Extreme seat height

talius
talius Posts: 282
edited June 2015 in Commuting chat
My new job means I go oop North every couple of weeks, and I've been putting the bike in the back of the car so I can have a ride in the evenings. My boot is pretty compact and I've been taking the seat post out and refitting by eye when I get there - I've got a clamp on the post to hold a bag and use that as the guide. The past couple of weeks I've been having a bit of lower back pain, and then this week quite severe sciatica-like pain in my left leg. Checked out the seat height today and it's been at 82cm - I've got an 86cm inseam and so that's 6cm higher than I normally run it!!!

I haven't been up North for about 3 weeks, so that means I've been running it that high for a good few rides, no bloody wonder my leg is all fecked. I guess my toes were pointed down more than usual to compensate, but even so, not entirely clear how I was able to pedal properly? And how on earth did I not even notice it? Think I must be losing it.

What's the highest anyone runs as a %age of inseam?
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Comments

  • spasypaddy
    spasypaddy Posts: 5,180
    electrical tape around seat tube... never need to measure
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  • itboffin
    itboffin Posts: 20,064
    i just took my seatpost out to clean and regrease beforehand i marked the height with a perm marker, just a thin red line
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  • telesv650
    telesv650 Posts: 59
    Electrical tape for carbon tubes or for aluminium I score the tube with a stanley knife. Leaves a small visable line and is permanent.
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,691
    When you say electrical tape - do you mean that the correct seat hight is where the tape "rests" on top of the seat tube? Or do you clamp around the tape?
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  • rower63
    rower63 Posts: 1,991
    [url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19627085#p19627085]Talius[/url] wrote:
    ...so that means I've been running it that high for a good few rides, no bloody wonder my leg is all fecked. I guess my toes were pointed down more than usual to compensate, but even so, not entirely clear how I was able to pedal properly? And how on earth did I not even notice it? Think I must be losing it.
    With excessive seat height you end having to rotate your pelvis "over the top" from side to side to get your hip-joint low enough for the bottom of the pedal-stroke. After a while it gets very tiring and painful in the lower back, but often you don't notice it to begin with. I see it quite a lot on the commute, swinging-hip syndrome while still seated.
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  • schlepcycling
    schlepcycling Posts: 1,614
    [url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19628427#p19628427]ddraver[/url] wrote:
    When you say electrical tape - do you mean that the correct seat hight is where the tape "rests" on top of the seat tube? Or do you clamp around the tape?
    Yes the bottom of the electrical tape rests on top of either the seat tube or seat clamp (depending how your seat post is secured).
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