If you find your basement filled with water after a storm, it can be disheartening and leave you feeling helpless. Just witnessing the damage to your home and possessions is enough to leave anyone feeling overwhelmed. It’s tough to know where to even start the cleanup process.

Rising waters can not only damage your furnishings and storage items but can actually cause structural damage to your home and leave you at risk for mold and mildew issues. The longer you have to wait for the waters to recede, the more likely it is that permanent damage can be done.

Try not to panic in this situation and keep in mind that even the worst messes from flooding can be fixed. Always keep your own and your family’s safety in mind when you start the process. Flood waters can be dangerous in terms of contact with electricity and harmful bacterias and debris caught in the flow.

Talking to a certified water damage cleanup professional can help you answer any questions about the procedure. Take a look at some of the following tips that you should follow if you find your basement is flooded.

Turn Off The Power

Your first step should be to shut off all the power in your home that feeds the flooded area. Don’t risk your life by entering a flooded area that could be electrified. If you have natural gas you should shut off all valves to avoid any leaks. Electricity and water can be a deadly combination that you should always avoid saving you from injury or the risk of fire.

Be Safe

There is no way to easily navigate through a flooded area. Visibility can be limited and tough to see any hazards lurking below the surface. Be sure to wear protective boots when entering the flood area to protect your feet from puncture injuries. To be safe you should never handle any damaged items without protective gloves and eyewear.

Find The Source

As soon as it is safe to enter the basement you should be looking for the source of the leak. Focus on any cracks in the foundation, window sills and all of your water pipes. Make sure that the water is interior water is turned off. Find your floor drain and make sure that it isn’t clogged or blocked by any debris.

Remove Water

If your entire neighbourhood is flooded it may take awhile for your local sewer system to keep up with the flooding and empty out your basement. In the meantime you can start bailing out the area the best you can. Bring in a sump pump if your home isn’t equipped with one and suck up any excess water with a wet/dry vacuum.

Once the area is a free from standing water you can set up fans and open windows and doors to help circulate the air and dry up your floors.

Clear Out

Your first priority is to get everything out of the basement as soon as possible. Don’t stop to sort anything until it is all in a dry space. If it is dry outdoors, start moving your things out onto the lawn or driveway. Do not attempt to move any electronics like a television or stereo. It is safer to let these items dry in place.

Rip up all of your carpet and underpadding. After allowing for 48 hours of drying time you can start to decide what items you can keep and what has been lost. Once your basement is cleared it’s a good idea to use a anti-mildew spray on the surfaces to help prevent any bacterial issues.

As we discover more about how the planet works and what is hurting it, more people are becoming environmentally aware and keen to do what they can to protect the earth. Although this is not always easy outside of the home due to restrictions and other people’s and corporation’s rules, when you are in your own home there is a lot you can do. If everyone were to do at least some of these things, the planet would be much healthier for it. Here are some ways that you can be environmentally friendly in your home. 

Save Water

When you think of all the ways you can help the planet from your home, water might be something that you forget to include. It is always there, something that barely any of us really think about, and yet it is vitally important to the planet and to our own health. It is also vitally important that we save as much water as we can and stop wasting it. The more we can save, the more environmentally friendly our homes can be (and as a benefit, we will also save money and stop paying for water that we’re literally flushing away).

It doesn’t take much to make these important changes. Simply by remembering to turn the tap off when you are brushing your teeth, or to use your dishwasher only with a full load in it, or even by installing a showerhead specifically designed to offer a lower flow, you can save many thousands of liters of water each year.

Know What You’re Using

If you don’t know how much energy you’re using within your home, it will be all but impossible to change your lifestyle for the better and know that you are using less. The heating and cooling in your home is one of the biggest ways that energy can be used, and it is crucial that you are aware of exactly how much you are using. Once you can see this, it will also be easier to remember to turn the heating down – or even off – when you need to rather than leaving it on all the time, for example, and you will be more likely to switch lights off when you are leaving the room.

Use Energy Efficient Bulbs

Everyone needs to use lightbulbs, even though they use a fair amount of energy. No one is suggesting that everyone needs to go back to using candles to light their way. However, if you can switch from standard bulbs to energy efficient ones, you can use your lighting without feeling guilty or worrying that you are causing harm to the planet. Energy efficient lightbulbs make a lot of sense because they use less electricity when they are on, but they also last longer, meaning you don’t have to buy some many – and you’ll save money because of that too.

Install Solar Panels

Solar panels are perhaps the biggest change that you can make to your home if you want it to be more environmentally friendly, and they might be the most expensive change too. However, the idea with solar panels is that they will eventually make enough energy to start paying you back because you can sell that energy on to the providers. This means that if you take out a Bonsai Finance loan to pay for the solar panels, you might even find that the panels one day pay for at least some of the repayments for you. Even if they don’t pay you back financially, the help they are offering to the planet is well worth considering.

Talk To The Experts

If you want to be more environmentally friendly within your home but you don’t know where to start, talk to the experts about what you can do. You might find that there is a local sustainability consultant near to you who can help, for example, or perhaps there are talks and workshops being produced that you can attend in order to learn more. If there is no one you can talk to in person, take a look online. There will be all kinds of forums that you can join where you can discuss the different ways to be more energy efficient and environmentally friendly,and you might discover things you never knew before.

Use Natural Cleaning Products

Having a clean house is something that many people want, and to achieve this end, they buy many different chemical cleaners. The result is that their houses are spotlessly clean, but that the planet is suffering. The harsh chemicals within these cleaners have a massively negative impact on the environment, especially when they go into the water supply. When this happens, the water needs to be purified more before it can be used which takes extra energy, plus the chemicals are harmful to the wildlife and fish.

It is far better to use natural cleaning products that have no chemicals in them. You can now find some of these natural products on the shelves in grocery stores, but if you really want to be extra environmentally friendly (and save money) you can make your own with products that you probably already have around the house such as vinegar, baking soda, and lemon juice.

Insulate Your Home

The best way to save energy in your home (thus making it more environmentally friendly) is to use as little as you can, and ensuring that you have the right levels of good quality insulation installed will help you to achieve this goal. When you have good insulation, your home is better able to keep the heat inside it, and this means you aren’t using lots of energy to keep your house warm, replacing the heat that is escaping through poor insulation.

You can insulate the walls and ceilings, and you can install double glazed windows to stop your heat from leaking out through the panes of glass. Plus, if you have any hardwood flooring, then rugs can help to keep your home more energy efficient, warmer, and less expensive to run.

The unfortunate truth is that our Earth is slowly getting warmer, and that can be a major problem for the environment. Rising temperatures bring about a slew of problems for humans and the wildlife that they depend on to survive. Due to this, it is no surprise that climate change has become a hot topic when it comes to public policy. Thankfully, the younger generations seem to have taken up the mantle of combating climate change and have begun enacting preemptive methods to stop it. Major cities are one of the forerunners in the fight against climate change as some of them have begun adopting city-wide policies that attempt to limit their carbon footprint. These cities are setting a great example, and offer hope that someday we will actually be able to combat climate change and its effects. However what exactly are these cities doing to fight against climate change, and just how effective is it?

Policies

One of the biggest ways that cities are helping in the fight against climate change is the policies that they are introducing. Some cities have become famous for their efforts in the fight against climate change. Cities like Seattle and Portland have integrated environmentally conscience behavior into their local culture. These cities have taken steps to reduce their carbon footprint by modifying their residential and transportation policies. In addition, these cities have taken steps to clean their cities up such as implementing things like hi vac services If every city took steps like this to reduce the pollutants their city produced, then perhaps we can halt or even reverse climate change. Although not a city, the state of California has recently passed a plastic straw ban in an attempt to reduce the pollutants that are released in the production of plastic and to reduce the harmful effects of improperly disposed plastic. With more policies like this the idea of a world free of climate change doesn’t seem that far off.

Funding

Despite the great benefits of being sustainable, they do not come without a cost. Implementing sustainable practices and policies can be a great disturbance in the economy and can cost a lot of people lots of money. Thankfully this is where cities can step in and provide funding. Funding is extremely important, because without it we would be unable to implement expensive policies or conduct research. If we’re going to actually fight back against climate change then we will need funding, and cities will need to be the ones that spearhead it.

Publicity

Half the battle with climate change is exposing the issues that arise from it. There are still those out there that deny climate change’s existence, making the issue even more dangerous. Thankfully, cities are adequately equipped with the necessary resources to raise awareness from this issue. The more that cities can get information about climate change circulating the better. By holding public events and instituting public policies cities shine a spotlight on an issue that a lot of people want to avoid or deny. Unfortunately we can’t just ignore this issue and pretend like it doesn’t exist. Action must be taken in order to combat it, and cities are taking a step in the right direction by bringing climate change to the forefront of the discussion.

Everywhere you look, from residential rooftops to commercial facilities, it is clear that solar power is on the rise.  Solar power generates electricity without polluting the environment and has no risk of fuel price spikes.  Furthermore, due to reductions in the cost of the panels, the incentives from tax credits and rebates, and the savings compared to all other energy options, the solar trend will continue its upswing far into the future.

You’ve no doubt seen that the renewable energy craze has taken over the world and would like to do your part to preserve the environment for future generations.  Perhaps you’ve taken the plunge and installed rooftop solar panels, and they have been providing you with a portion or the totality of your energy needs.

But if committing to rooftop solar panels isn’t possible right now, there are other ways you can incorporate solar technology into your home to feel like you’re part of the solar revolution.

Just looking at the range of lighting products, your options are innumerable.  Outdoor lighting products vary in function, power, style and price; changing out the old models for solar types will have an immediate impact on the environment and your wallet.  Some of the more powerful lights for the residential market are solar powered LED street lights that are often used to illuminate courtyards, driveways and patios.  Another powerful and functional solar powered product is the motion-triggered spotlight, which can help to deter criminals and make you feel more secure when you take out the trash or get the mail after dark.

Solar lighting is easy to install because it has no wiring, so installing landscape lighting is something you can do immediately.  Lamp posts, post cap lights, wall- and pedestal-mounted accent lights, underground landscape lights, step lights, pendant landscape lights and pathway lights are just some of the fixtures to choose from.  You can even stock up on solar-powered Christmas lights for the holiday season.  Indoor solar lighting, while not as popular as outdoor lighting, is available in the form of lighting kits that include a solar collector, an LED light and a lithium ion battery.

How much money do you save by using solar panels?  Assuming an average yearly electricity usage of ll,000 kilowatt-hours, you would save at least $10,000 per year with a 6 kilowatt residential solar system.  In the states where the electricity rates are higher, Massachusetts and New York for example, you could save thousands more.  Businesses can also save a bundle by going with solar.  According to solar market research data from EnergySage, a commercial property owner can eliminate 75 percent of their overall energy costs by switching to solar.  Municipalities are also getting into this new trend.  In 2017, the city of Las Vegas reported that it had reduced its overall energy costs by more than $5 million a year by utilizing renewable energies, including solar.  If you’re inspired to save money and reduce your carbon footprint by purchasing solar lighting products, check out Deelat.com, a trusted worldwide shipping website that sells the best solar powered products for the best price.

Portable generators provide power in numerous situations from electrical outages to picnics and tailgate parties. While you may feel tempted to pick up whatever you see available in Home Depot or Lowe’s, many of those generators only fill minimum needs. They may power basic items like a light and charge cell phones and computers, but won’t be capable of running a refrigerator or air conditioner.

Remember that unless you choose a battery-powered 24-hour unit that creates no emissions, you must run your generator outdoors. Regardless of their fuel source – gas, propane, etc. – a generator produces carbon monoxide when it runs. Running one indoors poisons the air and kills people and pets.

Consider Your Needs

You’ll find a plethora of generators out there, but not all fit your needs. Make a list of where and how you want to use your generator.

1. Will you use your generator for:- camping trips,- emergency situations like power outages,- job sites to power tools,- picnics and tailgate parties?
2. Do you need portability or a permanent installation?
3. With what voltage outlets do you need to use it, 120 or 240 volts?
4. How many and what wattage items do you need to power simultaneously with the generator?
5. What fuel do you want to use?
6. What type of start mechanism do you want to use – push button, pull start, remote control?
7. How much can you afford to spend? With respect to number four, you can use the following averages to calculate load:- computers, 60 to 300 watts,- lights, 60 to 600 watts,- portable heater, 1,500 watts,- refrigerator, 600 watts,- sump pump, 750 to 1,500 watts,- window air conditioner, 1,000 watts.

With these questions answered, you’re ready to begin your Internet research for the right generator. Better models offer features that can save you money in the long run and can reduce your need to refill the tank as often.

Look for these seven key features for the best investment and performance.

Low-Oil Sensor

Running a generator continuously for hours causes the oil level to drop. As the oil level reduces, it can hit a level at which it no longer lubricates the engine appropriately. This can damage the motor. Units with a low-oil sensor turn off the generator for you when the oil level reaches a too low point. If the unit receives oil separately from its fuel, check the oil before each use. Always keep the oil level topped up before cranking the generator.

Electric Starter

Pull starts pervade the selection of generators, but push button and remote control models have become more popular. Pull starts work like push lawn mowers. You pull a cord that cranks the engine. If you’re not interested in that kind of workout, an electric starter saves you the trouble. These devices have a built-in battery that powers the electric starter. Keep the battery charged. A standalone charger that maintains the battery, but has an automatic shut off so the battery doesn’t overcharge accomplishes this.

Automatic Starter

Automatic starters appear as a feature on units that hardwire into a home. These larger power units feature an automatic starter that recognizes when the grid power goes offline and transfers power need to the generator. These require the installation of a transfer switch by an electrician. They should do this when they wire it into the home.

Multiple Receptacles

Many units have a single 120-volt receptacle. Others may carry two to three receptacles. If you need to power larger items though, you’ll need a 240-volt receptacle. Look for GFCI receptacles if you’ll need to run items on extension cords or in a damp location. Humidity counts.

Multiple Fuels or Specific Fuel Type

Gas generators prove the most common. Your community may restrict gasoline storage though so this may limit you to 25 gallons or less. Propane generators use the same type of small tanks as a gas grill. Solar generators hit the market in the last few years and simply charge using sunlight. They store their charge in batteries that you can then access later in the day when you need the power. Overnight generators that hold only a 24-hour charge, you keep plugged into an outlet until the power dies. The electricity charges a battery inside it that then provides 24 hours of use. Some models offer more than one fuel type. These offer the greatest versatility but cost more.

Fuel Gauge

Units with a fuel gauge let you know at a glance how much fuel remains. Since fuel equates to run hours and load bearing, this lets you know how long you have until you need to manually refill the tank.

Removable Console

A removable console connects to the generator face enabling you to plug items in without the need for an outdoor extension cord. Even using an outdoor extension cord can create a hazard during a storm.

Now that you know what to look for, check bestgenerator.reviews to see some of the highest rated portable generators. That’s the type most people start with since it lets them use it in a number of situations to understand what serves them best. A backup generator proves an indispensable item whether in an emergency, at the job site, or powering your picnic. You’ll probably find you want one for home and one for work.

Saving power around the home is important in terms of the household budget, but becoming more energy efficient is also vitally important in helping to protect the environment. We’ve put together a list of things you can do right now (or when you get home at least!) that can save you money and reduce your carbon footprint.

Energy audit

Go from room to room around your house and do an energy audit – plug in draughts through door and window seals; repair dripping taps, showers, or toilets; check fridge seals and clean dust on the coils; clean the lint filter in the dryer; turn off appliances that don’t need to be on and start using an app to track energy usage (this resource guide has a good list of apps); if you’ve got a second fridge, only turn it on when in use.

Unplug

Standby power, particularly in older appliances, can be a real energy-guzzler. Turning off appliances at the wall can save you up to $200 a year, and reduce the 68 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions that standby power produces worldwide.

Think in degrees

Heating and cooling accounts for 40% of household energy use (and 20% of all carbon emissions), so set your thermostat according to your local government temperature recommendations. Every degree increase over 20ºC (68ºF) uses about 10% more energy.

Water wise

Simply paying attention to your water use can lead to a drastic reduction in the amount wasted – turn off the tap while brushing your teeth (saving 11,000L (3000gal) per year); have a shorter shower; and use the half-flush when you can. And while the amount of water you use doesn’t affect your power bill, the amount you heat certainly does, so only boil the kettle when you need to; use cold water in the washing machine rather than hot; and still keep those showers short!

Fill up

Whenever you go to turn on the dishwasher, ensure that it is full – dishwashers are more water and energy efficient than handwashing, but a single load still costs about 40 cents to run. You could save 50kg of carbon emissions each year.

Upgrade

Appliances account for about 30% of your household energy use, and particularly if you have a lot of older appliances, can be hugely responsible for your carbon emissions. A fridge that’s even as recent as five years old uses twice as much energy (and produces twice as many emissions) as a new, energy-efficient fridge. Replacing old, inefficient appliances with new, energy-efficient appliances can save hundreds of dollars a year in running costs. And buying online means you can still do it tonight!

The world’s plastic problem has been hitting headlines globally and we need to act now to avoid the problem worsening. This issue has been raised by many, in fact within the last couple years the government has introduced ways to combat the problem and even encouraged the public to make different lifestyle choices.

You may have noticed the 5p carrier bag charge in many major stores across the UK. The public have received the message of the plastic pandemic and the need to prevent further pollution, and have started reusing carrier bags to avoid the bag charge or bringing in their own ‘bag for life’ to do their bit to make a change.

However, plastic is not only a lifetime landfill problem, but it is also an affliction on our oceans and waterways. Marine life is suffering from our waste, and it is estimated over a million birds and 100,000 marine mammals and turtles die every year across the globe because of this. So what can you do to stop this plastic pandemic?
BWML have provided further information on how to prevent plastic waste in our waterways and how the public and several boaters can make simple changes that will make a big difference.

Whether you own a business or are simply an employee, you may be passionate about positively contributing to the environment. Bearing in mind that everybody can play a role one way or another, there are a number of things you could on a daily basis to support the sustainability movement. Sustainability in the workplace is becoming increasingly popular for a number of reasons. For one, businesses are seeing how sustainability can be used to help them save resources and in some instances money. It is also their way of giving back to their community in some cases. In the instance that you want to be eco-friendlier in your workplace, this article will list three ways that you can go about it.

Go Paperless

In the US alone, it is said that at least 9,125,000,000 tons of paper is used on an annual basis. This is an extremely significant amount of paper that is being consumed for several reasons. What’s even more alarming is the number of trees that likely have to be cut down to produce this amount of paper to begin with.

You may have noticed in many of your local businesses that more paperless alternatives are cropping up such as digital receipts when you purchase things, sending more information via email as opposed to print, and even disseminating leaflets online instead of in print form. The same can be adapted in your office by choosing to print less and share more information digitally. If, for instance, you want to send out invites for an event, you could design your own custom flyer and send them out via email and social media instead of printing thousands which will likely be thrown on the ground anyway. You could also try and avoid printing meeting minutes, meeting agendas, or employee manuals and send them via email instead.

Recycle Office Supplies

Another key way of adopting eco-friendly habits in the workplace is to recycle as many office supplies as possible. If, for instance, you must print at all, consider recycling the paper you use and ensuring none goes to waste or printing on recycled paper in the first place. When trying to go green in the office, you should also look into buying reusable pens seeing as the U.S, is said to throw out over four million disposable pens daily. To avoid this sort of waste, buying reusable ones may be a better alternative. Some other items you can reuse or recycle include binders, file folders, paper clips, rubber bands, and papers. Restricting employees access to new supplies should also encourage them to use the ones they have efficiently.

Use Green Web Hosting

Just about every business has a website nowadays, so one way to make your office eco-friendlier is to use green web hosting. These companies actively participate in eco-friendly practices like using renewable energy, planting trees, or purchasing renewable energy certificates to offset the environmental impact of their servers and infrastructure. Opting for such services not only reduces your carbon footprint but also supports sustainable practices.

Another great way to save while embracing green web hosting is by exploring Bluehost coupon code videos to save money. They can help you find affordable hosting plans that align with your eco-friendly goals, ensuring you make smart financial and environmental choices.

Choosing to be eco-friendly brings endless benefits, positively impacting both your community and the environment. It’s a way of giving back to the planet that has provided so much for us. Plus, you’ll often discover that these practices lead to better resourcefulness and significant savings in terms of revenue and operational efficiency.

With flooding becoming more and more of an issue in the UK the quest for cost effective prevention methods is also moving quickly in an effort to keep up. Potential flooding plays a major role in almost all new building planning because the likelihood of it happening more in the future is so strong. Companies like www.unda.co.uk are testament to this as them and many others exist almost solely to provide flood risk assessments for planning. It is clear there is a huge industry around flooding because it is simply something that is not going to go away. While most solutions include physical barriers, land management and drainage changes and other man made options it seems now animals may be able to help too.

As a result of a great deal of consultation the Forestry Commission plan to release a family of beavers into an enclosure at Lybrook in Gloucestershire in 2018. The group will be made up of 2 adults and 2 young animals known as kits. The area will be around 6.5 hectares and this introduction will certainly be the first of it’s kind on government land.

This plan was finally agreed in December 2017 when the Environment Minister Michael Gove signed off and set it in motion with the aim to reduce flooding downstream but to also increase biodiversity. The exact location of the release will be Greatthough Brook.

These plans have been approved by Natural England, and they will see the beavers being introduced into a fenced area to keep the animals secure; this is aimed to keep the animals healthy, disease-free and  also to enable researchers to collect data about the water flow in the brook itself.

The village of Lydbrook suffered some severe flooding in 2012 when around 4ft of water covered the town so it makes a perfect place for this trial. The aim is that the beaver start creating dams and resulting pools and canals that will hold back around 6000 cubic metres of water and prevent flooding reaching the town in periods of high rainfall. The damns will act like a sponge which will release storm water much slower than it normally flows thus giving it time to dissipate naturally along the water course. The reason the animals will start building right away is that they like to live in deep water and the area is currently quite shallow. The beaver will soon set about creating their preferred habitat which should benefit the village the next time the location sees very high rainfall.

Beavers have actually already been trialled in a number of privately owned locations across the UK including Devon and Scotland.

Derek Gow, is a well known a beaver and water vole expert and he has worked on some of these recent trials. He was quoted as sayings water takes around ten times longer to flow through beaver areas than in rivers and streams without them. He said “Beaver-generated environments therefore not only regulate flows reducing flood peaks but also function as storage facilities for water, which can also assist in the alleviation of drought,”.

Researchers at Exeter University have been studying another beaver test area and the results have shown to be very positive. The data clearly shows the water flow at times of heavy rain to be far slower below the beaver site than above. This supports the theory that beavers can slow down the effects of flooding though their natural behaviour.

In Cornwall a farmer took his flooding problems into his own hands and teamed up with the Cornwall Wildlife Trust to create another beaver area. The village of Ladock also suffered severe flooding recently but is now less at risk due to the beaver activity which has held back around 1000 cubic metres of water. Anecdotal evidence locally suggests that areas that always flood in heavy rain now remain passable and relatively dry.

Another interesting fact around beaver introduction is the fact the evidence suggests they actually improve water quality too. The dams they build seem to act as a filter for some types of pollution including phosphates.

The data so far from these trials show that beavers are certainly more cost effective than other flood prevention methods such as physical defences which can cost millions. The beavers are also able to adapt to changing conditions which other methods cannot do. Provided they are healthy they will provide a truly natural flood defence option.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have made it clear this should be the first of many similar beaver schemes in the Gloucestershire area and beyond so we could be seeing more beavers introduced across the UK and all the advantages both financially and physically that they bring.

Having a clear understanding of the measurements and the size of a bike is an important and basic aspect that everyone shopping for a bike should consider. Nevertheless, not many people put this aspect into consideration and consequently, make the wrong choice of bike size. There are numerous implications that come with the use of the wrong size of a bike such as discomfort when riding, backaches, and wrist pain among others. Evidently, it is important to choose the right size of bike although it can be challenging to identify your appropriate size.

This article is a complete guide on how to choose the ideal bicycle size for you.

Know your measurements

The number one thing that you need to do is to establish your own measurements. This is attributed to the fact that the choice of your bike size should be determined by your measurements. You can figure your measurements in three different ways – your leg inseam, your torso length, and your arm length.

The leg inseam is the distance from your foot to the crotch, while the torso length is the distance from your sternum to your crotch. These measurements should align with the measurements of the bike that you buy. You do not want a case where you are straining to reach your bike’s pedals or handlebar.

Understand basic formulae

A variety of basic formulae can help you determine your ideal bike size.

• The first formula is to understand the relationship between your inseam and the size of your bike.

The most basic aspect that determines the ideal size of your bike is your inseam. The majority of bike size charts use the stand-over height. Often, this height is the length of your inseam plus about 2 inches. Such spacing is allowed for maintaining enough space for your comfort when riding the bike. Nevertheless, the amount of clearance between your inseam and the top tube of the bike depends on the type of bike. For a mountain bike, the ideal clearance size ought to be between 2 and 4 inches, while for road bikes, it should be between 1 and 2 inches.

• The top tube length matters

The length of the top tube should help you determine the distance between the handlebars and the saddle. It is considered to be the average of your arm length and that of your torso.

Use bike size charts

You can use various types of charts to determine your ideal size of bike. Such charts can be either simple or advanced and are suitable for giving an estimate of the bike size that aligns with your size and measurements. In spite of this, for the charts to be effective in giving you an appropriate estimate of bike size, you need to be aware of your measurements –your height and the inseam length are used in determining the bike frame size. For example, if your height and inseam length are 4’10” – 5’1” and 25.5” -27” respectively, your ideal bike frame size should range between 46 cm and 48 cm.

Evidently, the size of your bike is an important factor to consider when shopping for bikes. Take enough time to choose your appropriate bike size –the important thing is to understand your measurements.