[CR]fit soapbox

(Example: Events)

Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2004 07:55:27 -0500
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
From: "ADP" <aphillips9@mindspring.com>
Subject: [CR]fit soapbox


>-- Fred Rafael Rednor <fred_rednor@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Ann Phillips wrote
> > Most men under 5' 8" have really long
> > torsos and arms, and this gets more
> > exaggerated as they get shorter...


>I don't think that's an accurate generalization. None of the
>shorter male cyclists in my circle of riding buddies (including
>myself) have such a physique. I really doubt the differences
>are _that_ great and I suspect that many short men would be
>beter served by riding frames that are sold as "women
>specific".

Fred:

I'm getting this information from the fits I've done at work. I tend to sell more high end road bikes then the rest of the crew, *we don't sell a bike without fitting,* with the exception of kid's bikes, because a kid under 10 or so won't even register on the fit kit software. Even if I sell you a 245.00 hybrid or 238.00 MTB - the cheapest adult bikes we have - I'm gonna fit you.

We are using a New England Cycle Academy fit kit program. I'm measuring physical inseam, torso, arm length and foot with a measuring device we built at the shop, and inputting those numbers into the software application. The arm length and torso are calculated together as a UBM = Upper Body Measurement. We can also include a separate measurement for thigh length, but I get better results from setting the rider up on a trainer and using a plumb line for fore and aft adjustment of the saddle with their choice of footwear.

I figure since I've sold over 400 bikes in the last two years, I'm pretty well qualified to make some generalizations about the differences between men and women and trends in various heights of both. As I've got a background in high tech manufacturing, I tend to note this kind of stuff out of habit.

I have sent men out on women's specific bicycles. In some cases, they might work, as there really is a pretty large range of top tubes/stem combinations that work for most people, BUT overall, and I can easily mine the data to back this up, smaller men tend to have longer torsos and arms then women of the same height. As for why this is so, I cannot point to a specific cause because I don't know nearly as much about biology and human development as I'd like...

As for how this relates to vintage bikes and fit - look at the new modern compact geometry. Short standovers, long top tubes. I sell a lot of those in smaller sizes to men, who are happy campers with a stock bike. The women, no matter how experienced a cyclist they are, tend to need more stem swaps for better fit. When a woman comes in with her older, quality, conventional geometry bicycle and she is shopping for a new zippy modern bike, after test rides, sometimes she ends up buying a group to modernize her old bike! One lady told me it was the best $1500.00 she ever spent. And she said she wouldn't pay more than $900.00 for a new bike....

Ann Phillips, Decatur GA