Simple question - seat height.

[Dibs]

Am I right in saying that your lower foot leg should be almost straight when the seat is at the correct height?

I think mine is a little on the low side...

 

[ScotiaLass]

Someone posted me a link to adjusting your bike....it was very good! Hopefully they'll see this and re-post

I require just a little more flex than most due to an arthritic knee with a Bakers cyst thrown in, as well as a shortened hamstring
I am a wreck...

 

[Kies]

Almost but shouldn't lock out. A good guide is sit on the saddle and put your heel on the pedal at the bottom of it'd travel. Your leg should be straight and locked out.
YouTube "bike fit" or seat height for a better explanation

 

[ColinJ]

It is amazing how much difference raising the saddle by a cm or so can make. I find the higher, the better, subject to not overdoing it. (As above - your leg should not fully straighten when pedalling, and your pelvis should not start to rock, which it will if you are stretching down to reach the bottom of the pedal stroke.)

 

[smokeysmoo]

Someone posted me a link to adjusting your bike....it was very good! Hopefully they'll see this and re-post

You didn't bookmark it did you SL?

HERE you go

 

[Dibs]

Thanks folks for the advice.

Seat adjusted, will have to wait for next week's commute to see how it feels...

 

[compo]

I have been riding my bike with the seat too low for years without really noticing it. I started raising my saddle a bit at a time. The seatpost has Bontrager printed on it and I raised it by one letter every 50 miles or so. I started off on the B and am now on the A, and without a doubt the bike is more comfortable to ride and I have less pressure on my forearms. Also my quads don't ache like crazy for the first few miles.

 

[Cuchilo]

I have been riding my bike with the seat too low for years without really noticing it. I started raising my saddle a bit at a time. The seatpost has Bontrager printed on it and I raised it by one letter every 50 miles or so. I started off on the B and am now on the A, and without a doubt the bike is more comfortable to ride and I have less pressure on my forearms. Also my quads don't ache like crazy for the first few miles.

Youll need blocks on your shoes when you get to the final R

 

[sreten]

Hi,

Heel on the pedal locking out is pretty near, but I still lock out using the instep.
Ball of foot over the pedal or more I don't, so that is very near optimum.
Taking it easy on my folder I pedal with the ball behind the spindle.

If you radically change seat height you also need to look at handlebar fit.

I've found if you slightly lift off the seat with the pedals level, and your bum
doesn't move backwards or forwards, that is a good fit, but if it does move
then more likely your bars need adjusting and less likely the seat fore/aft.

rgds, sreten.

 

[smokeysmoo]

I have been riding my bike with the seat too low for years without really noticing it. I started raising my saddle a bit at a time. The seatpost has Bontrager printed on it and I raised it by one letter every 50 miles or so. I started off on the B and am now on the A, and without a doubt the bike is more comfortable to ride and I have less pressure on my forearms. Also my quads don't ache like crazy for the first few miles.

Did you not feel like you were riding one of these before you started raising your saddle?

 

[compo]

Did you not feel like you were riding one of these before you started raising your saddle?

Not quite as bad as that! I am 5'10" but only 28" inside leg. I had placed my saddle to be the height of my hip bone when standing alongside the bike. It wasn't miles out but the extra inch or so of height it has now has made all the difference

 

[trampyjoe]

Had to drop my seat back down half a cm today as last week I lifted it and that is the only thing I can think of that put my back out on last weeks ride. Needless to say, after todays ride I've not got any pains in my back.

 

[sreten]

I had placed my saddle to be the height of my hip bone when standing alongside the bike.
It wasn't miles out but the extra inch or so of height it has now has made all the difference

Hi,

I shouldn't be. At 5'8" and 28" trouser inside leg the tops of my saddles are both below the top
of my hipbones, but only a bit. Interestingly along the tubes the saddle on my folder is 28"
above the BB centre and 29" on my more aggressively positioned road bike.

rgds, sreten.

 

[sreten]

Did you not feel like you were riding one of these before you started raising your saddle?

Hi,
The mk III with a just inane seating design that makes no sense, except for retrofit.
rgds, sreten.

 

[sheffgirl]

I raised my saddle height recently, and it does make it easier. I can tell the difference when I wear my spare trainers. They have a thicker sole so it is effectively like having the seat lower, and it is harder work to pedal, me legs ache afterwards.
I couldn't have my seat any higher. As it is I have to lean sideways when I stop at traffic lights and jump off the saddle if I want to put both feet on the ground.