HOW TO SET YOUR ROAD’S BIKE SADDLE HEIGHT

Despite the trend in recent years of people spending a lot of money in getting a bike fit, getting the saddle in the right place does not require plenty of expenses. One can find here under some tips on how to set your road bike saddle.

Firstly, one would start by adjusting the saddle height. A great way to do this process is to put the bike on an indoor trainer although one can also do it on the road. After adjusting the saddle, one can jump on the bike and put the heel of the foot on the pedal so that the leg is locked out. At this point, the rider can start to pedal to ensure that the pelvis is not rocking from side to side. If one notice that the leg is not locked out at the bottom of the stroke the seat needs to be put up a little bit.

At this point, the focus is on how fore or aft the seat is. The adjustment is normally made by loosening one or two bolts of the seat posts. Before starting, it is important to stress that the bike must be completely level and then a plum line is to be used. Keeping the feet in normal riding position and with cranks horizontal, the rider can drop the plum line from the bony bit at the back of the kneecap. That should bisect the pedal axle. This is called the “Kops method” and it has some critics. As for this, to fine-tune depending on how the type of rider one person is. Someone riding in a stretched-out position will find the need to move the saddle forward. Whereas someone riding in a more relaxed position with upright bars and shorter stems will need to go backwards.

At this point, one makes sure that the saddle is level. If it is titled up slightly it might put too much pressure on some sensate areas, while if it pointed too far down it puts more weight through hands and one will find himself constantly sliding forward. One the 3 measurements have been performed one need to jump back on the bike and redo the process again because if the rider adjusted the saddle height after doing the forward and backward, there will be bearing on where the seat is placed. In order to get the perfect bike fit, there are plenty other factors to consider like flexibility, whether one pedal with toe down or heel down.

In order to get a finer – tuned, the rider can grab a goniometer for doing the “Holmes method”. This method allows to measure the angle of the rider’s shin bone in relation to your thigh bone. According to the method, the optimum angle was 25 to 30 degrees when the rider is at the bottom of the pedal stroke.

Another used method is the “Inside leg”. One must get a long spirit level, put it the between the rider legs, nestle it to mimic the sensation of a saddle and then measure the distance from the end of the spirit level to the floor.