saddle height measuring point

Simmo72
Simmo72 Posts: 262
edited August 2013 in Workshop
After years of riding I just wondered how does everyone measure their saddle height?

Personally I use centre of bottom bracket to top of saddle in line with the centre of the rail clamp, not the seat tube. My reason is the saddle fore/aft position can make a big different to effective saddle height so it makes sense to take this into account rather than use a fixed point.

Also what is the top of the saddle? Is it the top or the effective top? I.e. a Charge Spoon v Fizik Arione v Specialised Romin…all very different profiles and again saddle height will vary wildly depending on how you measure.

This isn’t trolling, I am genuinely interested to see what the general consensus is.

Comments

  • forward_loop
    forward_loop Posts: 314
    centre of bottom bracket to the point at which I contact the saddle broadly speaking the middle point of the saddle
  • diamonddog
    diamonddog Posts: 3,426
    Pedal and crank in line with seat tube, top of pedal to seat about mid way. :)
  • greasedscotsman
    greasedscotsman Posts: 6,962
    Got a fit done about 15 years ago and that used a pointed measured 120mm from the back of the saddle. When I started using an Arione, which is a longer saddle, I added 30mm to this dimension. And like most others, use the centre of the BB.
  • diamonddog
    diamonddog Posts: 3,426
    http://www.ebicycles.com/bicycle-tools/ ... /road-bike
    Have a look at this site, may be useful. :)
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    diamonddog wrote:
    Pedal and crank in line with seat tube, top of pedal to seat about mid way. :)

    How does the alignment of the crank affect the saddle height?! I can only see this making a difference if you only have a short tape measure!
    Faster than a tent.......
  • diamonddog
    diamonddog Posts: 3,426
    Rolf F wrote:
    diamonddog wrote:
    Pedal and crank in line with seat tube, top of pedal to seat about mid way. :)

    How does the alignment of the crank affect the saddle height?! I can only see this making a difference if you only have a short tape measure!

    http://www.ebicycles.com/bicycle-tools/ ... /road-bike
    All is explained on this site. :)
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    diamonddog wrote:
    Rolf F wrote:
    diamonddog wrote:
    Pedal and crank in line with seat tube, top of pedal to seat about mid way. :)

    How does the alignment of the crank affect the saddle height?! I can only see this making a difference if you only have a short tape measure!

    http://www.ebicycles.com/bicycle-tools/ ... /road-bike
    All is explained on this site. :)

    I'm missing something. I can see that that tells you that getting the correct saddle height is important (which we would all agree) - I can't see where it says that the position of the crank matters in terms of measuring it. The crank position does matter in terms of finding what that height is (eg, sit on saddle, crank aligned, legs not quite locked etc) but that isn't the same thing. Given a particular crank length, measuring from the crank will only change the length of the measurement by plus/minus the crank length.
    Faster than a tent.......

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