saddle height

ilovegrace

Why does the saddle on my Lappiere Xelius only rise above the seat tube about 5 inches when the pro cyclists look like 8 - 10 inches .Surely they cant all have that much longer legs than mine !
A naive question I know , nut a relative novice to cycling (at 52 years old) and are very interested in all things cycling at the moment.

Mikey41

Often the Pros are deliberately riding a smaller frame to save weight. This is why they end up fitting 140mm stems etc.

StillGoing

ilovegrace wrote:

Why does the saddle on my Lappiere Xelius only rise above the seat tube about 5 inches when the pro cyclists look like 8 - 10 inches .Surely they cant all have that much longer legs than mine !
A naive question I know , nut a relative novice to cycling (at 52 years old) and are very interested in all things cycling at the moment.

Because your frame is too big for you. The right size frame would have more seat post showing and allow for a greater drop to the bars.

bazzer2

philthy3 wrote:

ilovegrace wrote:

Why does the saddle on my Lappiere Xelius only rise above the seat tube about 5 inches when the pro cyclists look like 8 - 10 inches .Surely they cant all have that much longer legs than mine !
A naive question I know , nut a relative novice to cycling (at 52 years old) and are very interested in all things cycling at the moment.

Because your frame is too big for you. The right size frame would have more seat post showing and allow for a greater drop to the bars.

What utter, complete nonsense. :roll:

dowtcha

Mikey41 wrote:

Often the Pros are deliberately riding a smaller frame to save weight. This is why they end up fitting 140mm stems etc.

There is a minimum weight on pro bikes so a smaller frame does not equal a lighter bike. A guess would be that they are more aerodynamic but that posistion is uncomfortable for us mere mortals.

ilovegrace

bazzer2 wrote:

philthy3 wrote:

ilovegrace wrote:

Why does the saddle on my Lappiere Xelius only rise above the seat tube about 5 inches when the pro cyclists look like 8 - 10 inches .Surely they cant all have that much longer legs than mine !
A naive question I know , nut a relative novice to cycling (at 52 years old) and are very interested in all things cycling at the moment.

Because your frame is too big for you. The right size frame would have more seat post showing and allow for a greater drop to the bars.

What utter, complete nonsense. :roll:

I am pleased you said that.
The last thing i want to do do is buy a new bike.
I feel comfortable , there is around a fist width between saddle and stem drop ( I read in an article this was a good approximate distance).
thanks for the replies
regards
ILG

chris_bass

if your set up feels fine then why sweat it?

bazzer2

You also must realise that this:

ilovegrace wrote:

there is around a fist width between saddle and stem drop ( I read in an article this was a good approximate distance).

...again, is nonsense!

The bike as a whole, must fit you, as an individual. Most bikes have a degree of adjustability and I assume that's what the article was getting at when it mentioned the 'fist width' - but how can you possibly take an article seriously when a measurement is given in an arbitrary and frankly absurd unit!? Might as well measure it in shades of red or beans per hour!

YOU need a bike that fits YOU. Even if you had someone the same height as you, wouldn't mean your bike fits them, you will have different length legs, etc.

My advice - if it seems to fit you and you're not hell bent on shaving 10ths of a second off a TT time - just ride it. HTH

goonz

Pros have higher seats and longer stems to get into more aero positions, something their slim frail athletic bodies can do after years of practice. For us mortals with our 36 inch waists tucking a gut into a tight space is a squeeze so we need more upright positions. Hence lower seats.

Still if your feet are positioned correctly at that seat height then there is no problems. Just ride!

CiB

A lot of pro's are just built that way - 6' 5" tall, of which 5' 3" is leg and the rest torso neck & head. I have no scientific evidence for this theory but it's always struck me that top riders have way-out-of-proportion long legs which pack a lot of power & provide ample leverage (leeevuh-rij, not that levvvuh-raj nonsense), and a small body which weighs about the same as a bag of crisps that's already been eaten. Ergo long legs, high seat post.

thegreatdivide

Not all Pros are long legged giants. Look at a lot of climbers bikes, Cav’s bike (he’s got wee munchkin legs) and Richie Porte’s Pinarello.

Some big sprinters (Andre G) ride wee bikes, not for the aero benefit but because the frame is a lot stiffer for their massive wattage.

slowbike

goonz wrote:

For us mortals with our 36 inch waists tucking a gut into a tight space is a squeeze so we need more upright positions. Hence lower seats.

Speak for yourself you fat git ...

slowbike

thegreatdivide wrote:

Not all Pros are long legged giants. Look at a lot of climbers bikes, Cav’s bike (he’s got wee munchkin legs) and Richie Porte’s Pinarello.

Some big sprinters (Andre G) ride wee bikes, not for the aero benefit but because the frame is a lot stiffer for their massive wattage.

Not sure I'd tell Cav he's got wee munchkin legs ... they may be short but they're thick and powerful ... :shock:

thegreatdivide

Slowbike wrote:

thegreatdivide wrote:

Not all Pros are long legged giants. Look at a lot of climbers bikes, Cav’s bike (he’s got wee munchkin legs) and Richie Porte’s Pinarello.

Some big sprinters (Andre G) ride wee bikes, not for the aero benefit but because the frame is a lot stiffer for their massive wattage.

Not sure I'd tell Cav he's got wee munchkin legs ... they may be short but they're thick and powerful ... :shock:

His words not mine.

diamonddog

Slowbike wrote:

goonz wrote:

For us mortals with our 36 inch waists tucking a gut into a tight space is a squeeze so we need more upright positions. Hence lower seats.

Speak for yourself you fat git ...

slowbike

thegreatdivide wrote:

Slowbike wrote:

thegreatdivide wrote:

Not all Pros are long legged giants. Look at a lot of climbers bikes, Cav’s bike (he’s got wee munchkin legs) and Richie Porte’s Pinarello.

Some big sprinters (Andre G) ride wee bikes, not for the aero benefit but because the frame is a lot stiffer for their massive wattage.

Not sure I'd tell Cav he's got wee munchkin legs ... they may be short but they're thick and powerful ... :shock:

His words not mine.

yer - but would you repeat them back to him?!

goonz

Slowbike wrote:

goonz wrote:

For us mortals with our 36 inch waists tucking a gut into a tight space is a squeeze so we need more upright positions. Hence lower seats.

Speak for yourself you fat git ...

It was more of a 'keep everyone on the thread happy' type comment. If you can see from my profile pic I have a 30 waist so I actually have nothing to worry about. But thanks for your concern :P

thegreatdivide

Slowbike wrote:

thegreatdivide wrote:

Slowbike wrote:

thegreatdivide wrote:

Not all Pros are long legged giants. Look at a lot of climbers bikes, Cav’s bike (he’s got wee munchkin legs) and Richie Porte’s Pinarello.

Some big sprinters (Andre G) ride wee bikes, not for the aero benefit but because the frame is a lot stiffer for their massive wattage.

Not sure I'd tell Cav he's got wee munchkin legs ... they may be short but they're thick and powerful ... :shock:

His words not mine.

yer - but would you repeat them back to him?!

Considering I'm the same height and have the same inside leg as him yeah, probably.

thegreatdivide

thegreatdivide wrote:

Slowbike wrote:

thegreatdivide wrote:

Slowbike wrote:

thegreatdivide wrote:

Not all Pros are long legged giants. Look at a lot of climbers bikes, Cav’s bike (he’s got wee munchkin legs) and Richie Porte’s Pinarello.

Some big sprinters (Andre G) ride wee bikes, not for the aero benefit but because the frame is a lot stiffer for their massive wattage.

Not sure I'd tell Cav he's got wee munchkin legs ... they may be short but they're thick and powerful ... :shock:

His words not mine.

yer - but would you repeat them back to him?!

Considering I'm the same height and have the same inside leg length length as him yeah, probably.

StillGoing

bazzer2 wrote:

philthy3 wrote:

ilovegrace wrote:

Why does the saddle on my Lappiere Xelius only rise above the seat tube about 5 inches when the pro cyclists look like 8 - 10 inches .Surely they cant all have that much longer legs than mine !
A naive question I know , nut a relative novice to cycling (at 52 years old) and are very interested in all things cycling at the moment.

Because your frame is too big for you. The right size frame would have more seat post showing and allow for a greater drop to the bars.

What utter, complete nonsense. :roll:

What a well constructed comment you made there. As you say and I entirely agree, bike fit is an individual thing and isn't uniform. The OP asks why he only has 5" of seat post showing when the pro tour and quite a few amateur cyclists have far more showing of which I'm one. I'm a short arse yet even I have 8" of seat post showing with a 10cm drop to the top of the bars which are as low as they can go. My set up is from a proper fitting rather than an in store effort and improved comfort no end whilst giving me a more race orientated riding position. Not everyone would be comfortable and maybe prefer a sportive riding position, but to have more seat post showing and a greater drop to the bars, you need a smaller frame.

hatch87

Doesn't the bikes geometry come in to play here. The pro's are going to be on bikes with aggressive geometries which I would probably last about 5 minutes on before my back went into spasm

themekon

Before the current fashion for sloping top tubes even the pros had little more than 2 to 3 inches of seat post showing.Take a look at some pictures from the sixties through to the eighties.

sloppyschleckonds

AUHD

themekon

Are we supposed to know what AUHD means?

StillGoing

Erm 4arse up head down.

sloppyschleckonds

10cm