Learn How To Adjust Your Bike To Your Body For Touring

Before you set off on a bike tour  or any journey that requires you to be in the saddle for long periods of time, learn how to adjust your bicycle to your own body.  Doing this will help you enjoy your bike tour and avoid aches and pains in places you never knew existed.

Adjusting Your Seat

The first thing you need to adjust on your bike is the seat height.  The simples way to do this is to position your bike next to something you can grab to keep balance.  A wall, counter or door frame will do fine. Jump up on your bike, wearing shoes that you would expect to be touring in, and make sure that you and your bike are directly upright. Put you heel down on your pedal while in its lowest position. The optimal height for you bicycle seat is at a level that allows your leg to extend fully to the pedal in this position.  This avoids any pain to the knees if you are pedaling on the balls of your feet and allowing your legs to do take on most of the work.

If you seat is not properly adjusted to your own body and is too high, the back of your knees will ache when your ride over a period of time and you will have extra movement in your hips as you strain to extent your leg to the reach of the pedal.  This back and forth rocking motion will set you up for an uncomfortable ride.   On the other hand, if you seat is too low, you will have a different set of problems.  You may experience excessive burning in your legs.

To be sure that your seat is perfect for you, take your bike out on to the road. Adjust and ride until you get it just right. You may need to bring an allen wrench if your seat does not have a quick release adjustment.

Adjusting Your Handlebars

The optimal position for handlebars on a bike is either level with or a couple of inches below the height of the bicycle seat.  Positioning your handlebars above your seat is not generally recommended as it can lead to excess strain on the body and an uncomfortable bike ride.  The higher up the handlebars of your bike, the further back your body is pushed. This forces excess pressure onto your hips and butt . You will find yourself bouncing high and feeling every tiny bump on the road!

If you are  adjusting your maximum speed, you need to position everything so that your bike is a flat as it can be. Adjusting your handlebars below the level of your seat may seem uncomfortable at first, but before long, you will find your body settling into it and as your speed increases, your will find yourself become more aggressive with your cycling.

If you are touring on your bike and plan to cycle in a more relaxed, leisurely fashion, raising the handlebars of your bike above the level of the seat, may be the best option.  In this position you will have more comfort but less speed that you will get with the handlebars below the seat.

In short, depending on what type of touring you are doing on your bike, you may need to adjust your seat to suit your preferred style.  On any given tour, you could find yourself adjusting your bike several times, as you choose to either cycle slowing through the hills or more aggressively on long stretches of open road!

The Right Bike For A Bike Tour

Different kinds of bicycles are available for different types of cycling. You can easily find a bicycle that suits your budget as well as your needs. The touring bicycles are used by people who like to carry camping equipment, food and clothes and travel to different places. Racks or Panniers can be found in the front and the rear and these help in storing all the extra equipment. They have a leather wheelbase, mounting points for mudguards and also place to store water bottles because bikers can get thirsty very easily.

There are three kinds of touring bicycles namely road, recumbent and tandem bikes. There are advantages as well as drawbacks to each kind. Once your need for a bike is understood, you can search through all the different styles of bikes offered by each company and find the one that suits your needs the best. While selecting a road-touring bike, you would like to choose one, which is light as well as strong and sturdy. This will need a longer wheelbase so that you can ride comfortably and there should be storage space for all your equipment. The tires of these bikes should be able to ride comfortably on unpaved roads but they should not become slow on the pavement. Mounting points for fenders and racks should also be available. Fenders help in saving you from flying rocks and water sprays.

Recumbent bicycles – ‘Recumbent Bicycling news’ will tell you the latest happenings in the world of recumbent bicycles. Recumbent bicycles might look a little different but once people try them they get addicted to them. These bikes are now considered the most comfortable bikes, which can be used, on the roads today. They have an aerodynamic design, which makes them very fast. The steering works differently over here and the starting and stopping methods are also different and the methodology to climb slopes and hills is also very different.

There are two different methods to steer a recumbent. ASS or above seat steering has the handlebars above the seat. In this position, the bike gets an aerodynamic configuration since the arms are held in front. Then there is USS or Under Seat Steering. Here the steering equipment is below the seat of the rider. This does not have an aerodynamic design, as the hands will be at the sides. If you want to go on a tour with your recumbent, then you can take a trike, which is a bike, which has three wheels. This creates more room for your camping equipment and this bike has 72 gears, which makes pedaling very easy.

Tandem Bicycles – These bicycles are slowly becoming very popular. Though the weight increases in this bike, the effort is greatly reduced. But the space to store your camping equipment is also reduced. The experience of mountain biking on a tandem is totally different. The person riding in front is known as the captain and the person at the back is known as the stoker. Tandem bikes are the perfect option for people who have physical disabilities but they still want to enjoy the bike riding experience. This is also perfect for people who cannot see and they can ride in the position of the stoker. Many couples also enjoy riding on a tandem and they can talk to each other using communication headsets.

photo credit: Vinvin F
The idea of folding bikes may seem like a gimmick or gadget, one which was developed in recent years as a means to live a “greener” lifestyle. However, the truth is, folding bikes have been the convenient, compact choice of serious cyclists for decades and continue to be popular with every type of avid bicycle enthusiast.

“Folders”, as they are sometimes called, enable a cyclist to bring their bike into places where a regular, solid bicycle would not be allowed. For example, folding bikes fit easily into elevators, staircases, public transit, car trunks, and train luggage compartments and even into the small, limited storage of most city condos or studio apartments.

Convenience is a major bonus; however folding bikes have a few downfalls. Due to the fact they are constructed to be foldable in certain areas of their design, the frame of folding bikes are not as strong or as durable as that of a regular bike. Folding bikes are also unable to provide any great amount of speed. The compact nature and folding capabilities limits most folding bikes to a wheel size of 20” or less making them a slower, less impressive road bike. If you are looking for a bike with road racing capabilities or long-distance speed, a folding bike is not your best choice. However, most cyclists will agree, they did not purchase their folding bikes for the purpose of performance or speed, but simply for the compact convenience.

If you are an avid bike touring cyclist or even a commuter looking for a new mode of transportation, a folding bike may be a great investment. When purchasing your first folding bike, do not make the mistake of compromising on qualities such as comfort, safety and affordability. Do your research and find a reputable bicycle dealer. Make sure to inquire as much as possible about any issues concerning the features, maintenance and cost of any available folding bikes and ask for a test ride if possible. When folding bikes are purchased, maintained and kept properly, they can unfold a whole new world of cycling possibilities!

Enjoy!