Hammer

How High Should I adjust the height on my bike seat?

Sarah asked:

What is the optimal height that I should place my bike seat? I seem to be struggling with bike fit and can't get a good feel for this. My bike is a Road bike

Our Answer

Traditionally you should adjust your seat height so that your leg is ALMOST vertical when your foot is at the bottom of it's rotation. You should have a slight bend to your knee, but not very much. This is assuming that the rest of your bike fit is correct. This video should give you a better idea of what it would look like, the concept is similar for a mountain bike but some will prefer more of a bend on a mtn bike.

6 Comments »

wle atlanta rated this:

when seated, your leg should be almost straight at the lowest point of pedal rotation

note that by definition, you will not be able to sit on the seat and touch the ground with your feet

wle.

# 7 January 2009 at 10:25 pm

Kyle rated this:

depends what bike it is…

if its a road bike you want the seat fairly high for easier riding

bmx/dirt bikes should have lower seats for jumping ect.

if its just for everyday use just find a height you like.

# 10 January 2009 at 9:39 am

Nick rated this:

Well If your a basic bike rider Put the seat in a comfortable height
Make sure You can pedal with out a over extension of the leg
If you feel cramped still your bike might be bit small
Bmx street,park and dirt should be slammed all the way down
Mountain bike should be half way up

Remember The frame size will effect seat height
and every thing here is to a frame in your size range.

# 11 January 2009 at 12:52 am

intrepidfae rated this:

The ball of your foot should be directly on top of the pedal’s axle. Then, with the pedal at the bottom of its arc, your knee should be only slightly bent. Your pedals are too high if your butt is rocking back and forth as you pedal. Another way to find a starting point that’s close is to put your heel above the pedal’s axle and adjust the seatpost so that your leg is perfectly straight with the knee locked. Then the height adjustment will be close to correct when you move the ball of your foot where it belongs.

HTH

# 15 January 2009 at 12:05 am

Carl_the_Truth rated this:

Your leg should only be slightly bent at the 6 o’clock down stroke position. If your seat is too high you can damage your hips. Too low your knees.

# 16 January 2009 at 3:38 am

petre rated this:

The most basic saddle adjustment is the height. Most bicyclists have their saddles too low, so that their knees are excessively bent as they pedal. This makes cycling much more tiring for a given speed, and is likely to cause harm to the knees.

A common reason for keeping the saddle set too low is that most bicyclists have never learned the proper technique for mounting and dismounting, so they find it convenient to be able to put a foot down to steady the bicycle while they are stopped. With older bicycles, it was sometimes possible to put a toe down at a stop with the saddle properly adjusted, especially for riders with large feet. Due to the higher bottom brackets common on newer bicycles, especially mountain bikes, it is no longer possible to do this. If you ride a mountain bike, and are able to balance it while stopped and seated, it is a sure sign that your saddle is too low. This is also true of most hybrids.

Having the saddle too low makes it harder to carry much of your weight on your legs, so you will sit with more weight on the saddle. This, in itself, is likely to increase saddle discomfort.

There are lots of formulas for saddle height, most based on multiplying leg length by some fudge factor. The numerical exercise to 3 decimal places gives the illusion of scientific rigor, but, in my opinion, these systems are oversimplification of a problem which involves not only leg length, but foot length, what part of the foot fits on the pedal, shoe sole thickness, type of pedal system and pedaling style.

You cannot judge the saddle height to any accuracy by just sitting on it, or riding around the block. As you get close to the correct position, the clues get more and more subtle.

Most people start with the saddle too low. This is a habit left over from childhood, because growing children almost always have their saddles too low for efficient pedaling. First they have it low for security while they are learning to balance, then, even once they have mastered balancing, their growth rate tends to keep them ahead of their saddle adjustment.

If you always ride with your saddle too low, you get used to it, and don’t realize that there is a problem…but there is. Riding with the saddle too low is like walking with your knees bent (as Groucho Marx often did for comedic effect.) If you walked that way all the time, you’d also get used to that, but you’d think that half a mile was a long walk. The way the human leg is made, it is strongest when it is nearly straight.

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.)

It also makes a bit of difference what sort of pedals/shoes you use. If you ride with ordinary shoes, virtually all of your pedaling power is generated by the downstroke, so a good leg extension is essential to let you apply maximum power in this direction. If you use clipless pedals and cleated cycling shoes, however, you can also generate a fair amount of your power by pulling the pedal backward near the bottom of the stroke. This action also uses the large muscles in the back of the leg, and can be quite efficient. If you make use of this pedaling style, you’ll want a slightly lower saddle position than for direct “piston-style” pedaling with street shoes. A slightly lower saddle position is also conducive to pedaling a rapid cadence.

# 19 January 2009 at 10:19 am