Frequently asked questions
Everything you need to know about Pedalyze before your first analysis.
How it works
- What is Pedalyze and how does it work?
- You upload side-on photos of yourself on your bike. AI pose estimation detects your joints — no stickers or markers needed — then Pedalyze measures your joint angles, compares them against standard fit ranges, and gives each one a pass, warn or fail verdict with concrete adjustment tips. The whole process takes under 5 minutes.
- Which angles does Pedalyze measure?
- At the 6 o'clock pedal position: knee flexion, hip angle, torso angle, elbow angle and shoulder angle. At the 3 o'clock position: KOPS offset (knee over pedal spindle), plus torso and elbow angles.
- Do I need special equipment?
- No. A phone camera and something to keep the bike steady — a trainer, or a friend taking the photo — is all you need. You ride in your normal kit; no markers or stickers.
- Can I share my report with a bike fitter?
- Yes. Turn on the public link toggle on any report to get a URL you can send to a professional bike fitter, coach or physio. They can open it and see your photos and angle breakdown without needing a Pedalyze account. You can turn the link off again at any time.
Photos & accuracy
- How do I take a good photo?
- Place the camera at hip / top-tube height, at 90° directly from the side, and keep it level. Wear tight-fitting kit or dark clothing against a light background, and put the pedal at 6 o'clock (bottom of the stroke). The in-app checklist and alignment guide walk you through it.
- Why was my photo rejected?
- Pedalyze checks every photo before it measures anything. If the camera is off-axis, tilted more than about 4°, the rider is cropped, or joints are hard to see, the photo is rejected instead of silently measured wrong. The report tells you exactly what to fix before you retake it.
- How accurate is it compared to a professional bike fit?
- Pedalyze checks your position against the published ranges described in "Where do your target ranges come from?" below, and it catches the common issues — saddle height, reach, bar drop. It is a data-driven first screening, not a replacement for a certified fitter if you have pain, injuries or asymmetries. One known approximation: the KOPS check uses your ankle as a pedal-spindle proxy, so it reads slightly rearward of a true plumb line.
- Where do your target ranges come from?
- Knee flexion is the one range with a clear published source: Holmes, Pruitt & Whalen, "Lower Extremity Overuse in Bicycling" (Clinics in Sports Medicine, 1994) recommends 25–30° of knee flexion at the bottom of the stroke; we use 25–35° for road because a single 2D photo cannot resolve a few degrees of ankle movement. KOPS is a fitting convention with no biomechanical law behind it — we keep it because it is reproducible, and we flag that we use the ankle as a spindle proxy. The hip, torso, elbow and shoulder bands, and the comfort and TT profiles, are our own reading of widely published road, comfort and TT fit guidance rather than any one certified protocol. We are independent: no affiliation with, or endorsement by, Retül, Steve Hogg, BikeFit or any fitting school. Every range is plain data in the open source file reference_ranges.yaml, so you can read the exact numbers we judge you against.
- Does Pedalyze support both road and TT/triathlon positions?
- Yes. You pick a fit style before the analysis — road/endurance or time trial/triathlon — and Pedalyze compares your angles against the target ranges for that style.
Pricing & account
- Is there a free plan?
- Yes. You get 1 free fit analysis every 7 days with the full angle overlay and pass/warn/fail results — no credit card required. The €29 Fit Session pass then gives you 30 days of unlimited saved analyses, comparisons over time and PDF export. See pricing.
- Do I need to cancel anything?
- No. The Fit Session pass is a one-time payment — there is nothing to cancel, it simply ends after 30 days.
Privacy & data
- What happens to my photos and data?
- Your photos are stored securely in cloud storage tied to your account, and your analysis results are saved to your history so you can track changes over time. You can delete your analyses at any time. Read the Privacy Policy.