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!