London To Paris For A Older Newbie

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alicat

Legendary Member
Location
Staffs
Just raise it by a quarter inch and get used to it. After a few weeks or sooner if you feel confident, raise it by another quarter of an inch and repeat. As you raise it, practise stepping down off the saddle as you stop.
 

12boy

Guru
Location
Casper WY USA
Another common starting point for saddle height is to have the saddle top as high as the top of your hip bone if you stand next to ghe bike. I always hop off the saddle, leaving one foot on a pedal and the other on the ground when I come to a stop. I put my weight on the foot on the ground and use the pedal foot to move the pedal to a 3 o'clock position while waiting. When I take off, I push hard on the pedal to get moving while getting the ground foot back on the pedal. Since my saddle is hip height when my feet are on the ground there is no way I can sit on the saddle and put both feet on the ground. All my bikes have same saddle to pedal height unless I have to ride on poor traction surfaces such as ice, snow or loose gravel. Then I drop the saddle a liitle bit, maybe 1/4 of an inch. Alicat is correct, though about small changes, since once used to the height, tilt and fore and aft placement, a very small change is immediately noticeable. Of course, what I like may be quite different than your preferences, so this is just my opinion.
 

Bhitucyclist

Senior Member
Another common starting point for saddle height is to have the saddle top as high as the top of your hip bone if you stand next to ghe bike. I always hop off the saddle, leaving one foot on a pedal and the other on the ground when I come to a stop. I put my weight on the foot on the ground and use the pedal foot to move the pedal to a 3 o'clock position while waiting. When I take off, I push hard on the pedal to get moving while getting the ground foot back on the pedal. Since my saddle is hip height when my feet are on the ground there is no way I can sit on the saddle and put both feet on the ground. All my bikes have same saddle to pedal height unless I have to ride on poor traction surfaces such as ice, snow or loose gravel. Then I drop the saddle a liitle bit, maybe 1/4 of an inch. Alicat is correct, though about small changes, since once used to the height, tilt and fore and aft placement, a very small change is immediately noticeable. Of course, what I like may be quite different than your preferences, so this is just my opinion.
Thanks , i am planning to increase the saddle height by 1/2 inch and practice.
Your idea of hip to saddle height is a great one. This sat day i will change and see the impact ! Fingers crossed i will get used to it
 

Bhitucyclist

Senior Member
The method I learned (from Richard Ballantyne's book I think) was that with your heel on the pedal at the lowest position while sitting on the saddle your knee joint should be straight. That means that when you transfer to having the ball of your foot on the pedal there's a slight bend in the knee.

That method has probably been debunked and is terribly old-fashioned and everyone will now throw rotten fruit at me.
Ha ha ha ,
I actually follow that rule ... not knowing that is a famous rule! Another cyclist on the road told me that i should raise me saddle and i tried it !
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
Wrists/hands can be dealt with by using bar ends, ergon grips, moving the saddle forward so more weight is on your tush and less on your hands, tilting the saddle nose up a tad for the same effect
IMO that's bad advice. Once the saddle is in the correct place relative to the pedals, I'd leave it be and minimise the weight on my hands by moving the bars by changing stem angle, height or length, rather than moving the saddle. The BB spindle is the fixed point on the bike, then the seat has some adjustment and the bars have more.
 

CXRAndy

Guru
Location
Lincs
That method has probably been debunked and is terribly old-fashioned and everyone will now throw rotten fruit at me

I use the heel on pedal method, served me fine, in fact ive had to move a saddle 5mm from setting point, so its very accurate as a starting point.
 

CXRAndy

Guru
Location
Lincs
I cant reach the ground on any of my bikes. Im tip toe-ing. So I always unclip one foot and slide off saddle when I come to a stop.

Reach, stack and seat tube length dictate bike size not whether you can reach the ground whilst on the saddle
 

Sharky

Guru
Location
Kent
Not necessarily. It depends on the height of the bottom bracket and angle of the seat tube too.
Also length of cranks. I went to shorter cranks, which meant I could raise the saddle, taking me further away from the ground.
 
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