UQ Bicycle User Group (UQBUG) at The University of Queensland

Overview

For optimum efficiency while riding, it is recommended that your bike is setup appropriately for the task.

Bike shops will often provide a service to set your bike up for your body type when you purchase it. Once your bike is setup appropriately, your chances of enjoyment and ongoing use of the bike are immediately increased.

A few of the basic concepts are listed below.

If you have any other tips and tricks you'd like to add let us know at uqbug@uq.edu.au

Disclaimer

These are basic guides and are subject to personal preference, where conformance with these guides is on the basis of best fit for your comfort.
All tips should be considered in the context of your riding needs.
In some circumstances it may be useful to consult a physiotherapist or exercise physiologist to accommodate specific requirements of optimal movement for your body.

Bike Sizing & Setup ...for your leg, body and arm length:

When sizing your new bike, keep in mind to select a size that once setup for you, will allow room for adjustment either up or down.

Frame Size:

Stand over the frame with handle bars in front of you but do not sit on the seat.
Stand up close to the handle bars.
There should be approximately 25mm (1inch) clearance between you and the top cross bar of the frame.

Legs – Seat Position:

Set your seat height to a position that leaves your leg at an almost straight position when the pedal is at Bottom Dead Centre (BDC)*. The leg should not be fully locked in an extended position but only just short of full extension with a very subtle knee bend. The only exception to this setup would be for downhill MTB riding.

*BDC is when the relevant pedal is at the extreme bottom position in its rotation. (relevant pedal is going to be either left or right. It is physically impossible for both pedals to be at BDC at the same time (on conventional bikes), in fact whilst one pedal is at BDC the other will be at Top Dead Centre (TDC)).

Back and Arm Reach:

Commuting, road racing and MTB riding will all have differing body positions.

For Commuting:

Set the handle bars so that you are not leaning forward at an aggressive angle.
If the seat height was raised substantially in the previous step, you may need to raise the handle bar gooseneck to suit.
Typically the handle bars are set slightly higher than the seat position for general purpose riding.

Road Racing and cross country MTB riding usually benefit from having the handle bar positions lower.

Downhill MTB riding usually benefits from a higher handle bar position.

Pedal Selection / Foot Position…

It is no accident that clipless* pedals which are used by all professional cyclists, position the foot so that the ball of the foot is the contact point on the pedal. In the absence of clipless pedals and shoes (of which there are a wide range to suit most styles), it is useful to remember foot positioning on the pedal is most efficient and safer if the ball of your foot is the contact point to the pedal, not the arch of your foot.

* Clipless pedals require shoes with a clip attachment on the ball of the foot to clip into the pedal. It is ironic that these are called clipless, but are so called, because they do not have the cage which the shoe slides into, which were once referred to as clip pedals.

Tyre Selection…

Mountain bikes (MTB’s) are a popular commuting bike in Brisbane. The benefits include robust build and a comprehensive selection of gears, especially for hills. Unfortunately the aggressive tyres that come standard with these bikes is not well suited to roads.

Hybrid bikes are a good compromise and are becoming more popular as they also have a robust design with good gear selection …and standard equipment includes …road tyres!

This said, some will still favour a chunky MTB for their style of transport. If it is going to be used primarily for commuting though, it may be useful to select a tyre that will provide continuous contact with the road both along straights and in corners.

For the straight line riding, a continuous bead of tread along the centre line of the tyre’s tread pattern makes for a smoother ride and keeps your rubber on the road. For cornering, continuous tread is also recommended on the outside of the tread pattern. There are slick tyres much like road bike style only wider that work well for MTB’s on the road and bikeways, but it is also possible to find tyres meeting or closely meeting these criterion and still looking chunky enough to compliment a MTB style, so have faith MTBers.

The key point here is, "Consider your needs before accepting the default tyres on MTB’s". Most bike shops will swap out the default tyres for your preferred option if asked. You may of course need to cover any difference in price as part of this tyre swap.