measurement across your shoulders with that across the bar, and be prepared to go wider or narrower accordingly.

Remember that wide bars open your arms and have the effect of dragging you forward, which is not good news for smaller, slighter riders. Measure the bar across the centre of the ends – 38cm is narrow and 44cm is wide.

Pedals

Dropping a plumb line down from the kneecap will give you a fix on your cleat position. The plumb line should drop through the pedal spindle – if it doesn’t, move the saddle fore or aft to correct.

The ball of your foot should be over the pedal spindle for balanced pedalling. You may have a preference for lifting and dropping your heel when pedalling (called ankling) or you might prefer to push bigger gears with a stiffer ankle action. In the first instance, move the cleats forwards for more ankle freedom and backwards for big gear crunching (the latter is not generally recommended).

This feature is brought to you by Get Into Cycling from Future Publishing, the publishers of www.bikeradar.com