Sizing Mountain Bikes

Along with giving you a better selection and expert

advice, bike shop personnel can you help you get

fitted to the right size bike. You can get the bike

either too big or too small, which will cause your

enjoyment to suffer. Follow the tips below, and

you'll have the perfect fit for your mountain bike.

Standover height

When you check the fitting yourself, the first thing

you want to check is the inseam clearance, or the

standover height. You want to have plenty of room

between yourself and the top tube when you come to

a stop. There should be around four to six inches

of clearance from the top of your inseam to the top

of the top tube.

Leg and feet position

There's a nifty formula for determining the leg

position for riding a mountain bike. When riding

a mountain bike, the terrain constantly changes,

raising you off the seat constantly, sometimes just

slightly, other times completely off.

Therefore, you'll need to sit your saddle slightly

lower than you would on any other type of bike.

Be sure you take this slightly lower seat height

position into effect when you factor the size of

the frame.

Riding compartment

The next thing you'll want to check is the rider

compartment layout (the distance between the saddle

and the handlebars). Once the proper leg extension

has been determined, be sure the handlebar is one

to two inches below the height of the saddle. You

should never have the handlebars higher than the

seat, unless there is some type of upper body

problem.

Dual suspension bikes

With suspension being at both ends, you'll want

your weight more in the middle of the bike so that

your weight is distributed evenly between the front

and rear suspension units, thus allowing the front

and rear suspension to work as a unit.

This can be done quite easily by using either a

higher or shorter stem to raise the hand height,

which will in turn move the upper body up and the

weight towards the rear. The increase in rise

shouldn't be no more than two inches, then the

decrease in reach shouldn't be any more than two

inches.

Test ride

Once you have taken all of these steps into account,

go out and test drive the bike. Make sure you

wear a helmet, even if you are going to be testing

for a brief period of time. Be sure that the tires

are set to the right pressure, and the shop has

adjusted the bike for you properly.

You should have a shop employee observe your body

position and ride height while riding, to determine

is any further adjustments need to be made. Ride

the bike around for a bit to get used to its

handling and new equipment. Start off slowly, then

give the bike a bit of time to present its personality.

After a few minutes, you might notice that something

isn't working correctly or just doesn't feel right

in general. If this happens, go back to the shop

and have the problem corrected before you rule out

the bike.

The more you ride bikes, the easier it will be to

tell the difference in the ride types. Keep in mind,

it may take months and even years to appreciate the

way a bike handles. Talk to those who ride, and

ask them if they ride the bikes they sell. This

way, you'll learn more about the mountain bikes you

love so much!