August 24, 2023
MyVeloFit’s Bike Fit Report Explained
By Justin GouldingWhether you’ve new to cycling or a seasoned pro, finding the right position on the bike is crucial for enhancing comfort, improving performance, and minimizing injuries. However, the extensive data provided in a bike fit repot can be a tad overwhelming at first glance. So let’s dive in and unpack what’s inside your MyVeloFit bike fit report!
Before you get started, we also recommended checking out our post Getting Setup for Your Bike Fit, where we go over all the necessary steps to dial in your set up to guarantee the best results.
Your fit report is broken up into four main sections:
- Recommended Adjustments
- Position Analysis
- Top of Pedal Stroke
- Bottom of Pedal Stroke
- Front of Pedal Stroke
- Overall Positioning
- Video Overlay
- Previous Assessments
Each of these sections provide valuable information for getting the most out of your fit. So making sure you understand each one will help you on your path to a better ride.
Recommended Adjustments
This is where your actionable feedback starts. Here you’ll find recommended adjustments for the four main adjustments you’ll tackle during your fit:
- Saddle Height: The foundation of your bike fit. A critical adjustment for both comfort and efficiency.
- Saddle Fore-Aft: The most powerful adjustment for your weight distribution on the bike and how your body relates to the pedals.
- Handlebar Height: Largely drives the position of your upper body, but also has a significant impact in how your hips are able to move through the pedal stroke.
- Handlebar Reach: Impacts both your upper body position as well as how your hands/wrist interact with the handlebars.
You’ll notice that each bike adjustment has 2 main components:
- The Range
- Displays where your current position falls within (or outside) your target range.
- The Recommendation
- What adjustments are recommended to get you closer (or into) your target fit range.
As there is no single perfect riding position for any rider, the ranges help you understand where you are within your target range and what adjustments (if any) you should make to get there. Once you’re “In Range” you can start experimenting with what feels best for you.
Tip: Start by implementing one recommendation at a time starting with saddle height. We guide you to make smaller adjustments, test them out, and see how they feel during your ride. For a more complete guide on the best order to make adjustments, check out this blog post.
Position Analysis
The core of your fit report is what we refer to as the Position Analysis. This is where you’ll find all your joint angle measurements that inform the recommended adjustments. Because we’re targeting a range for your fit, rather than a single position, this section is where you can observe the smaller changes in your position that may not trigger a recommendation. Remember, at the end of the day, bike fitting is about helping your bike work better with your body, so this is where you can see how changes to your bike are impacting your position.
Your position analysis is comprised of four main sections:
- Top of Pedal Stroke
- Bottom of Pedal Stroke
- Front of Pedal Stroke
- Overall Positioning
You can think of the first three sections as pausing a video at the very moment your foot is at a specific point in your pedal stroke and taking a measurement. In reality it’s more like pausing the video every time your foot hits that point in the pedal stroke, and getting representative results for how you’re moving consistently while riding. As a result, the images you’ll see in the fit report are only representative of the general position being measured rather than the actual point of measurement.
The Overall Positioning section is almost the opposite, as it tracks your movement throughout the whole pedal stroke. Rather than unique points in time, the joint tracking in this analysis visualizes how you’re moving throughout your fit.
Top of Pedal Stroke Analysis:
The angles your body makes at this position are crucial for understanding your cycling dynamics specifically relating to your knees and hips. Top of pedal stroke analysis is a key determining factor for determining if shorter cranks might be beneficial for you.
Tip: If certain angles are out of range, ensure you’ve completed all the recommended adjustments provided in the first part of your fit report.
Bottom of Pedal Stroke Analysis:
This position is the driving factor in determining saddle height, which is the foundation of every bike fit. An appropriate position at this phase in your pedal stroke ensures a good relationship with the saddle, optimal power transfer, minimized strain on your knees, and appropriate engagement of your calves, quads and hamstrings.
Front of Pedal Stroke Analysis:
This point of the pedal stroke, often misunderstood, deals with how your body and legs relate to the pedals and specifically the power production phase of your stroke. This part of the position analysis includes your fore-aft positioning, which can be a valuable piece of information for determining how your weight is distributed on the bike as a result of your saddle fore-aft.
Overall Positioning:
Beyond specific pedal phases, your overall posture on the bike affects your stamina, speed, and safety. This section provides an analysis of:
- Centre of Mass: Essential for balance and stability, as well as how your weight is distributed between the front and rear wheel.
- Joint Tracking: Observing the path of your knee, hip, and shoulder ensures that you’re moving efficiently. Excessive movement or variation in either of these joints may indicate an issue with your fit (or a shaky hand on the camera).
Video Overlay
Watching yourself ride and observing how you move on the bike can be an illuminating process in and of itself. This section lets you rewatch your fit videos appended with the motion capture analysis. This is also a good spot to ensure that the AI tracked well. Joint markers that jump around excessively or disappear can help you troubleshoot for video quality if you’re questioning some results.
Previous Assessments
Evolution and iteration is the name of the game in bike fit. As you make changes, this section allows you to see how your position has evolved over time. By reviewing and comparing older videos with newer ones, you can ascertain how those changes are impacting you.
Tip: Name each fit video in a way that helps you remember where you are in the process. Just numbering them is the easiest way to do this so you know how many iterations you’ve done.
Wrap Up
The MyVeloFit Bike Fit Report is a treasure trove of insights designed to elevate your cycling experience. Remember, while the science and data are there to guide you, always listen to your body. Comfortable, efficient, and injury-free cycling should be the ultimate goal. Happy riding and congratulations on beginning your bike fit journey with MyVeloFit!
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.
Ready to get started?
Athletes from around the world use MyVeloFit to improve their cycling position.
Whether you are a veteran or new to the sport, MyVeloFit can help you improve your position.
More →
