Make Your Current Bike more Comfortable By Giana Roberge

1. Establish a relationship with a bike shop that provides a fitting service.
==> Go into the shop with a list of what parts of your body are in discomfort.
==> BE honest with the shop employee about your riding time, fitness, and commitment to stretching.
==> Expect to pay for the employee's expertise.

2. Saddle height, saddle for-aft position, stem height, bar width and drop, bar shape, cleat position, and bike size are crucial to a comfortable bike. A bike shop employee, trained to fit cyclists, will help you find the correct measurements for all of these.

3. Saddle comfort is dependent on the size, softness, material, and shape of the saddle, as well as the fit of your shorts.
==> Try a few different saddles before you purchase on.
==> Softer is not necessarily better. The leather saddles like the majority of professional women cyclists use a Era saddle made by Selle San Marco. Soft saddles decrease a rider's ability to slide on the saddle; sitting in one place for more than ten minutes can cause discomfort.
==> Narrow saddles work better than the wider saddles as it allows you to move around on the saddle, giving you many different positions.
==> A longer nosed saddle allows a rider to move forward for higher cadences, and then back on the saddle for climbing.
==> Your shorts should be tight fitting with an anti-bacterial chamois. Louis Garneau has done extensive testing with the Saturn Cycling Team women's team to make the best shorts possible.
==> The short material should be wicking.
==> You should replace your shorts frequently, as the chamois will wear out.
==> For women riders the chamois should not have a middle seam.

4. Your arm positions should allow you to have a relaxed arm with a slight bend in your elbow.
==> You should be able to reach the brake levers comfortably. Small hands will require the setting in of mountain brake levers.
==> You will know if your stem is too long or too short if you have any pain between your shoulder blades (too long) or in your neck (too short).
==> You should be able to have three hand positions on a road bike - on the tops of the bars, on the brake lever hoods and in the drops.

5. Each of the above hand positions should give you three distinct body positions.
==> The tops of the bars is for riding alone, where you know you will not need to get to the brakes quickly. This position is also good for climbing as it makes for an open hip angle, encouraging the use of the rider's hamstrings (these are a slow twitch muscle - good for extended efforts based on power - such as climbing)
==> The Brake lever position is a little more aero. It allows a safe position that is still comfortable, a little more stretched out, necessary for cornering as well as group riding. In this position the rider will use her quads more than on the tops of the bars, a position better for speed requirements (the quads are fast twitch and are a speed, less endurance type muscle)
==> The drop position is the most aero position, the hip angle is the most closed, and it is the least comfortable of the three positions. This position will enable a rider to use mainly her quads and is therefore appropriate for sprinting, and fast cornering as well as time trailing or racing against the clock.

6. Good cork ribbon such as Profile bartape or comfortable grips is crucial to overall comfort of the hands. Make sure you relax your grip frequently.

7. Know your measurements, saddle height, stem height, and bar angle and check them frequently to make sure they have not changed over time and use. Parts do slip as bolts loosen slightly over time.

8. Stretch, stretch, stretch.
==> Stretching reduces the risk of injury, keeps muscles relaxed and long, increases blood flow, reduces knee problems, and will make you a faster more comfortable cyclist.

9. Wear high quality gloves, shorts, and shoes.

10. Use pedals with "float." This allows for an irregular pedal stroke (which we all have) and reduces knee soreness.

11. Read books, magazines and ask your favorite bike shop employee about any problems you may have. Chances are they are not unique to you and the answer may be a simple as raising your saddle.