firegriff

I am new to the forums and new to bike rideing. I stumbled onto these forums while searching for a new bike and I want to thank you all for saveing me from a huge xmart mistake. The bikes I am looking at right now are the Giant Boulder SE, Specialized Rockhopper, and Trek 3900. I have searched the forums on how to get a proper fit and every post seems to refer me to my LBS. Well, today I went to the closest bike shop to my house which happens to be a giant dealer. My hopes where to get some information on the bike, expecially on proper fit, and maybe a test ride. When I asked the salesman about how to properly fit a bike he asked me to step over the frame, and said that with both feet on the ground I should have about 1/2" to 1" clearance from the frame. I was thinking there would be more to this process than that. The salesman, who i believe to be the owner, was an older gentleman and seemed less than helpful which left me with a bad taste in my mouth about the whole experience. Now my question is is this the normal way to measure? If its not should I stay away from a shop like this? Any feedback would be very helpful. Thanx in advance.

WannaGetGood

If you have a life cyles down there they are the best. They have Spelized, Rocky Mountain, Santa Cruz

bikes. For really cheap

Funkychicken

standover height is the "generic" way of measuring bike fit. there are more details, but that's the basic bit of bike fit. for extra details, get on the bike and ride around and get a feel for the distance between handlebars and seat - this affects how easy it is to maneuvere the bike. play around with the seat height as well while test riding.

The extra extra details require a better understanding of what you like/want out of a bike i.e. your preferred riding style, idiosyncrasies in your balance, etc, which tends to come to you after riding for some time, i wouldn't recommend you delve into it unless you really want to expand beyond light trail riding.

shop around for other bike shops too to see if you can get better advice/more informative salespeople.

ExMachina

Standover height means absolutely nothing in these days of compact frames. While you certainly don't want a bike that you cannot stand over w/ some clearance, you may find that your ideal compact frame size has many inches of standover.

Funkychicken is right, shop around and get a feel for what is and is not right. Heck, I didn't know what I was doing at first. I demo-ed several bikes and learned what geomety I liked best, and then turned around and ordered a bike that I have never seen before, based purely on its geometry. The new bike fits great!

moabrider

Seat height is really important for powering uphill on loose gravel and rock. As I do my 'almost' daily trail rides on Moab terrain, so many people are 'crouched' in their seats. My seatpost is higher than my handlebars, my leg is almost fully extended, knee slightly bent. I can sit back, push hard while centering my weight over the bike's pivot point..if that makes any sense???

For two years I was crouched and powereless.I took a lesson with a pro rider who raised my seat 6 inches at least..felt weird at first but I am POWER ridin' now!!

Nan

MasterSezFaster

Where are you located?
Someone here may be able to point you towards a decent shop that is helpful as well as knowledgeable. Some shops these days do not give a lot of info to someone who just picks the employee's brain because that person may just be trying to get free info and then go buy on the net. There are however shops that will be very helpful even knowing you may buy on the net because they feel if they help you out you will return to buy accessories, get service done and send other potential buyers there way. If the guy left you with a bad feeling then you should look for another shop if possible. If not then try and deal with another person at that shop.

As far as fit goes, with a mountain bike it varies. It will depend on the type of riding you are planning on doing, the geometry of the bike, do you have long legs/short torso, vice versa, about normal, etc, etc, etc.