Seat Height - what's your solution?
Discussion
I went for the "straight heel" method, but wonder if it's ever so slightly too low for me. So investigated a little bit and found this;
http://www.bikeradar.com/road/fitness/article/tech...
In the 109% method it refers to "pedal axle" - what's that? I assumed it would be bottom bracket, but perhaps it's the lowest pedal at full stroke?
http://www.bikeradar.com/road/fitness/article/tech...
In the 109% method it refers to "pedal axle" - what's that? I assumed it would be bottom bracket, but perhaps it's the lowest pedal at full stroke?
Trial and error, trial and error.
Get it ballpark, see how your lower back and knees respond. You want a full pedal stroke but no hyper extension causing you to jar your knees or rock your hips.
Seat height and angle just need refinement over time, you'll work out what's good for you in the end.
Just a note with the heel method: do it both sides and take the middle position. You tned to cant your hips over when sitting one-legged on the bike which can cause you to have the seat too high. You also need to account for whichever leg is shorter!
Get it ballpark, see how your lower back and knees respond. You want a full pedal stroke but no hyper extension causing you to jar your knees or rock your hips.
Seat height and angle just need refinement over time, you'll work out what's good for you in the end.
Just a note with the heel method: do it both sides and take the middle position. You tned to cant your hips over when sitting one-legged on the bike which can cause you to have the seat too high. You also need to account for whichever leg is shorter!
Lemond's method comes up with a figure for me bang on what years of tinkering settled on.
Measure your inseam properly (socks off, against a wall, get someone you know well to press the spine of a book against the wall between your knees, then raise the book til it won't go higher, you shuffle forwards and measure the distance to the top of the book). Then multiply that by 0.833. That's the distance from the bottom bracket to the surface of the saddle, measured along the seat tube.
Measure your inseam properly (socks off, against a wall, get someone you know well to press the spine of a book against the wall between your knees, then raise the book til it won't go higher, you shuffle forwards and measure the distance to the top of the book). Then multiply that by 0.833. That's the distance from the bottom bracket to the surface of the saddle, measured along the seat tube.
Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 28th September 22:12
Hi everyone, thanks for the replies.
1000 miles in it feels pretty good, however there are just lingerings of knee pain when I have a particularly heavy (for me) week. In normal life I suffer from a really bad back, but on the bike it's fine, so in that respect I think it's ok! It's just that I think it's ever so slightly low and I'm not getting full extension, hence investigating. I might raise it slightly for my ride home tonight, see how that feels
Regarding the bike fit - I love the idea, but am frankly a bit scared. Sounds weird, but I use the analogy of the bloke who came round to make sure I sit at my desk properly. I fully embraced what he said, changed absolutely everything, and for the following 2 weeks I've never been more uncomfortable or in so much pain.
I'm worried that same thing will happen with a bike fit - £200 later I'll end up with the most awkward, uncomfortable position. Or am I being a prat?!
I've always thought that if doing the London > Paris next year (that we're talking about in the other thread) I will splash out and get a bike fit done
I assume if you do it they give you the measurements etc. that, if buying a new bike, you can then apply to that?
1000 miles in it feels pretty good, however there are just lingerings of knee pain when I have a particularly heavy (for me) week. In normal life I suffer from a really bad back, but on the bike it's fine, so in that respect I think it's ok! It's just that I think it's ever so slightly low and I'm not getting full extension, hence investigating. I might raise it slightly for my ride home tonight, see how that feels
Regarding the bike fit - I love the idea, but am frankly a bit scared. Sounds weird, but I use the analogy of the bloke who came round to make sure I sit at my desk properly. I fully embraced what he said, changed absolutely everything, and for the following 2 weeks I've never been more uncomfortable or in so much pain.
I'm worried that same thing will happen with a bike fit - £200 later I'll end up with the most awkward, uncomfortable position. Or am I being a prat?!
I've always thought that if doing the London > Paris next year (that we're talking about in the other thread) I will splash out and get a bike fit done
I assume if you do it they give you the measurements etc. that, if buying a new bike, you can then apply to that?
I wouldn't aim for full extension at the bottom of the pedal stroke as a goal. You want to have a bit of bend in your knee - do a google images search for pretty much any group of pro riders.
On fitting, it sort of depends what you want. Fitting is as much an art as a science - there is no single "right" answer. Your optimal position for power is very unlikely to be your optimal position for comfort (setting someone up on a timetrial bike is th emost obvious example of this), so you end up with somewhere in the middle that is an acceptable compromise between the two.
On fitting, it sort of depends what you want. Fitting is as much an art as a science - there is no single "right" answer. Your optimal position for power is very unlikely to be your optimal position for comfort (setting someone up on a timetrial bike is th emost obvious example of this), so you end up with somewhere in the middle that is an acceptable compromise between the two.
Knee pain is definitely not all saddle height related Tony - I would definitely work out exactly where in the knee the pain comes from and the circumstances (when you're really cranking it, only after 40mins riding, etc.,)
I started getting knee pain a couple of years back and eventually found the knee pain (which was at the front, bottom of the knee) was being caused by the Ilotibial Band (ITB) which runs up the outside of the the leg and connects at hip and below the knee.
The causes for this can be your own body, underdeveloped glutes, hip alignment,etc., or can be due to your cleat position - I certainly found my bike fit helped on the road to managing the problem as I had the cleat position moved and shimmed a few millimeters and it started to go/ease within a week.
There a ton of different knee complaints - I guess all I'm saying is don't just go for saddle height, make sure you cover all aspects or see someone to get a diagnosis first to help you fix it before it develops in to something longer term.
The bike fit I had done at velomotion over in Milton Keynes started with a physiological analysis where he highlighted many of these issues before I even sat on the bike for fitting.
I started getting knee pain a couple of years back and eventually found the knee pain (which was at the front, bottom of the knee) was being caused by the Ilotibial Band (ITB) which runs up the outside of the the leg and connects at hip and below the knee.
The causes for this can be your own body, underdeveloped glutes, hip alignment,etc., or can be due to your cleat position - I certainly found my bike fit helped on the road to managing the problem as I had the cleat position moved and shimmed a few millimeters and it started to go/ease within a week.
There a ton of different knee complaints - I guess all I'm saying is don't just go for saddle height, make sure you cover all aspects or see someone to get a diagnosis first to help you fix it before it develops in to something longer term.
The bike fit I had done at velomotion over in Milton Keynes started with a physiological analysis where he highlighted many of these issues before I even sat on the bike for fitting.
itsnotarace said:
Is your knee pain at the front or rear of your knee? If at the front, your saddle is likely a bit low. If at the back, your saddle is slightly too high
Make small changes ~5mm at time, and then do a couple of longish test rides to see how you get on.
With my ITB pain I found having the saddle slightly lower helped alleviate the pain a bit (and that was pain at the front of the knee) so not sure I completely agree with what you said there...Make small changes ~5mm at time, and then do a couple of longish test rides to see how you get on.
Just realised I hadn't responeded (though had read) this. Thanks for the tips all - I'll investigate further then and do some measuring!
I don't have knee pain on the bike, just noticing it a little when walking up stairs etc when I've done lots on the bike that week. I will certainly investigate the bike fit though
I don't have knee pain on the bike, just noticing it a little when walking up stairs etc when I've done lots on the bike that week. I will certainly investigate the bike fit though
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