Originally Posted by
freeranger
Needing to get off the saddle when stopped is not a sign of the bike being too large.
While I agree with what you have said, the parameter for the properly sized mountain bike involves standover height. If you can’t get off the bike without 3” to 4” between the sensitive bits and the top tube, the bike is too large. If the bike is too large, the other proportions like the top tube length, reach, etc. are off which has an impact on handling, especially off road.
My bike fits me fine, and I have to get off the seat when stopped.
That should be the case with
any bike that is properly fitted. I have road bikes and mountain bikes and I can’t put a toe on the ground from the saddle on any one of them. With proper leg extension on a correctly sized bike, it should be impossible to touch the ground from the saddle.
You said it was a mtn.bike. The only time I can see the height of the seat being a problem would be on descents, and that could be handled by a dropper post (tho just saw a thread on dropper posts that most said they didn't actually use theirs). On my mtn.bike, if I know I'm going to be riding a trail with lots of descents, I may just lower my seat a little-don't do it often, as it makes pedaling harder on the legs with the loss of leg extension (I don't have a dropper post). If you got a smaller mtn.bike frame, you'd be raising the seat higher to get good leg extension, would still end up getting off the seat when you stop.
While I agree with much of this, I have never had a dropper post nor do I think they are all that necessary. Most of my mountain bike (I have 4) even have bolt on seat post clamps which require a tool to adjust the height. On descents, I just push back off the back of the saddle. I have since 1985.