Saddle Height?

[Frosty]

I was recently told it's halfway between the 1st and 5th, but this image is just in front of the 5th.

Googled the image to show.
 

[Eldron]

That just seems helluva far back?

 

It is the norm now. Has been in the official Bikefitting.com training manual for a few years.

 

I can look them up but I've seen quite few papers plotting cleat position against power output and position makes very little difference so the main aim now is comfort. Spreading the pressure over more metatarsals makes sense and has eliminated hot foot completely in my customer base.

 

Edit: When I first got into serious riding in the early 90s "under the ball" was gospel. Now we have science :-)

Edited April 15, 2021 by Eldron

[love2fly]

And that's same for mtb and road? I need to check mine out. If I need to move back that's going to affect saddle height and fore/aft.... Oh boy...

It is the norm now. Has been in the official Bikefitting.com training manual for a few years.

 

I can look them up but I've seen quite few papers plotting cleat position against power output and position makes very little difference so the main aim now is comfort. Spreading the pressure over more metatarsals makes sense and has eliminated hot foot completely in my customer base.

 

Edit: When I first got into serious riding in the early 90s "under the ball" was gospel. Now we have science :-)

[Eldron]

And that's same for mtb and road? I need to check mine out. If I need to move back that's going to affect saddle height and fore/aft.... Oh boy...

 

Yup. Same same.

[love2fly]

Yup. Same same.

Cool thanks

[Eldron]

Cool thanks

Pay the money and get a bike fit. Much easier. A good fitter will check all your contact points and find comfort where you didn't think any was possible.

 

Hell even I get bike fitted. External eyes work better than your own when fitting (they can see issues while you're riding and correct).

[The Guy in Pink]

Two ways of checking correct saddle height.

1. Sit on the saddle with your heals on the pedals and pedal backwards. Hour foot should almost come off the pedal at the bottom of the stroke.

2. Measure the length from your crotch to the ground when standing up. That lengthx0.81= distance from centre of cranks to top of saddle in the centre of saddle.

[Eldron]

I was recently told it's halfway between the 1st and 5th, but this image is just in front of the 5th.

Googled the image to show.

 

 

That pic is only representative of a part of the accompanying text:

 

 While some cyclists find positioning the center of their cleat behind the ball of their foot (the big bump on the foot behind the big toe # 1) is comfortable, others place the center of the pedal spindle even closer to the bump (back from the pinky toe # 5) on the outside of the foot. In the illustration below, the center of the spindle is in between the middle of the 1st and 5th but closer toward the bump on the outside of the foot.

 

I usually only use that position for really long and ultra distance riders.

[Eldron]

This should be the default position then forward or backwards movement depending on individual circumstances.

[Eldron]

OK last bike fit punting post.

 

This what we check on our basic fit:

 

Equipment

Saddle height and fore/aft

Saddle wear pattern

Bar height/length

Bar reach and drop

Bar tape wear pattern

Cleat position and angle

Saddle width and shape and flatness

 

 

Human

Flexibility

Arch height

Knee motion and deflection

Foot placement

Ankling motion

Back angle

Spinal alignment

Pelvic width

Pelvic alignment

Pelvic movement

Wrist alignment

Elbow deflection

 

There are probably a few others that I haven't remembered offhand and some of these need specialised equipment to check/measure.

 

Our advanced fit checks another 50 or so parameters.

 

You can get close using DIY but a proper bike check will find and fix many problems DIY can't and that you probably didn't even know about.

 

Ok sales pitch over.