Our Philosophy, Craftsmanship, and Commitment

Perfecting Bike fit for smaller riders (under 5’9) starts with reductive reasoning––focusing on the things that cause problems. Everything stems from wheel size and crank length––all too large. 

First, the wheels––why are most wheels 700c (29 inch) on drop bar bikes? Just like Air Jordans, people aspire to have the bikes that the top racers use. In the Tour de France, it's all 700c and It's been 700c since the early 1900s––research has shown that bigger wheels roll faster (in competition)––because of that you don't hear anything about smaller wheels. This also affects the average length of carbon forks available, but more on that later. 

There is however a progression of proportions in wheel size with kids––on the smallest end we see 12 inch wheels paired with 100 millimeter cranks and small components, etc. And then as kids grow we see 16 inch wheels, then 20, then 24, then 26, and eventually 700c.

Then the Cranks––classically a very narrow range of lengths are sold (170, 172.5, 175 with 165mm deemed as “small”). Compared to the variation in human bodies (and what we see with kids), it's not proportional at all. For component makers (e.g. Shimano, Sram and Champagnolo) it’s more profitable to make fewer sizes. For big bike manufacturers at high volumes, it's more profitable to design around one wheel size and a small range of cranks––a wide range of crank lengths means a lot of variability in frame geometries (e.g. lower BB height), causing higher production costs, more inventory, more skews, all that stuff. 

Why is this bad? Two words; toe overlap––ever rubbed your toe on the front wheel while turning? In order for smaller riders to be able to reach the handle bars you have to bring the whole front of the bike closer to the rider (shorten the top tube). With big wheels and long cranks, this creates a nasty interaction between your pedals and the front wheel called “toe overlap”––too much and you will often rub or strike when turning. Big bike designers intentionally want to avoid this scenario without increasing costs. 

So what do they do? As we’ve described above, changing the wheels and cranks are cost prohibitive. So, they ALL largely do the following: 

1. Slacken (reduce the angle) of the head-tube to make more space between the front wheel and cranks. Resulting in a heavier feeling and less responsive steering. 

   
   

2. Steepen (increase the angle) of the seat-tube to bring the rider forward, and shorten the stem, so the rider can reach the bars. This is often seen as a less comfortable position for the knees and other joints. 

The knock-on effects––there are three areas to cover: 

1. Set back seatpost and stubby stem––one of the first adjustments riders make after buying a small bike from a big bike maker is pushing the saddle as far back as possible to avoid knee discomfort. Often opting for a set back seat post to make the effective seat tube angle closer to what the larger sizes already have (classic 73°). This moves the rider further back from the bars, and has a secondary knock-on effect on reach that causes riders to opt for a very short stem (<60mm). Which also can negatively affect handling and comfort. 

   
   

2. Slammed stem––if you’ve watched the Tour de France you may have noticed that the pros ride with their handlebars much lower than the seat. This is called “slammed” and it can be optimal for power production. In the case of small bikes, it is prevalent for other reasons. Because most drop bar bikes are 700c, most forks (front part of bike that holds the wheel and turns) are quite tall––so tall in fact that it can actually position the handlebars higher than preferred. To counteract this, smaller riders often “slam” their stems as low as possible, and often cannot get it low enough. 

   
   

3. Cranks cranks cranks––there is so much documentation about how cranks need to be proportional to riders’ inseam, yet big bike makers rarely spec 165mm cranks on even their smallest size bikes. Smaller riders will inevitably find out that they need to install a set of cranks that actually fit their legs, and when they do their seat post goes up. Because the bottom bracket (hole through the bottom of the bike that the cranks attached to) is near, or the same height as size large, riders will experience a feeling of being on top of the bike (due to higher center of gravity) instead of being in the bike. It can be nice to have extra ground clearance to avoid pedal strikes, but you compromise by losing some of your balance. 

   
   

There are even more knock-ons of the knock-ons––like how shortening the cranks also changes your leverage on the pedals, and gives rise to the need for higher spinning and lower gears, and how changing the wheel size on a bike designed for a larger wheel can affect rake and handling, it goes on and on.

The point we’re making here is that your bike should be proportional to your body. At poqo we’re focusing on the smaller end of sizes (42-50CM) covering riders 4’10 to 5’8 so that we don’t have to make all of the design compromises that big bike makers do. 

Our starting point is smaller wheels and shorter cranks because we know that designing with smaller proportions in mind is what’s best for smaller riders. We ultimately want to match you with a bike that actually fits you properly from the start.