Posing your bike
 

Just curious. Why do many people raise the seat on their bikes when posing for a pic? It reminds me of the duck lips you often see in selfies.

Also don't forget to shift to the big chain ring and small cog because you need that gear to climb such a steep hill.

What? ****

How do you know they're raising their seats? Some people use a lot of drop. Not me, but some do.

Duck lips FTW.

What choo talkin' about, Willis?

As for duck lips, that could be due to the photo taken so close with a wide angle lens.

I see a lot of pics of good looking bikes with the seat set way above the bars. I didn't think that many people actually rode like that but maybe I'm wrong. Is it common for riders to use such an aggressive position? What are the benefits/drawbacks?

Benefit is, raising the seat will make your arms grow. This is based upon scientific studies. So if you have short arms, hike the seat up.
The body tends to adapt to its environment. Same thing with crank length. Longer cranks promote leg growth.

Do people do this? The pictures I have of my bike are exactly as I ride it. My saddle height is set correctly for my body and the drop to my bars is for the position that best suits the kind of racing and riding that I do (bars are a good bit lower than the seat). Maybe it is a bit aggressive but it works for what I do. Do people actually raise their seat or lower their bars only for pictures?

Not sure if it's aggressive, but the tops of my bars are about 3"-4" below the top of my saddle. This is a pretty normal fit for most people that don't have some kind of flexibility issues. It engages the gluts more and gets your upper body out of the wind more.

Proper picture taking protocol is:

Remove spare tire bag and any water bottles
Shift to big chainring and smallest cog
valve stems at 6:00 position
cranks horizontal so name is readable

Yes.
https://igcdn-photos-a-a.akamaihd.ne...12029009_n.jpg

Also:

Rule #26 // Make your bike photogenic.
When photographing your bike, gussy her up properly for the camera. Some parameters are firm: valve stems at 6 o’clock. Cranks never at 90 or 180 degrees. Others are at your discretion, though the accepted practices include putting the chain on the big dog, and no bidons in the cages.

Posing is for posers.

MTBs often have their seats attached with a QR.
Road bikes often have them bolted on.

I'm not going to just adjust the seat to snap a photo... then have to re-adjust it to continue with my ride.

My "new" Litespeed build has the seat fairly high because it was never meant to be a road bike :p

Perhaps it is more "aggressive looking"... at least my back thought so during the first 500 miles. I don't know if it translates to speed though.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=445482

Proper positioning of the pedal, and it can act as a kick stand. Otherwise the bike would have been fish food.

Ok, so some people do prefer to ride with a higher seat. I have only been riding about a year. And I suppose two reasons I prefer a lower seat are 1) I don't race 2) I'm kinda old. But now I'm curious. I might try to find a smaller frame and raise the seat to see how that feels.

Is your stem already slammed? Adjusting the saddle height to make your butt higher isn't really a good solution, your legs still need to reach the pedals and the distance should be correct, as a too-low or too-high saddle can hurt you. It would be better (and cheaper) to lower the front. The idea is to get lower and more level. Sticking your butt farther in the air doesn't do that much.

It looks cool or "PRO". Some people will sacrifice anything to look cool, especially in the eyes of the 41. Road cycling is all about vanity, dontchya know.

You can also try a "track stem" which does about the same thing.

http://www.oldskooltrack.com/files/i...orrin.stem.jpg

It all about body proportions vs frame size and if it has a sloping top tube. If the bike is properly size for your body and the seat post adjusted for proper pedal reach the saddle will end up with a fair amount of seatpost showing.

If you have a upward sloping tt it will look even more exaggerated (both of these were properly sized to the riders' leg length:

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=445532http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=445533

Didn't that one guy who started that CAAD thread deliberately raise his seat or something everytime he took a photo?

Yeah, you must really be a little lost.

You either can ride with high saddle to bar drop or you just can't and the posers who try to do it to look cool simply don't last because it does not work out in the end because your body, especially your back and neck just can't sustain it if it's not for you. I do it for comfort (weird as that sounds) not speed.
I always ride with a 14cm drop (5.51 inches) to bar; 26.5cm drop (10.43 inches) to the drops - that's nearly a 1ft height differential from where my saddle is to where my hand is on the drop.

High saddle to bar drops are common in the cycling community not because we're pros, but simply because we're flexible enough to be comfortable in this position.

Like I just wrote, I don't do it to look cool or pro, I simply do it because the saddle height it is at now is the most comfortable length for my legs when pedaling. Yes I did nearly slam the stem (one spacer left) but that's because my hands can reach too.
As for people who would lift up the seat to pose their bike, that's just stupid and often times you can tell because you might be able to see a line showing a different shade in the seat post demarcating where the post normally vs the posed position for the photo

Here is an old picture of my bike. I didn't even notice the apparently high saddle to bar drop and simply kept adjusting the bike until I could ride without anything hurting. It wasn't until people began pointing it out when they saw my bike then I got it measured and compared it to what people considered high saddle to bar drops.

http://s17.postimg.org/vja9cyfvj/2e3ydld.jpg

I'm not that tall, so my seat if about even with the bars

Is your name "Wilt the Stilt"?

The benefit of a sloping Top Tube is obvious on your bike!!!

http://s14.postimg.org/4vesvspnl/zzz.jpg
Say wut?!?!

But seriously, a sloping stem wouldn't really help or rather isn't needed right now - I've already looked into stems with negative rise etc etc.
I'd slam the stem first and if need be later add on a sloping stem - but all is nice and comfortable for now so I keep it that way.


EDIT: Oh wow I completely read that as sloping stem instead of top tube. Oops. Never mind my earlier response and carry one with the usual programming.

If you had a straight top tube, then it would still be a pretty tall seat, but that mast of a seat post would be about 3 or 4 inches shorter, or at least more of it inside the frame.

It still is quite an impressive drop.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=445576

Of course, the folding bikes and small wheel bikes may really be the key to getting an impressive seat height and handlebar drop.

http://www.bike123.com/images/disaster.willie.1.jpg