Another thing is that triathletes usually have their saddles placed farther forward and higher up than do road riders - different strokes for different sports! His advice might not be right for you.
On Mon, Sep 27, 2010 at 5:53 AM, Ken Freeman <[email protected]>wrote: > I start with my PBH measurement, then multiply by 1.09. I set the saddle > to this height measuring along the seat tube from the axis of the pedal to > the top of the saddle with the lower crank arm in line with the seat tube. > I do this with the saddle level and centered on the saddle clamp. Then I > ride-test it. > > Usually the bars are already in the correct position for me, which is about > 2 cm below the saddle. If not, I change them. > > After this I have some rules for troubleshooting. I don't know if I should > go into detail. > > The best shop fitting I had was when the coach used a goniometer to measure > and set my knee angle at pedal bottom - between 25 and 30 degrees is the > usual convention. This fitter used KOPS to set the saddle fore/aft > position. > > The most critical thing is to get as much leg extension as you can without > causing your hips to rock painfully. > > Will the simple knee extension rule do it for you? Only you can find out, > but if another good rider says, "you look a little low," it's reasonable to > see if going up, maybe 1/8 inch at a time, does you any good without adding > negatives - there are a lot of ways to look at it these days. > > Sometimes it takes a few hours or days to tell if a change brings negative > effects with it. Try to mark or record your old position to be able to go > back to the old position if it doesn't work. There is such a thing as going > too far too fast with a change, having some pain, and needing to go back to > where you were. Sometimes you need to do this while out on a ride. Think > of that classic professional rider (forgot who!!!!) who carried wrenches to > set his saddle in the middle of TdF stages! > > > > On Mon, Sep 27, 2010 at 3:16 AM, [email protected] < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> 2 centimeters, 4/5 of an inch? That's quite a bit. Did anyone ever >> offer observation to you that your hips were rocking when you >> pedaled? >> >> The other rule of foot-length is that heels just touching the pedals >> when the leg is fully extended implies the "right" bend at the knee >> when the distance from heel to place-of-foot over pedal is added. That >> said, common advice is that for many riders, moving cleats a bit >> behind the ball of the foot instead of under them is a better, if not >> most powerful position. That would imply a lower saddle, but just >> several mm. lower. >> >> On Sep 27, 10:28 am, Jeremy Till <[email protected]> wrote: >> > If you want to double check, you could measure your pubic bone height >> > (PBH) using the method on the rivendell site and then apply their >> > formula for seat height, which is PBH minus 10-10.5cm. I did this >> > recently and ended up lowering my saddles about 2 cm. So far, my >> > hamstrings are thanking me. It also has the added advantage of >> > raising my bars by 2cm relative to my seat, making everything just >> > slightly more comfy cockpit-wise. >> > >> > On Sep 26, 6:29 pm, GeorgeS <[email protected]> wrote: >> > >> > >> > >> > > I rode my club's century today and as I was toiling up a hill, a young >> > > triathlete sort on a plastic thing (the tubes were not even round!) >> > > came by me and he said "Sir, you might want to raise your seat a bit >> > > so you'll get more leverage." Unsolicited advice is so cool. My >> > > immediate thought was to tell him that I had been riding bikes since >> > > before he was born, but I've been trying to keep my mouth out of gear >> > > so I didn't say anything. But then I started thinking that back in >> > > the day, the rule of thumb, at least as it was passed down to me, was >> > > that when the pedal is in the 6 o'clock position, the knee should be >> > > very slightly bent. I've been doing that with every bike I've set up >> > > for lo these many years. Was that wrong? Has there been any progress >> > > in thinking on this subject? >> > > GeorgeS >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> [email protected]<rbw-owners-bunch%[email protected]> >> . >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. >> >> > > > -- > Ken Freeman > Ann Arbor, MI USA > -- Ken Freeman Ann Arbor, MI USA -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
