Why Your Bicycle Saddle Height Is Important

Cycling Weekly

Setting the right saddle height is essential for comfort, efficiency and avoiding injury.

Transcript

00:00 (whooshing)

00:02 (upbeat music)

00:07 - Hi, I'm Hannah Reynolds,

00:14 fitness editor at Cycling Weekly Magazine.

00:16 Today I'm at Bespoke Cycling's flagship store

00:18 in Canary Wharf with expert bike fitter Ben Hallam,

00:21 who's gonna tell us a little bit

00:23 about how to set our saddle height.

00:25 So where do we start?

00:26 - Well Hannah, there's two ways that we can get

00:28 roughly in the right ballpark in terms of saddle height.

00:32 The first uses your inseam,

00:34 and the second we can do on the bike itself.

00:36 For the first method,

00:37 what we want to do is find your inseam measurement.

00:40 So I find the quickest and simplest way to do this

00:43 is using a ruler.

00:44 Just stand roughly shoulder width apart,

00:46 pop the ruler between your legs just as high as it'll go,

00:49 keeping it nice and level.

00:51 We want to take a measurement from the side

00:53 and see how high that is.

00:56 7.55.

00:59 Once we have that measurement,

01:02 we want to times that number by 0.887.

01:06 So we want to transfer this measurement across to the bike.

01:09 We're measuring from the center of the bottom bracket

01:11 to the top of the saddle.

01:13 Another way to get in the general ballpark

01:18 in the right place in terms of saddle height

01:21 is to use the bike itself.

01:23 In this method,

01:24 if you put your heel on the pedal

01:28 at the bottom of the pedal stroke,

01:29 like so,

01:32 and then raise the saddle

01:33 until your knee is locked out and straight,

01:37 and then clip back in,

01:38 we're going to be in roughly the right ballpark.

01:45 Now, this doesn't take into account how long your foot is.

01:51 So again,

01:51 this is just to get in roughly the right position.

01:55 - So how do I know if my saddle height is now right?

01:59 - Well, what we're looking for

02:00 at the bottom of the pedal stroke

02:01 is a soft knee bend.

02:03 So roughly about 150 degrees.

02:06 - But your saddle height is only one part of your bike fit.

02:10 - Certainly.

02:12 There are many elements that make up the fit,

02:15 be it cleats, saddle, bar position,

02:17 and each of them are interrelated

02:19 and changing one can have an effect

02:21 on the position of the others.

02:24 So this is why going and seeing a professional bike fitter

02:27 gives a comprehensive solution to all of these elements.

02:30 - So how do I know if my saddle height is wrong?

02:34 - You may be getting knee pain.

02:35 This is a very common complaint from saddle height issues.

02:39 Now, a very general rule of thumb

02:41 is that if the pain is on the front of the knee,

02:44 then your saddle height might be a little bit low.

02:46 If the pain is at the back of the knee,

02:48 then you might have your saddle set slightly too high.

02:51 In this occasion, I would probably suggest

02:53 moving the saddle roughly three to four millimeters maximum

02:58 to see if this helps alleviate the problems.

03:01 - If you have any more questions

03:02 on how to set your saddle height,

03:04 leave a comment at the bottom of this page.

03:06 (car engine revving)

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