Techniques to align saddle?

declan1

I cannot seem to get my saddle straight. It's really annoying me now, so I was wondering whether any of you have a special way of making sure it's in line? If you do, please share

Thanks!

BillyMansell

Either stand behind the bike and by eye centre the nose of the saddle to the centre of the stem or look down from above the saddle and by eye centre the nose over the top tube. Then go for a ride and make any adjustments to suit.

Wirral_paul

I've never really had an issue by looking straight down the centre line of the saddle and lining it up with the stem bolt.

I guess masking tape could be used and carefully measure the centre point at the front and rear of the saddle (and draw a line between them) to help you if you want to go to that length

smidsy

A length of string between the stem and seat tube perhaps - although just by eye has never let me down....perhaps new eyes :-)

MichaelW

Leveling a saddle is hard, you can never tell from looking where the level is because of the padding. Trad posts adjust in notches but it is easy to overshoot and hard to keep track of which notch you were in. Try bits of tape to mark the notch then go by trial and error.
In rotation, I align the nose with the top tube and bottom bracket together, thereby assuring that my eye is vertically above the saddle.

smidsy

When he said straight I assumed he meant in terms of left/right over the centre line of the bike, not that he could not get it level - but that would be a more understandable issue so you may be right.

itsnotarace

Back wheel is also a good indicator, especially on modern frames with hugely wide top tubes

Kingy 123

Crack out a spirit level and measure the floor first ,then take the bike out to test it.

giant_man

+1 - spirit level

declan1

I've got the level perfect, it's just side-to-side I need to sort out (as smidsy said). Thanks for the tips though guys - I think looking down and lining up the top tube to the BB seems to work best (thanks to whoever suggested that)

MattC59

Do you want it straight or comfortable ?

I set mine up by what feels right. Set it so it looks pretty much level, sit on the bike, or go for a short ride. Adjust according to how it feels.

declan1

MattC59 wrote:

Do you want it straight or comfortable ?

I set mine up by what feels right. Set it so it looks pretty much level, sit on the bike, or go for a short ride. Adjust according to how it feels.

I've got it nose-down a fraction, and it feels perfect I'm actually pretty pleased with the comfort of my bike now!