E-Bike Fitting: Do It Yourself - Here's How
Do your own e-bike fitting easily for noticeably better comfort. With step-by-step guidance for optimal handlebar height and seating position.
E-Bike Fitting: Do It Yourself - Here's How
Your jeans have to fit perfectly, but why not your bike? Too many cyclists accept discomfort and even pain on their bike or e-bike as problems that simply come with cycling. The saddle presses and chafes, knees and lower back hurt, the cervical spine cramps up, and numb hands cause increasing problems with support and braking with every kilometer. Numerous myths and half-truths about the ideal seating position circulate, while hundreds of saddles, handlebars, and grips on the market promise immediate relief from such problems. Yet, often enough, it's simply a matter of making the proper adjustment.
Ingredients for Relaxed, Pain-Free Sitting on Your E-Bike
Cycling without pain or other problems is fundamentally possible for any healthy athlete or person with some practice. Even physically compromised individuals don't have to accept any inconveniences with some support in setting up their bike. Even a racing bike doesn't have to be a torture device. It doesn't depend on the bike type or riding style - whether a city or trekking bike, with or without motor assistance, for casual hobbyists or professionals - it doesn't matter. Two major areas need to be addressed to achieve this worthwhile goal: the seating position must be individually adapted to the pedaling motion in terms of ergonomics, and the corresponding contact points with the bike should be checked for possible optimization. This refers to the bike saddle, bike grips, handlebar shape, crank, and pedals. Ideally, appropriate consultation with a specialist dealer should have taken place when purchasing the bike. Its size and frame geometry define the limits of adjustment possibilities, especially for saddle position. Even by replacing stems, handlebars, and seat posts, ergonomic factors and settings, such as saddle height, handlebar position, or arm angle, can only be adjusted within this window.
Foundation for Pain-Free Cycling: Bike Fitting
Whether it’s bike fitting or e-bike fitting, the basic steps of adapting the bicycle to the person are the same, although slight deviations in target values can be observed. The saddle position, particularly seat height on a motor-assisted bicycle, can be adjusted slightly to enhance comfort for mounting and stopping. Sitting somewhat lower and more upright costs efficiency in pedaling, but this is compensated for by the motor (see table). Below, we provide step-by-step instructions on how to find your individual seating position. The question of whether you can perform such e-bike fitting yourself or whether you should pay for a professional bike fitter's services depends on the severity of physical problems and the demand for a high degree of optimization. The vast majority of e-bike riders should achieve good results without the need for an expensive bike fitting. A comfortable and efficient aid in this, besides our brief guide here, is the Ergon Fitting Box, a kit that integrates all the necessary tools as well as scientifically based data tables that professionals also use. The Fitting Box uses the following seven steps to adjust the bike:
Adjust saddle height
The distance from the bottom bracket to the saddle largely determines how far bent and stretched the knee is at maximum during pedaling. The saddle height should be set so that the knee is never fully extended during the pedaling motion and is preferably always bent at less than a right angle. This is done by raising or lowering the seat post more or less in the frame.
A saddle set too low not only costs power through poor biomechanics, the acute knee angle at the top dead center of the crank increases the pressure of the kneecap on the joint cartilage, which can lead to pain, irritation, and increased joint wear in the medium term. An ergonomic saddle height ensures efficient and joint-friendly pedaling.
Adjust saddle tilt
The orientation of the saddle surface has a great influence on pelvic positioning and thus pressure distribution between buttocks and saddle. With the saddle clamp screw slightly loosened, the saddle nose can be oriented slightly downward to minimally upward. The goal is to follow the natural position of the pelvis without creating a tendency to slide down.
The basic position of a saddle is horizontal. With very upright upper body position (Dutch, city, trekking bike), the saddle nose can be raised slightly during bike fitting. With moderate forward lean (MTB), the saddle should be approximately horizontal. With pressure in the crotch or even stronger forward inclination (fitness, gravel bike), the nose can be angled slightly downward.
Correct fore-aft position
The relative spatial position from the buttocks to the bottom bracket can be changed not only by saddle height but also by sliding the saddle forward or backward. For all sporty bikes, it should be moved along its two rails so that a vertical line from the kneecap through the pedal axle is created when the corresponding foot is in the 3 o'clock position, i.e., maximally far forward. With upright and comfort-oriented seating on modern e-bikes, this usually means pushing the saddle as far back as technically possible. Attention: Limits for clamping are marked on the rails and must be observed.
Downward pedaling occurs through a combination of hip, thigh, and lower leg muscles. Correct fore-aft positioning creates a kind of force balance that makes the movement efficient and gentle. Additionally, the involved joints move in optimal angles respectively. Especially the knee could suffer damage similar to insufficient saddle height through incorrect fore-aft positioning. Seating comfort also suffers with improper fore-aft positioning, either at the pubic bone or in the area of the sit bones, even with a top ergonomic saddle.
Adjust reach / handlebar distance
Once the fore-aft position is set, you have little influence on the horizontal distance from saddle to handlebar without replacing parts. The handlebar position in height and this distance defines the forward inclination of the upper body. Adjustable stems allow adaptation, but this simultaneously changes the handlebar height. Usually, only replacing the stem or handlebar remains. Rule of thumb: Between saddle nose and handlebar should lie a complete forearm length including fingers - naturally of the user. Reach that's too short is often the reason for neck pain.
Adapt handlebar height
Height and distance are closely related. Those who want to ride sportily bring handlebar and saddle to the same height, but with e-bikes, a handlebar up to two hand-widths higher is usual. To adjust handlebar height on modern bikes, you must also replace the handlebar and/or stem; few have adjustable ones from the factory.
A more forward-leaning body posture creates a better support for the pedaling motion; you can apply more force to the pedal without pendulum or rocking movements with the torso. Additionally, you offer less attack surface to the headwind. However, this increases the supporting forces on the hands, but with a well-adjusted bike, significantly less than most people assume. A somewhat lower grip position additionally brings more weight onto the front wheel, which runs more smoothly and tracks better. Through saddle pressure measurement, as possible in the Ergon laboratory, one would discover that body weight simultaneously concentrates toward the saddle nose.
Tip: The comfort optimum is found by gradually straightening up from a sporty low position. At the upper body inclination where the mentioned pendulum or forward rocking with the torso begins, the angle has just been exceeded.
Fix cockpit / grip inclination
With completely straight handlebars and round grips, you can't adjust much by rotating. Bar ends and wing-shaped grips like Ergon's GP series should be inclined so that the back of the hand and upper forearm form approximately a straight line when supporting. Both the bar ends and mentioned ergonomic grips are secured to the handlebar with one clamp screw each (usually hex key).
Strongly bent wrists due to grips at the wrong angle narrow various channels at the transition from forearm to wrist through which blood vessels and nerves pass. Apart from the greatly increased tension of tendons and ligaments on the palm side, these narrowings lead to cold and tingling to numb hands, see carpal tunnel syndrome. Ergonomic and well-adjusted grips keep the wrists in their natural position.
Mark foot position
Foot position is only adjustable for cyclists using clipless pedals. All others must ensure with each foot placement that the balls of the feet are positioned as centrally as possible on the pedal axle, with toes pointing in the direction of travel or slightly outward. Ergon's PT pedal optimizes foot position with each placement. Those using pedal systems should mount their cleats exactly according to their specifications; there's a separate article for this. For perfect adjustment of shoe plates (usually SPD system), Ergon offers specialized tools.
If you don't position your foot on the pedal in the described manner, it doesn't transfer pedaling energy via the segments or bones to the pedal that are anatomically intended for ground contact. Pressure on structures in the arch, for example, has similar effects as bent wrists. Numb feet, cold toes, and/or burning soles can result. A foot placed too far inward or outward rotated on the pedal can immediately lead to tensions, and in the medium and long term to pain or even injuries in the knees, since the joint is not moved axis-correctly.
Is E-Bike Fitting Worth It for Infrequent Riders?
The necessity to invest time and money in precisely adjusting and equipping your bike depends more on the length of the routes than on the frequency of riding. The worse the bike's ergonomics fit the owner, the fewer minutes one cycles without problems or pain, and the sooner the joy of cycling is lost. Beyond this loss of fun, without adapting bicycle ergonomics, you also expend unnecessary energy, arrive later and more stressed, and become even more tired and frustrated. In extreme cases, a saddle height, position, or grip orientation set solely by feel can even lead to injuries. This applies less to daily short trips to the bakery than to more extended rides undertaken only occasionally. Under 40 euros for one of the Ergon Fitting Boxes and about an hour of effort are worthwhile in any case. Professional measurement and analysis of seating position, including consultation regarding particularly ergonomic saddles and grips, can be considered by a bike fitter if no improvement occurs after do-it-yourself bike fitting or if individual questions cannot be clarified. Individuals with special needs, such as asymmetries, musculoskeletal system injuries, or misalignments, should also consider booking a bike fitting with a professional.