Competitive Cyclist Fit Calculator

So as a consequence of riding more recently I began to think about my fit on the bike. I had never done any sort of calculations to figure out where to set saddle height, bar reach, etc. I had always just gone with what I thought felt right but I had been feeling cramped on the bike lately so I decided to give the fit calculator over at www.competitivecyclist.com a shot and see how far off I was from "ideal".

I had Terra take the 8 sets of measurements that they ask for and then input all of them in and armed with the data they spit out I went to the bike to measure and adjust.

My bike set up previously had been with a 90mm stem which was oriented in the upturned position. My saddle to bar drop was probably 1.5" or so.

Competitive Cyclist gives a choice of 3 fits Competitive, The Eddy, or French Fit. I went with The Eddy which is inbetween the other two; more agressive than French but less so than Competitive.

After measuring my bike as it sat I needed to raise my saddle 1.5", flip my stem to it's flatter angle and replace the 90mm stem with a 110mm stem. All of this resulted in a reach that was nearly 2" longer as well as a saddle to bar drop of nearly 4" vs. the 1.5" that it was before.

Old:

New:

So after getting everything set up I headed out for a ride hoping that the new fit wouldn't be too uncomfortable.

The first few miles felt bizarre, I was more stretched out on the bike than I have ever been before, my saddle felt higher than it should be, and the handling was much twitchier due to the longer stem. This feeling went away after 15 minutes or so and I really began to enjoy the new set up.

I rode for 22 miles today on roads that I ride all the time. Typically I am a 14.5mph average speed, this is almost always true wether it is my commute to work or last weeks Petal Pedal, I always seem to end up with a 14.5 average at the end. Upon getting home today I checked my computer as I always do and was shocked by the average speed that I saw...16.7mph, a full 2+mph higher than my norm.

It will be very interesting to me to see how this fit continues to improve my power and speed, But for now I am very pleased with the results.