Adjust the seat height to fit your legs before testing a bike frame. The height of the seat is easily modified on a bike to fit you, and the right size frame will feel wrong if the seat isn't high enough. You want to have it raised so that, on the bottom of your pedal stroke (one foot is at the lowest point), your knee is slightly bent, not straight. Have a friend or someone at the bike shop hold the bike in place while you get on. Pedal backward, stopping with one foot at the very bottom of the pedal's rotation, and adjust your seat height so that it is slightly bent.
- It is very rare that the last person who tested the bike needed the same seat height as you, so you must adjust this before knowing if the frame is the wrong size.
- Make sure you are not shifting or dropping your hips with each pedal stroke, as this will make your foot drop lower than it should and result in an improper fit.[10]