A Professional Bike Fitting Will Make You Want to Ride Even More

专业自行车调试将让你更爱骑行

I’ve been into cycling for decades—riding with grade-school buddies, kicking around in college, then city commuting in Boston, Paris, Barcelona, New York, and now Seattle. Somehow only in the last 10 years, when I became a volunteer mechanic at a bike-centric Seattle nonprofit, did I think about adjusting anything more than the seat height. Now I’m diligent about making sure I have the right bike and that it’s fit for my body and my riding style.

我骑行已有数十年之久——从儿时与伙伴们骑车玩耍，到大学时代的代步，再到后来在波士顿、巴黎、巴塞罗那、纽约以及现在的西雅图通勤。直到最近十年，当我成为西雅图一家自行车公益组织的志愿者技师时，我才意识到除了调整座垫高度外，还有更多细节需要关注。现在，我会认真确保自己拥有合适的自行车，并让它完美契合我的身体和骑行风格。

I wish I could have figured that stuff out sooner, so for this story, I wanted to gather expert advice on the basics of what people should look for and what questions to ask when buying a bike. (My colleague Michael Venutolo-Mantovani has more advice if you’re going that route.) After that, I’d take my own bike to a professional fitter and go deep into the nitty-gritty of bike fit to find out what it means to have a tailored ride.

我真希望自己能早点明白这些道理。因此，为了完成这篇报道，我收集了专家建议，总结了人们在购买自行车时应关注的基础知识和提问要点。（如果你正打算买车，我的同事 Michael Venutolo-Mantovani 还有更多建议。）之后，我还会带着自己的自行车去请教专业调试师，深入探讨自行车调试的细节，看看“量身定制”的骑行体验究竟意味着什么。

I start with no bike at all. I walk to meet Rebekah Ko, the community resources director at Seattle’s Bike Works, the nonprofit where I volunteer. Ko previously ran the sales floor as general manager at the city’s Mend Bicycles, and for the purposes of this story we pretend like I am in the market for a bike that I’d use for transportation and general kicking-around fun. We make sure it’s unlike my own bike, so I won’t be comparing the two in the back of my mind.

我从零开始。我步行去见 Rebekah Ko，她是西雅图 Bike Works（我志愿服务的公益组织）的社区资源总监。Ko 曾担任该市 Mend Bicycles 的总经理，负责销售业务。为了这篇报道，我们设定了一个场景：我正在寻找一辆用于日常通勤和休闲娱乐的自行车。我们特意选了一辆与我现有车辆完全不同的车，这样我就不会在潜意识里进行对比。

Bike Works sells new bikes and refurbished older bikes, and after a round of questions about what I was looking for, particularly about how and how often I planned to use it, Ko wheels out a Trek Multitrack 7200, a sturdy hybrid likely from the late aughts. This Trek is upright and handsome and silver and blue, with a short wheelbase, flat bars, grip shifters, and a big, squishy seat, all of which are very different from what I’m used to.

Bike Works 出售新车和翻新旧车。在询问了我的需求，特别是计划如何使用以及使用频率后，Ko 推出一辆 Trek Multitrack 7200——这是一辆可能产自 2000 年代末的坚固混合动力车。这辆 Trek 车身直立、外观帅气，采用银蓝配色，配有短轴距、平把、转把变速器和宽大柔软的座垫，这些都与我习惯的配置大相径庭。

“Hybrids are a soft landing ground for many people looking to get into cycling,” she explains.

“对于许多想要开始骑行的人来说，混合动力车是一个很好的入门选择，”她解释道。

She checks for about two inches of standover clearance between me and the top of the frame. She then has me put a thumb on top of my left hip and extend my hand out flat in the air next to it, setting the initial seat height just beneath it. With Ko bracing the bike, I hop on, so she can fine-tune the saddle height, making sure I have a slight bend in my knee with the pedal at its lowest point.

她检查了我和车架上管之间大约两英寸的跨高间隙。接着，她让我把大拇指放在左髋骨上方，手掌平伸，以此将初始座垫高度设定在手掌下方。在 Ko 扶住自行车的情况下，我跨上车，让她微调座垫高度，确保当踏板处于最低点时，我的膝盖仍保持轻微弯曲。

“That slight bend helps make sure we are engaging the larger muscles—the glutes and the thighs—where the power comes from,” she says. “It also helps keep pressure off of the knees.”

“这种轻微的弯曲有助于确保我们调动大肌肉群——即臀部和大腿，这是力量的来源，”她说，“它还有助于减轻膝盖的压力。”

From there, it’s time to grab the bars, which can typically be raised, lowered, and pivoted. We then adjust the brake lever angle to make sure my hands rest on them in a relaxed position.

接下来是调整车把，通常可以进行升降和角度旋转。随后，我们调整了刹车把手的角度，确保我的手能以放松的姿势搭在上面。

Ko makes sure I look comfortable, not overreached, without locked elbows or a pinched neck, not scrunched into what some call “meerkat position,” with a straight back and the wrists and elbows very bent like you’re peering over the top of them.

Ko 确保我的姿势看起来很舒适，没有过度伸展，肘部没有锁死，脖子也没有紧绷，更没有缩成所谓的“猫鼬姿势”（即背部挺直，手腕和肘部过度弯曲，看起来像是在探头张望）。

After these adjustments, it’s generally a good time for some preliminary stock-taking, as you’ll hopefully be spending a lot of time on this bike. So how’s your keister feel? If the saddle feels wonky, consider a different one. If it feels good, it’s time for a test drive.

完成这些调整后，通常是进行初步评估的好时机，毕竟你以后会花很多时间在这辆车上。那么，你的屁股感觉如何？如果座垫感觉不舒服，可以考虑换一个。如果感觉不错，那就该试骑了。

I hop on the Trek and pedal around a parking lot, first noticing that giant squishy seat, which is kind of weird … but kinda fun! It fits the bike’s vibe, and I like it. The brakes are nice and grabby. The whole thing feels surprisingly nimble.

我跨上这辆 Trek 在停车场骑了几圈，首先注意到那个巨大而柔软的座垫，感觉有点怪……但挺有趣的！它很符合这辆车的风格，我挺喜欢的。刹车灵敏且有力。整辆车骑起来出奇地灵活。

From there, I head up to the street and take it around my neighborhood. It’s a beautiful day, and I feel confident dodging potholes and navigating traffic on narrow streets. I feel secure when I need to stop quickly, and I like the perspective shift of the upright hybrid. For a minute I forget that I am working or analyzing how the bike feels. I’m just happily gliding through my neighborhood on Ferdinand Street, passing under my favorite maple trees.

随后，我骑上街道，在社区周围转了一圈。天气很好，我自信地避开坑洼，在狭窄的街道上穿梭。需要紧急停车时，我感到很安全，而且我很喜欢这种直立式混合动力车带来的视野变化。有一瞬间，我忘记了自己是在工作或分析骑行感受。我只是快乐地滑行在费迪南德街（Ferdinand Street）的社区里，穿过我最爱的枫树下。

Returning to the shop, I note to Ko that my knees are a little bowlegged, and she raises the saddle a bit, bringing them back in a more natural position.

回到店里，我告诉 Ko 我的膝盖有点内扣（O型腿），她稍微调高了座垫，让我的膝盖回到了更自然的位置。

At this point a rider should take the whole thing into account. There’s a bit more fussing that could be done, but if this is clearly not the bike, it’ll be apparent now.

此时，骑行者应该综合考虑整辆车的情况。虽然还可以进行一些微调，但如果这辆车明显不适合你，现在应该已经很清楚了。

“It takes spending time on a bike to know what you want. It’s OK not to know right away. Spend some time on it. Trust your body. Cycling and fit is intuitive,” she says, establishing her bar for success. “I want to encourage you to ride your bike.”

“你需要花时间骑行才能知道自己想要什么。一开始不知道也没关系。多花点时间去感受，相信你的身体。骑行和调试是直觉性的，”她说，并提出了她的成功标准，“我希望鼓励你去骑车。”

Going Pro / 进阶专业调试

A professional bike fitting is for a different customer base yet shares a lot of DNA with what Ko has shown me.

专业的自行车调试面向的是不同的客户群体，但其核心逻辑与 Ko 向我展示的内容有很多共通之处。

For it, I bring my own bike—a steel “all-road” ride with nice, fat tires that’s comfortable on both streets and gravel—to Jenny Iyo at the Upward Physical Therapy clinic in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood. Ayo is a cyclist and a doctor in physical therapy, and most of her clients come in to address something particular like knee pain, lower back pain, shoulder and back discomfort, hand or foot numbness, or saddle discomfort. Some of her clients are referred by their health care providers and others pay $275 out of pocket, a competitive rate for such a consultation in Seattle.

为此，我带着自己的自行车——一辆钢架“全地形”公路车，配有舒适的宽胎，在街道和碎石路上骑行都很舒适——前往西雅图巴拉德社区的 Upward 物理治疗诊所，拜访 Jenny Iyo。Iyo 本人也是一名骑行者，同时拥有物理治疗博士学位。她的大多数客户都是为了解决特定问题而来，例如膝盖疼痛、下背部疼痛、肩背不适、手脚麻木或座垫不适。有些客户是由医疗保健提供者转介的，另一些则自费 275 美元，这在西雅图的此类咨询中属于非常有竞争力的价格。

First thing she does is sit me down and ask lots of questions. Are there any specific issues or discomforts I’m experiencing on the bike? Is there anything I’d like to learn about bike parts or pedaling technique? What is my typical ride like: distance, elevation, road surface, loaded or unloaded?

她做的第一件事就是让我坐下，并询问了许多问题。我在骑行时是否有任何具体的问题或不适？是否有关于自行车零件或踩踏技巧想了解的？我平时的骑行习惯是怎样的：距离、海拔、路面情况、是否负重？

She then does a series of assessments to check for mobility, flexibility, and strength. I touch my toes—or almost, as I have tight hamstrings. She tests leg strength. She puts me face down on a table in a “Superman” position with my arms and legs lifted off the exam table, then tells me to hold it there for one minute, which feels like it’s going to be a lot of time, but I prevail. This helps her look for head and neck discomfort that might reappear while riding. She asks what I want out of the session, which is to make sure my…

接着，她进行了一系列评估，以检查我的活动度、柔韧性和力量。我尝试触碰脚趾——或者说几乎触到了，因为我的腿筋很紧。她测试了我的腿部力量。她让我脸朝下趴在检查台上，摆出“超人”姿势，将手臂和腿抬离台面，并要求我保持一分钟。这感觉非常漫长，但我坚持了下来。这有助于她观察我在骑行时可能复发的头部和颈部不适。她问我希望通过这次咨询获得什么，我的目标是确保我的……