Cycling UK Forum

Does anyone know where I can get pre-purchase bike sizing in Cumbria, preferably from an independent provider? It seems to me that the best value bicycles are online only and I want to order with confidence that the bicycle will fit me. I don't want to go to a shop where there may be pressure to buy one of the bikes the shop sells.

You need to know what bike you, want.
Normal way would be to consult manufactures charts for that bike and alternatives. That is usually pretty good and works enough for thousands of bikes to be bought that way with no trouble. If the bike is only for sale on line you can only do that. If it can be bought in a shop or online visit a shop and then do the dirty on them after availing yourself of the their services.
You can't get someone to tell you what bike you need as all bikes are generally sold slightly differently. You can get a bike fit which may help but will probably cost a couple of hundred quid and all that will tell you is what the dimensions might be .

You’re ignoring all the benefits of buying from an independent cycle shop and think you might save money buying online which might work out or could be a costly mistake.
IMO If you are anywhere near Carlisle take a visit to Palace cycles, speak to Mike. You’ll get very good advice and will not be pressured to buy.

All of the above plus:

what type of bike are you after?
what's your age, riding experience, fitness? (cos all of that will have an impact on riding position and bike fit)
what sort of riding are you planning on doing?
what's your bike buying budget? (cos there's little point in having a potentially expensive bike fit if you're only buying a £200 MTB from the likes of Halfords / Decathlon!)

And lastly, how much do you know about bike fit, geometry, handling etc? It's very difficult, even for an experienced rider, to "know" how a bike will handle based off nothing other than geometry and sizing info. You can get an idea of basic fit of course but stuff like handling, ride feel and so on can really only be discovered through a test ride - and even then it can be affected by things like tyres, tyre pressure etc.

Any decent shop will work through the fit of each individual bike (because not all stated sizes are equivalent) and give you the opportunity to test a range of bikes.