The art of correctly ajusting your saddle height

skye3737

I've been looking at the height of my saddle. This because on a 50 mile ride after 35 miles I started with some knee pain. I talked with a friend who's a physio and they said to look at my bike set up saddle height and postion.

So I've found my self with a book between my legs checking my inside leg measurement and using the 109% method. The problem is that this says my saddle should be 4cm higher :? which dose seem a lot in one go.

Have any of you used this method and dose it seem to work?

Here's where I got the info.

http://davesbikeblog.blogspot.com/2007/ ... eight.html

http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/articl ... ight-14608

Up until now I've used the heel method.

Deadeye Duck

I tried the heel method and it came out way too short for me. I used 110%, so I'll have to lower mine a bit as I did it by memory (or lack of), but it definitely put me in a better position. I have very easily troubled knees, and havent had any bother since raising my saddle to the 110% point.

What's the worst that can happen? if you're already getting knee pain from it being where it is, having it higher will either give you that pain quicker or slower (or not at all if it's the whole reason for it) if you get it quicker, put it back down 4cm and try something else.

sarajoy

I've always just raised it half-cm by half-cm a ride at a time until I got to that funny position where your hips start to rock in order to get to the bottom of the downstroke... then I lower it a bit again!

Seems to work I do like to pedal from just in front of the balls of my feet so maybe I have it quite high? Certainly I can't remain in the saddle when I want to put a foot down on the floor.

shoulder_of_orion

I get knee pain and lower back pain and am constantly fiddling with the position of saddle and height of seat post. Can't ever seem to get it right.

amnezia

109% method seems to always work well for me

Cafewanda

sarajoy wrote:

Certainly I can't remain in the saddle when I want to put a foot down on the floor.

That's my aim for my saddle height. I just can't get the hang of standing starts at the minute. I keep hitting my opposite foot with the pedal

Mind you, in stop/start traffic I can see the benefit of bum on saddle, one foot on floor.

The fact that I'm only 4'11 and a scaredy cat has nothing to do with it :oops:

bigmat

There are all sorts of scientific methods, but I find just putting it as high as possible whilst still being able to pedal comfortably does the trick. If its too high you'll know straight away as you'll feel stretched every pedal. Most people have saddles on the low side generally - the old " feet on the floor" method really isn't a good idea!

Also, saddle position is as much about front / back position, and tilt, as height. Getting the height right is the easy bit in my experience.

Aidy

I've always used the heel method, but it does feel a little low on the road bike sometimes. I might try nudging it up a little.

roger_merriman

Cafewanda wrote:

sarajoy wrote:

Certainly I can't remain in the saddle when I want to put a foot down on the floor.

That's my aim for my saddle height. I just can't get the hang of standing starts at the minute. I keep hitting my opposite foot with the pedal

Mind you, in stop/start traffic I can see the benefit of bum on saddle, one foot on floor.

The fact that I'm only 4'11 and a scaredy cat has nothing to do with it :oops:

i have mine reaonblly high, though wouldn't look it as the bike is massive, plus longish cranks etc. needed as i've got long legs for my height

so i can't put a whole foot down, though from years playing in mud i'm very comftable at low speeds or even trackstanding if need be.

skye3737

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll give it a try to see how we go.

Feltup

Moving my saddle 1cm forwards stopped my knee pain. So I would experiment with fore aft positioning as well as height.

sarajoy

Turns out I was quoting Sheldon Brown word for word - I think I must've looked him up some point when I was wondering how high or low to go...

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/saddles.html#height

I like to think that William Blake summed it up nicely 200 years ago when he said:

"You never know what is enough
until you know what is too much."

I suggest gradually raising your saddle, perhaps half an inch (1 cm) at a time. Each time you raise it, ride the bike. If it doesn't feel noticeably worse to ride, ride it for at least a couple of miles/km.

If it had been too low before, your bike will feel lighter and faster with the new riding position. If raising the saddle improved things, raise it again, and ride it some more. Keep doing this until you reach the point where the saddle is finally too high, then lower it just a bit.

When the saddle is too high, you'll have to rock your hips to pedal, and you'll probably feel as if you need to stretch your legs to reach the bottom part of the pedal. Another indication that the saddle may be too high is if you find yourself moving forward so that you are sitting on the narrow front part of the saddle. (Although this symptom can also result from having the saddle nosed down, or having an excessive reach to the handlebars.)

edhornby

I think as far as fore/aft positioning goes, your knee should be directly over the ball of your foot when the pedal is at the 3 o-clock position

always_tyred

Feltup wrote:

Moving my saddle 1cm forwards stopped my knee pain. So I would experiment with fore aft positioning as well as height.

Its basically lowering the same as saddle height though, isn't it, with a bit of reach-reduction thrown in. As far as your knees are concerned, its the same as lowering the saddle height.

As for the "rules" regarding your knee being at 16:45 when your pedal is at 3pm and your hips are just waking up after a good night's sleep - as far as I can tell, my pedals go round in a circle. Can't see that the absolute positions are crucial, providing the relative positions are correct.

Take a look at Lance's bike position - compared to (for example) Millar. LA is a lot further back from the BB and (to me) looks uncomfortable and unable to get the power down. Millar has a position that is much more "time trial" over the bb and tipped forward.

Seems to wok okay for both of them.