Hasta La Gadget!

Test Rides is a “virtual bike fitting room”, an iPhone application which puts you inside the computer and measures you up for the perfect-sized bicycle. Think of it s a little like Tron, but with real bikes instead of light-cycles. And math instead of impossibly exciting CG death-races.

First up, you snap a picture of yourself sitting down. This needs to be taken from the side, with arms and legs visible — you might get a friend to help. You then place crosshairs over your joints: elbows, ankles, knees and so on. With this information, Test Rides will go ahead and tell you what size and shape of bike you need, from the length of the forks to the drop of the bottom bracket.

You’ll need to do some work. While the app has a few bikes already input, these are really just for demonstration purposes. You’ll need to pore over the actual geometry measurements of your prospective steeds to determine the right machine, which makes Test Rides more of a helpful number cruncher than a true “fitting room”.

The good news is that detailed geometry specs are available online for many better bikes. The bad news is that they aren’t always measured in the same way so you’ll have to do some sleuthing. Also, while $5 isn’t much, this is a rather specialized and possibly single-use application. Still, if that $5 saves you from buying an ill-fitting bicycle, it might just be worth it.

Product page [Wild Ride. Thanks, Genmei!]
Product page [iTunes]