Saddle height

On Mon, 26 Apr 2004 08:43:12 +0100, injuryprone <[email hidden]>

() said:

Hi Guys,

How do you set your seat height?

<DarkSide Humour> By letting the tyres down or using a
thicker cushion.

:-)
--
Matt K Dunedin, NZ

injuryprone said:

How do you set your seat height?

109% of inside leg measurement crotch to floor without shoes
is the usual formula, but you can get a pretty good
approximation by setting it so that with the crank at the
bottom of its travel in line with the seat tube and your
heel on the pedal, your leg is straight. Then you tweak it
by small increments until it's perfect. Hips rock = saddle
too high, knees hurt = saddle too low.

--
Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after
posting. chapmancentral.co.ukchapmancentral.co.ukOpen ↗

Victory is ours! Down with Eric the Half A Brain!

For a pretty standard setup with an outstretched leg your
heal should sit on the pedal at the bottom of the stroke,
therefore giving a slight bend to your leg when clipped in.

HTH

injuryprone said:

How do you set your seat height? I find that I want to
get out of my saddle much earlier than fellow riders at
hills and am sure my seat is too low (I like to think I'm
pretty fit)...

I start with the old "rule of thumb" which is heel on the
pedal when it's as far down as it will go with your leg
almost, but not quite, completely straight. And then I go
out for a ride armed with whatever I need to change it and
try it up and down from there. I generally find when setting
seat height that going higher is a little better quite
progressively until I go even a tiny bit too high at which
point it is self evident through being hideously
uncomfortable that I've gone too far.

But your mileage may vary. There's no point in using
formulae, just work it empirically until it's where you find
it best. And while you're at it, move it forwards and
backwards and try varying the tilt too. All work differently
for different people/saddle/bike combinations.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext.
33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital Fax 44 1382 640177
Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email hidden]
dundee.ac.uk~pjclinchOpen ↗

injuryprone said:

Hi Guys,

How do you set your seat height?

Personally, I do it by trial and error until pedalling and
seating feels right.

Quoted message said:

I find that I want to get out of my saddle much earlier
than fellow riders at hills and am sure my seat is too low
(I like to think I'm pretty fit)...

I'm 6ft 1" and my bike has a 58cm frame, I can just touch
the floor when sat in my saddle with my toes outstretched.

The distance to floor isn't directly relevant because height
of bottom bracket varies from bike to bike (the height
cranks are placed above ground). Bend in knee when foot is
at bottom of pedal stroke is the important factor. (The S
Brown site should fill you in on that).

~PB

Thanks for all the advice; just got back from a 2hr ride
armed with my allan key and am now really happy.

As the actress said to the bishop "It's amazing the
difference half an inch can make!"

Thanks again, Mark

"Peter Clinch" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

injuryprone said:

How do you set your seat height? I find that I want to
get out of my saddle much earlier than fellow riders at
hills and am sure my seat is too low (I like to think
I'm pretty fit)...

That's a symptom of having the seat the wrong height.

Quoted message said:

I start with the old "rule of thumb" which is heel on the
pedal when it's as far down as it will go with your leg
almost, but not quite, completely straight.

That's always worked for me to find a plausible
starting position.

Quoted message said:

And then I go out for a ride armed with whatever I need to
change it and try it up and down from there.

Thumb and forefinger, surely?

Quoted message said:

I generally find when setting seat height that going
higher is a little better quite progressively until I go
even a tiny bit too high at which point it is self
evident through being hideously uncomfortable that I've
gone too far.

Also what I do, but I find that as the season progresses and
my legs shape up I periodically need to raise it a bit here
and there.

Quoted message said:

But your mileage may vary. There's no point in using
formulae, just work it empirically until it's where you
find it best. And while you're at it, move it forwards and
backwards and try varying the tilt too.

But start with it level and in the middle (fore/aft).

Quoted message said:

All work differently for different people/saddle/bike
combinations.

Also look for the width being right for sit bones, since
this affects the comfortable height.
--
Mark South Citizen of the World, Denizen of the Net <<Tiens!
Ce poulet a une grenade!

Mark South said:

Thumb and forefinger, surely?

If it's on a QR, yes, but not much point doing that if you
won't be putting it up and down. More thief-rpoof, lighter
and simpler to just use an allen bolt, and my fingers don't
do them...

Quoted message said:

Also what I do, but I find that as the season progresses
and my legs shape up I periodically need to raise it a bit
here and there.

Season started a couple of decades ago, no end in clear
sight... ;-)

Quoted message said:

But start with it level and in the middle (fore/aft).

Yes, good point.

Quoted message said:

Also look for the width being right for sit bones, since
this affects the comfortable height.

Maybe try a few different saddles c/o your LBS. It affects
most of your time on the bike so it's well worth spending on
the best one for your particular backside.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext.
33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital Fax 44 1382 640177
Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email hidden]
dundee.ac.uk~pjclinchOpen ↗

injuryprone <[email hidden]> wrote in news:c6j1d6$t39$1
[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Thanks for all the advice; just got back from a 2hr ride
armed with my allan key and am now really happy.

As the actress said to the bishop "It's amazing the
difference half an inch can make!"

Thanks again, Mark

Which way did you go? Up or down? I've kind of same feeling
as you after changing seat. Difficult to stay in saddle up-
hills. Hjalmar

Up by somewhere between a half inch to an inch.

"Hjalmar Duklæt" <[email hidden]> wrote
in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

injuryprone <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:c6j1d6$t39$1 [email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Thanks for all the advice; just got back from a 2hr ride
armed with my allan key and am now really happy.

As the actress said to the bishop "It's amazing the
difference half an inch can make!"

Thanks again, Mark

Which way did you go? Up or down? I've kind of same
feeling as you after changing seat. Difficult to stay in
saddle up-hills. Hjalmar