Stix Zadinia

Hey everyone,

Wondering about what your preferred height for the saddle is on your commute (lower, same level or higher than the handlebar); what do you look for, leg comfort when you pedal, standing up comfortably with your feet on the ground (when you stop that is); and also your usual posture on the bike when pedaling, do you sit on the saddle all the time or do you stand on your legs and the pedals, do you curl/duck a lot (or not at all), hands-free or not, etc


Looking forward to hearing your preferences!

droy45

I prefer to have my handlebars just slightly higher than the saddle. I adjust the saddle height first so my hips don't rock when pedaling and my leg is slightly bent at the knee when my foot is on the very bottom stroke of the pedal. I then adjust the handlebar height for comfort and like I mentioned it generally ends up slightly higher than the saddle. This puts me more upright than slouched over the bars and for commuting this is important to see well around you in traffic etc. I have a large size frame and can't touch the ground while sitting in the saddle, the ground is a long ways away. When I stop, I just slide my butt off the saddle.

I ride mostly in the saddle and also ride standing up when climbing steep grades. I have Ergon grips with bar ends to grab on to when climbing. With this setup, I have recently installed a Ride Out Carbon Comfort seat which is very small in size but racey in looks and can give me all day comfort riding in the saddle. Its important to have a good saddle when commuting upright unlike roadbikes where you more or less just perch up on the saddle vs. sitting on it.

whk1992

Honestly, I prefer the handle bar being higher than my saddle. Unfortunately, I can't raise my stem further up (it reaches the maximum allowable extension). I can't lower my saddle, either.

I guess that's a restriction of my bike frame.

wphamilton

My saddle top is 74.5 cm from the center of the bottom bracket (5'10" height) which is best for peddling for me. How your feet are on the ground while stopped does not matter!

I prefer a moderate drop to the handlebars, about four inches.

A lot of touring cyclists are set up comfortably with the so-called "French Fit" which has the bars and seat at about the same height, and using a slightly larger frame for more reach.

erig007

Here is a stem riser
https://www.amazon.com/Origin8-X-Tra-...eywords=satori

digitalmouse

I keep my seat at the default height of 24.5 cm (about 9.6 inches) from the ground, but raised the seat angle to 45 degrees for a better view of the surrounding traffic. Morning commute in Copenhagen is akin to a Spanish "Running of the Bulls" with around 400,000 cyclists converging on the city each day, so good visibility is important for spotting cyclists that like to change lanes without warning. For my long distance tours, I might lower the seat back to 30-35 degrees for more comfort and lengthened the body for better breathing on long climbs.

Handle bars are under the seat, and tilted just a bit forward for comfort and keep the 3.2m tight turning radius at full-lock.

fietsbob

Standard quick check: 'Rules of Thumb' Height :
Leg Straight, with Heel on the Pedal axis.. so it's a slightly bent knee when ball of foot is on the pedal.


saddle setback :
3:00 .. pedal forward, crank horizontal , a plumb line, should fall through pedal axle,
from the front of the Knee cap, patella/.. ball of your foot is above the pedal axle.

Adding :

As I get Older the bars move Up and Closer.

as I am not ambitious, about going fast, and being bent over, any More, to achieve that..

Mr. Hairy Legs

I keep the saddle as high as possible without having the feeling of having to rock the hips to pedal. Handlebar height and position are then adjusted accordingly; on my road bike there is about a 1.5 cm drop to the bars.

I used to ride with the saddle too low and learned my lesson in the form of chronic knee pain. Now my knees don't give me much trouble.

Drv1913

My seat is just slightly lower than the handlebars. I could probably stand to raise it higher, but that always makes me feel less stable. The current position is still more or less correct, and I am comfortable and can at least touch the ground with my tip toes while seated if I am wearing flats. (I am usually wearing platforms or heels, so this works even better.) I ride in an upright position and almost never stand on the pedals - even on the steepest hills. I just chug away while seated until it is over and I can coast downhill. Often when I am stopped at a light, I will just stand up completely and stretch my back, hands, and legs, especially toward the end of my commute.

BassNotBass

Top of bars 1.5-2" lower than saddle.

grantfree035

Even for commuting, I lean towards an Eddy fit. (saddle over bar)
Specifically to allow quick reactions or take aggressive measures against oblivious drivers.
Not to mislead you that i'm rude to drivers; but if a car doesn't notice me, it's my job to haul a** and get out of his/her path of destruction.
Texas roads tend to be 40-45mph, so cars will spring up on you in waves.

I generally keep in the saddle for the whole ride. I try not to stand on the pedals, tends to rock the panniers, unless i'm stretching.
I've always been an advocate of riding hands-free, when you become comfortable with it, you can do a series of stretches for your back, shoulders, and wrists.

chaadster

I guess my position is pretty aggressive, but then, I'm a stoplight sprinter (often out of the saddle) and I like to roll fast:

Stix Zadinia

What do you mean 24.5 cm from the ground, am I misreading something?

I used to tilt the saddle forward at a slight angle, too (front part of the saddle a bit lower than the back) but the salesman who sold me the bike at the shop I got it from once saw that and said I was risking developing a prostate complication (cancer?) by doing that.. is it true??

I've been curious about it (now I use it parallel and I'm used to it like that, but still, it was curious -and somewhat scary- that he mentioned that).

I was hoping someone would mention this; I too am using the saddle lower that the handlebars, basically so I can lower my feet into the floor more comfortably when I stop (not having to slide in front of the saddle and be accidentally 'molested' by it), but at the expense of my knees, I'm starting to feel some pain (well, more like discomfort) so I plan to raise the saddle enough so that I need to lower my bottoms only slightly before being seated when I'm done pedaling and just keep rolling on the impulse (I often pedal standing up as if I'd be going uphill, even though I'm not haha).
I also plan to get more comfortable pants (I have tight jeans and they make pressure on my legs) and seat more on the saddle.

kookaburra1701

I like my handlebars slightly higher than my saddle. My commuting/utility bike has what I believe are called North Road handlebars. Unfortunately, in order to pedal comfortably, my saddle is tall enough that I can't touch the ground with my foot when I'm sitting on it, so I have to do this little vault to mount the bike when I first get going.

chaadster

FrenchFit 

You called? My commute bikes are set up differently than sprinting, touring or brevet, the saddle and bars are about even. The reason is safety; I get a better view that way and it feels like I can make faster low speed moves if I need to dodge cars, hazard, etc.. Also, I tend to wearing quasi street clothes, and being rotated down isn't so comfortable in long pants and a belt. True, my saddle is a tad lower on the commuters; all and all it's a more neutral position, I'm not going for speed.

At stops I never stay vertical over the TT, I'm always off the saddle and leaning the bike to the right...so standover is irrelevant on any bike.

canyoneagle

He rides a recumbent.

My commuter is set up with the bars pretty much level with the saddle. I use a handlebar with a 45 degree sweep, so I can lean forward and "tuck" in headwinds. This allows me to move between upright and bent over, depending on my preferences. It's nice to have options.

fietsbob

the bike designers made a crank forward geometry, a very low angle seat post ,
to accomidate those who were less secure when they could not stop, and put a foot down..

[Rather than, of course, get an Actual recumbent bike ]

noglider 

I like leaning forward pretty heavily, but I reduce that slightly on some of my commuter bikes. Being slightly more upright gives my neck and shoulders some agility to look around. But my "slightly more upright" position is still very bent over for many people.

Generally, I use drop bars for fun or long rides and upright bars for short or city rides. But I've recently started commuting on a Bianchi Volpe which is nominally a cyclo cross bike. It has drop bars, and I feel extremely comfortable on it in traffic. I can't explain why that is. I should take measurements, because the fit seems accidentally better than on any bike I've had.

ThermionicScott 

Yes, a nose-down saddle will give you cancer.

Stop trying to reach the ground while you're in the saddle! The proper way to set up saddle height is so that your leg is almost straight when your foot is at the bottom of the stroke. When you get ready to stop and put a foot down, get out of the saddle.

whk1992

Thanks for the tip!

My bike has a quill stem and a threaded steerer tube. I don't think I can use that stem riser.


----------------- Edited -----------------------
Opps! The term "stem riser" is new to me, so I ran a quick search on google. turns out that shops do sell quill stem riser. yeah!

canyoneagle

Does your stem project straight forward from the headset, or does it have a rise? There are quill stems on the market that should be able to get you set up.
Out of curiosity, how much exposed seat post do you have on your bike? That's a clue as to whether the frame might be too small or big. It's not the whole story (top tube length/reach is also important), but it's a start.

whk1992

That photo should be self-explanatory

------------------edit-------------------
It might be hard to estimate from my photo. The seat post extrudes about three times as much as the stem.

canyoneagle

Ahh. It's a racing bike, so that's the first thing. You can certainly go with a riser stem, or with a long quill stem (such as the Nitto Technomic), but anything will be a compromise IMO. Your seat post is a bit long (ie frame is a bit small), though not completely out of reason (a common 80's rule of thumb for racers was that the exposed seatpost and head tube should be about the same length).

dvald001

I use the Riv method of measuring the PBH minus 11 for the Saddle Height. Used to ride 54cm bikes, but I just built up a 59cm bike and find the fit to much better. Also lets me hide seatpost and stem to just a handful. I like the saddle and bars about equal in height.