Ryden Smart Measurement tool

New bike fit products come to the market all the time, but how do you know which ones are worth buying? UK fitter Lee Prescott shares his thoughts on the Ryden Smart Measurement and setup tool after trying it out in his fit studio.

I must admit that when I first saw this tool at the Bespoked show last year, my initial thoughts were that it was a gimmick. Upon chatting to Darren Ryden though, it became apparent that a lot of thought had actually gone into the design.

Now Darren is not a bike fitter, and as such did not have experience of measuring many different bikes. After several conversations about the XY coordinate system of measuring a position, Darren was able to feed this new knowledge into the latest design version.

This latest version includes multiple fixtures to connect the tool to the majority of different crank sets. The web app that goes along with the hardware has also seen some major updates to make it more accurate and more useful.

Obviously, the build quality is not the same as something like the Purely Custom XY tool, but it’s not meant to be. With a price tag of under £50, this measurement device is squarely aimed at amateur cyclists and for occasional use.

SIMPLE TO USE

The web app is simple to use and provides a host of information, by utilising the inclinometer of the average smart phone to determine the angle of the ruler. Then by inputting the measurement taken on the ruler of the saddle or bar height it’s a simple bit of trigonometry used in the code to calculate the X & Y. All of these measurements can then be saved into a profile that stores your set up.

SIMPLE TO USE: The web app that accompanies the hardware has seen major updates to make the tool more accurate and useful.

REPLICABLE MEASUREMENTS

The saddle width jaws come as standard at 70mm but can be adjusted to suit any width you are using. The bar gauge now also includes a semi-circular cut out to locate the fixture on the centre bulge on a bar, and the calculation gives you a reading to the centre of the stem clamp.

It's something to say that I have chosen to grab this tool a few times over the XY stick or laser level we normally use and is just as quick and easy to create an accurate measurement. If anything its actually more replicable than both other methods.

All in all, I believe this is a great tool for any fitter to recommend to their clients as a simple way of them replicating a fit onto their bikes or home trainers.

RRP: £49 +P&P

https://shop.ryden.bike

Opinions expressed in these reviews are personal and are not endorsements by the IBFI. Products in this article were purchased by the reviewer. If you are a bike fitter and have been using a new product you’d like to review, or if you are a company and you’d like to submit a product for a long-term review by qualified bike fitters, email lee@ibfi-certification.com