when to raise seat?



Jcyclist

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Oct 14, 2006
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Right now i have been feeling sorness when ever i pedal in my hamstring or right behing my knees. when i raise the saddle it gos away. is this the problem.
 
So what the heck is your question? No pain, no problem. You need a bunch of people to confirm that?
 
Jcyclist said:
Should i feel my hamstrings when i pedal or my calfs

Both and your quads might be involved just a tad, too. Efficient pedal stroke involves pushing and pulling (assuming you do not simply have platform pedals.)
 
Jcyclist said:
Right now i have been feeling sorness when ever i pedal in my hamstring or right behing my knees. when i raise the saddle it gos away. is this the problem.
This is a problem. Whether it is the problem is another issue entirely. But the general rule of thumb is, If It Hurts When I Do A & It Doesn't Hurt When I Do B, Do B.

(or, as Frank Sinatra sang, "Do B Do B Do")

I've heard some bike fitters suggest that if there's pain behind your knee the seat is too (high? or maybe low?) whereas if the pain is in front of your knee the seat is too (low? or maybe high?) Obviously I wasn't paying attention to the details.

On the other hand, I was paying attention to details just recently when my wife went to a bike fitter, & his recipe for optimum seat height was: with your pedal in the downmost (6:00) position you should be able to lock your knee -- (not that you'd want to while riding, nor should your knee lock in this position as a natural function of your pedal stroke; but you should still be able to fully straighten your leg with a concious effort) -- and with your knee thusly locked, your heel should be parallel to the ground. (This will also affect cleat position.)

Ironically, in doing so my wife wound up having to raise her saddle substantially from where it had been...the result being that she now encounters considerably knee pain when riding! So, recalling Frank Sinatra's sage advice, she has lowered here saddle back to where it was.
 
Bob Ross said:
Ironically, in doing so my wife wound up having to raise her saddle substantially from where it had been...the result being that she now encounters considerably knee pain when riding! So, recalling Frank Sinatra's sage advice, she has lowered here saddle back to where it was.
I think the bike fitter probably had your wifes seat height close to the mark. May I suggest that if the recommended height is substantially higher than she was used to riding that she adjust it in small increments e.g. if 3 inches higher is recommended, go 1 inch for say several rides or 100 miles, then another inch, half inch, then the final half inch.
This gives time for the body to adjust. Small increments is the key to easily adapting to any positional changes.
 
Ok, I have a similar problem in that after long periods of pedalling in the saddle my hamstrings and gluts start to feel tight and lightly cramp. My seat is probably about where it should be - was bike fitted only about 6 weeks ago.


the other issue is that when I spend too much time on the hoods, or go down on the drops, I feel parts of my manhood getting squished, which doesn't do me any good at all.

So I realise that the other bloke in here had his hamstring problem solved by raising the seat, but I feel that may cause problems in the other side of things.

any ideas?
 
dain2772 said:
the other issue is that when I spend too much time on the hoods, or go down on the drops, I feel parts of my manhood getting squished, which doesn't do me any good at all.

So I realise that the other bloke in here had his hamstring problem solved by raising the seat, but I feel that may cause problems in the other side of things.

any ideas?
Up and down are not the only seat adjustments available to you. You can also tip the seat so that it is level, nose down, nose up. If your manhood is being squished, try lowering the nose just a tad. When I told my LBS to do this, they warned me that I might be putting too much pressure on my arms and wrists, but I knew what was surely getting too much pressure at the time and told them to do it anyhow. That was three years ago - I've been happily peddaling without manhood squish ever since.

"Caruso
 
dain2772 said:
Ok, I have a similar problem in that after long periods of pedalling in the saddle my hamstrings and gluts start to feel tight and lightly cramp. My seat is probably about where it should be - was bike fitted only about 6 weeks ago.


the other issue is that when I spend too much time on the hoods, or go down on the drops, I feel parts of my manhood getting squished, which doesn't do me any good at all.

So I realise that the other bloke in here had his hamstring problem solved by raising the seat, but I feel that may cause problems in the other side of things.

any ideas?

Re-evaluate your fit on the bike, or have some help you or do it for you. Manhood squishing could be from too much saddle to bar drop, wrong saddle position, or shorts that are 2 or 3 sizes too small.

As for your tightness in the hammies and raising seat height......in general, when seated (with feet clipped in) and one foot at the very bottom of your stroke, there should be anywhere from 10-30 degrees of bend in your knee. However, if you've been off the bike for a while, suffered an injury, or are new to cycling, don't go straight off to the seat height that puts your bend at 10 degrees. That's just beggin' for injury.

You should also consider stretching some before the ride, and when you finally get goin' on the ride, don't start hammerin' and mashin' right off. Instead spend 5 or 10 minutes spinnin' easy.

Also, with respect to fit, you should feel free to seek other opinions on fit, go to another place to have your fit evaluated, and so on. Some places do a great job, while others, well, suck ass. Once you find a position that makes your chakras glow like wifey's butt cheeks after a long session of spanking, write down the dimensions of that position--seat height, saddle to bar drop, distance from nose of saddle to bars, etc.--so that if you make a change yourself or someone convinces you to make a change, you can get back to the original position from whence you came.

If after all this your still at a loss as to high the hammies are tight, give an embrocation a try. When I'm feelin' tight, I rub a bunch o' Tiger Balm or some oil (forget what it is) on that wifey bought at a Chinese grocery store.

Whatever happens, you gotta listen to your body.
 
Carusoswi said:
Up and down are not the only seat adjustments available to you. You can also tip the seat so that it is level, nose down, nose up. If your manhood is being squished, try lowering the nose just a tad. When I told my LBS to do this, they warned me that I might be putting too much pressure on my arms and wrists, but I knew what was surely getting too much pressure at the time and told them to do it anyhow. That was three years ago - I've been happily peddaling without manhood squish ever since.

"Caruso
Those were my thoughts as well, to get a slight downward tilt to the saddle nose. how much is worthwhile, considering it is ok on the bars, just not so great on the hoods, and worse still on the drops?
 

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