10 Signs Your Bike Doesn't Fit You (and how to fix them)

I have this recurring dream. I go to see James for a bike fit. He compliments me on my frame choice and says its the correct size. I ask for narrower bars but he measures my wide shoulders and tells me 44cm is spot on. I beg him to sell me a pair of 4mm axle Ultegra pedals but he won’t, because my narrow pelvis means my Q factor is perfect. I burst into tears and grab a random left Lake shoe from the shelf, running out of the shop and straight into oncoming traffic. Same every night.

I highly recommend binge watching all of the "Bike fit Tuesday" videos. I had ridden for nearly 30 yrs on the road w/o any issues, but once I got into my late 40s, I started noticing little niggles of pain. I started making adjustments to my bike position; bars, stem, hood position, saddle, and cleats according to what James said. Now, in my late 50s I have no issues no matter what distance I ride. Key thing is to make MINOR adjustments and ride several times before making any additional changes. It took me about a year's worth of cycling before my position was "perfect" for now, at least until my body gets older and needs another bit of adjustment.

Thank you for the time with James. I would tell my customers "a $500 bike is worth more than a $5000 bike if it fits you" Each bike brand has their own take on geometry. If you can buy a bike off the shelf and it fits you. Lucky you. For me the first things to go are the handlebars, stem and saddle😮

35 years ago riding hills in N. Kentucky. Had the good fortune of the local hotshot (maybe cat 2 at that time?), riding up to me saying he could show me a few things. Told me to get a new bar. Said the hoods should be the width of my shoulders. Taught myself and many others the proper way to ride a bike. O.B...thank you.

Always enjoy bike fit videos with James. I went to his shop for a fit, sold my bike that was too big for me and got shoes that actually fit, couldn’t be happier and highly recommend him and his shop. Not cheap but definitely a case of you get what you pay for and much cheaper than buying the wrong bike and suffering the discomfort that comes with it.

I am watching your video from a different country and my english is not good enough. But your video is universal. Thats why I can understand.

This is tremendously useful. Thank you. Right, I need to nudge my cleats back and get a pair of longer pedal axles. This channel is fast becoming ‘must watch.’ Chapeau!

All of these videos do a valuable job, getting riders to enjoy and therefore want to use their bikes more, which is good news for absolutely everyone. Keep up the great work, and thankyou 👍

Lovely. By means of knowledge sharing over the years, James has elevated me from cycling idiot to a reasonably functional cyclist. This, simply from watching the videos; I could imagine how much a better an actual fit would be. One critical gold nugget is THE FOOT. I bought a new better fitting shoe and fine-tuned cleat position... AND WOW.

Incredibly professional and great insights, Thanks James!

Glad to see James back again. Love his advice. 👍🇮🇪

Very useful tips James - thanks especially the pain in my feet while pedalling, will try lowering the saddle height.

Thanks so much. I have had pain on my 5th metatarsal for ages and couldn't figure out why. Shifted cleats over a few mil and so far amazing. Thank you

James content is always worth watching. Fantastic video

I'm a simple man. James talks. I listen.

Always fun to see James going 100 miles an hour, discussing bike fit & anatomy. And the best part of this video was surely Tony's Nowt Daft t-shirt that you're wearing at the end.

We missed you James, glad you're back

Great to have Bikefit Tuesday back. On a Sunday. But these short videos are so wonderfully educational, and I for one, is not replacing my old Cannondale F1 before I've had a proper bike fit. I would be ashamed of myself, after watching BFT! Also, I am old, and need no more pain than I already have, thank you very much.

Great video, covered several problems I am currently experiencing

great tips in this video and a few of them have applied to myself throughout the years. e.g. as I lost weight I started getting bilateral saddle sores, which had never happened before in 4 years of commuting to work, and ultimately getting a wider saddle solved it.