Why Your Bicycle Saddle Height Is Important
Setting the right saddle height is essential for comfort, efficiency and avoiding injury.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
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)