I’ve also tried and failed to help cyclists over the years in their quest to get the correct frame size when buying a new bike. I would ask them if their current bike felt good so that they could then take the stack and reach measurements from that and apply them to the new bike. Another approach was to carry out a physio bike fit on the client and their current bike and then make a judgement based on that bike fit. Both of which are not very accurate and contain a nice bit of guesswork.

SOMETHING HAD TO GIVE
It was the beginning of this year when I asked my trusted source of bike fitting info, GebioMized, what they do when put on the spot by clients to recommend the appropriate frame size when buying a new or second hand bike. For anyone who’s new to my physio bike fitting approach, GebioMized are the makers of my most treasured bike fitting tools, the saddle pressure and foot pressure mapping gadgets. They strongly recommended another German outfit called Radlabor who developed the SmartFit system to match cyclists with the correct frame size using a massive database of bikes and body measurements.
The purpose of this blog is to explain to you how this system works and why it is worth its weight in gold or more appropriately, carbon!
A nice way to explain how SmartFit works is to use an example of a recent client who wanted to know what bike, out of a choice of three different bikes, would suit him the best. Let’s call him Tommy! Tommy, a previous client of The BikeFit Physio, called into the clinic for the “bike sizing before buying service” and get measured using the SmartFit measuring rig.
The measurements needed from Tommy are:
- Height
- Sternum height
- Inside leg
- Arm length
The inside leg measurement is accurate in that it uses a hydraulic measuring tool to ensure that the reading is accurate and taken from the anatomical inside leg position.
Here’s a sneak peak of this measurement with Dylan.
A) BMC Teammachine
B) Trek Emonda SLR 9
C) Cannondale SuperEvo
The SmartFit database of bikes and body measurements is able to instantaneously match the rider with the frame size and geometry that will suit him/her the best and in this case it was the Trek Emonda SLR 9.
Lastly, if you haven’t a notion what bike would be best for you, or didn’t have time to pick out a selection of your preferred options, not to worry. We can plug a wide selection of bikes into the software to find something that will suits your needs.
To read up more on the this service, click here to be taken to the dedicated page on the website or just go ahead and book your appointment below.
Thanks for reading and sharing,
John Phelan
Chartered Physio and Nutritionist
Facebook: The BikeFit Physio
Instagram: @thebikefitphysio