It’s one thing getting your bike-fit in the right ballpark, but keeping track of small adjustments or duplicating a fit when you upgrade components can get tricky. However, we’ve come across this tool from VeloAngle that promises to help.
It’s a simple design that is meant to quickly and accurately define the relative position of your three contact points — your bottom bracket, bars and saddle.
Measuring angles
The VeloAngle tool allows quick and easy measurements of your bike fit
Rather than measuring x and y (horizontal and vertical) coordinates, the VeloAngle uses polar coordinates (angle and distance) to define the relative position between bottom bracket and saddle and bottom bracket and bars.
Taking the measurement directly between two points is arguably more accurate than taking separate horizontal and vertical measurements, which can introduce errors.
The tool can be used quickly and effectively. Use the attachments for your saddle and bars to measure from each respectively to the centre of the BB. There are also 'plug' adapators available, that can fit in hollow crank spindles. This provides a fixed axis to rotate around, the tool will then pivot to each measurement position at the bars and saddle.
A range of other accessories exist to fit to fit the VeloAngle to any bike. An interesting one is the Laser Adaptor that will allow for measuring non-contact measurements such as stack and reach.
Repeatability and reliability
It’s notoriously difficult to measure a consistent point on the saddle. VeloAngle has designed a fitting tool that provides for repeatability by always sitting at the same saddle ‘depth’. A slider sets the measurement point at a user defined point along the saddle.
While you have to remember the depth you measure your saddle at (we imagine different saddle designs will change the measurement), it’s still a nice tool to help simplify the process.
Using the VeloAngle you can effectively measure the tilt, height and setback of your saddle.
Uniquely, the VeloAngle also allows you to define a reference level for the measurement. If your bike is on uneven ground or in a bike stand you can set a 'virtual plane' by zeroing the angle measurement when the tool is aligned between the axles.
This also means the saddle angle value measured is relative to your reference zero, rather than an 'unknown' angle.
There’s an app for that
Somewhat surprisingly the tool does not come with the dedicated VeloAngle app. This has to be purchased separately, though a VeloAngle purchase does come with a 3-month free trial.
You can obviously log the measurements manually, but the app provides conversion from its polar coordinates to the more common x and y coordinates.
The app also allows you to plug in existing x and y measurements to calculate how you would need to set up your bike (for example, if you have such values from a previous bike-fit), providing an accurate and repeatable way of duplicating fits across multiple bikes.
However, it's worth mentioning that having the VeloAngle tool won’t immediately help you fit your bike correctly. But what it does do is allow you to check measurements and replicate them in order to dial in your fit incrementally, or replicate an existing fit.
Pricing and availability
There are two version of VeloAngle available — Enthusiast and Pro. The Pro version is fitted with a Digi-Pas180s digital inclinometer to measure the angle. The Enthusiast version is available at a lower price by removing the inclinometer. Instead you mount a smartphone and use an app for the angle measurement.
The VeloAngle Pro retails for $289, while the enthusiast version costs $199. The VeloAngle App comes in two flavours, with an unlimited licence costing $69 and a personal one costing $49. The VeloAngle is available from the dedicated website here.
Though a relatively simple concept, the VeloAngle is nicely designed and significantly cheaper than many other fitting systems out there. Obviously it does not provide any detailed analysis, but does offer a reliable means of measuring and adjusting that could be a boon for anyone from professional fitter to amateur enthusiast.
This article was updated on 9 July 2018 to amend some details.