April 18, 2023
How To Choose The Right Bike Fit Goal
By Justin GouldingDialling in a modern MTB requires a combination of knowledge and testing.
Are you looking to dial in the perfect riding position but wondering which bike fit goal suits you best? MyVeloFit offers three different “fit goals” tailored to suit your cycling aspirations:
- Comfort
- Performance and Comfort
- Performance
Whether you’re a casual weekend rider, a long distance bikepacker or a competitive racer, MyVeloFit has you covered with options that cater to various riding styles, bike types, and personal preferences.
In this blog post, we will discuss what a fit goal is, the differences between the three fit goals we offer, and ultimately help you determine the most appropriate fit for your needs. Let’s dive in!
What is a “Fit Goal”?
Along with your mobility and bike type, a fit goal provides critical context to help you come away from your bike fit with the most suitable riding position. As there isn’t one single riding position for anyone, identifying a fit goal ensures that the position you’re chasing lines up with what you want out of your cycling experience.
As mentioned, a fit goal works alongside your bike type and mobility to help get you the most helpful recommendations. One of the criticisms levied against bike fitting is that riders can be pushed towards a position that doesn’t line up with their needs and wants. Racing and touring both broadly happen on road bikes, but chasing the same position for both types of riding is unlikely to yield a great result. This is why identifying a fit goal will help steer your fit in a direction that makes sense for you.
Though the rest of this post will focus on helping you select one of the three fit goals offered in the fit process, if you’d like to learn more about balancing goals in bike fitting, you can check out a longer post on that topic here.
Choosing Your Fit Goal
Your fit goal is selected independently from, but is related to, your bike type.
What does this mean?
This means that no matter what kind of bike you ride, you have the option to select any of the three fit goals depending on how you’d like to ride that bike. It also means that a Performance goal for your Road bike is going to provide different recommendations from a Performance goal for your MTB. So you can choose a “Comfort” position for your Triathlon bike, a “Performance” position for your Hybrid, or any other combination that suits you.
At this point you’re probably wondering which position makes sense for you, so let’s get to it.
WAIT! This is a friendly reminder that you need to complete your mobility assessment to get personalized fit results. Your fit goal and mobility results work together to help you find the right position.
Comfort Fit Goal
The Comfort fit goal is tailored for the rider that places comfort as their top priority. This could be someone that enjoys casual cruises to the coffee shop, or someone that does very long days in the saddle or multi-day touring trips. Overall a Comfort goal is the most upright of the three, placing less pressure on hands, wrists, and neck, and generally minimizes the amount of strain put on the body to maintain that position.
This goal is a great place to start for newer cyclists as it will be the easiest on your body and help you adapt. As you become more experienced, you may choose to move to a more performance oriented position.
Performance and Comfort Fit Goal
The Performance and Comfort fit goal strikes a balance between the more relaxed nature of the Comfort goal and the more aggressive stance of the Performance goal. This generally results in a handlebar position that is longer and lower than a comfort fit, but does not require the same level of core strength needed to maintain the position associated with a Performance fit goal. This goal allows riders to maximize their efficiency without sacrificing the ease of riding, which is why this fit goal is recommended by default, as it delivers a great middle ground that suits a broad range of riders and ambitions.
Performance Fit Goal
Our Performance fit goal is tailored to riders who are more competitive about their cycling goals and want to maximize their speed, power, and efficiency on the bike. This position (like all of our fits) is still tuned to your mobility, but will place you in a more aggressive riding position to improve your aerodynamics and maximize power transfer to the pedals. The resulting position generally has a lower handlebar position, longer reach, and requires the most core strength to maintain over longer rides.
Though not in the name, even the Performance fit goal places an emphasis on achieving a comfortable ride (though perhaps to a lesser degree). Comfort must be at the core of any riding position, because if you’re uncomfortable you certainly can’t perform at your best.
Tips & Tricks
Now that you probably have a pretty good idea which fit goals suit you best, there are a few extra things to consider as you embark on your fit.
- Each fit goal still offers a range of positions, also known as a “fit window”. It’s up to you to decide where you fall in that window depending on what feels right.
- Not all bike models can accommodate all fit goals for every rider. If you have a race oriented road bike, you may struggle to adjust it to achieve a comfort position.
- Still uncomfortable? Change your goal. We’ve all bitten off more than we can chew in some parts of our lives, and bike fit is no different. If you’ve dialled in a great position, but are still experiencing discomfort, try changing to a fit goal one step more comfortable.
Justin Goulding
Justin is a lifelong cyclist that has spent the past 15 years in the bike industry across a variety of roles. His diverse work in sales, procurement, fitting, instructing, and planning cycling infrastructure is all driven by a desire to help more people experience the wonder of cycling. He brings this breadth of experience to building MyVeloFit into a company and service that not only provides bike fits, but one that enables more people to get the most out of cycling.
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Whether you are a veteran or new to the sport, MyVeloFit can help you improve your position.
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