relation between saddle height and horizontal position

On Sunday, November 18, 2018 at 5:13:38 PM UTC-5, wrote:
On Sunday, November 18, 2018 at 1:20:16 PM UTC-6, wrote:

Rather than increasing saddle height radically perhaps you should get a proper bike fitting. There are several services. Most people work their way into the proper position over time but a proper fitting would put you in the proper position immediately.


No it wouldn't. A bike fitting might get you maybe possibly close to where you need to be. If you're lucky. But a bike fitting is just a guess. Only way to get properly fitted is to ride a bike for a long time and make adjustments as you go.

I had a professional bike fitting done ONCE. It recommended a frame size 2cms less than what I find comfortable. I think it's like the old KOPS (Knee Over Pedal Spindle) thing that' might be good for a neutral position start but might not work for a fair number of people.

Cheers

People can forget I spend 50 cent on adjusting the bloody saddle for me.

On Sunday, November 18, 2018 at 5:48:41 PM UTC-5, wrote:
People can forget I spend 50 cent on adjusting the bloody saddle for me.

When it comes to adjusting a saddle height or other position nothing beats personal experience. I was riding one day and went a lot further than I normally do on a day ride. My butt began to hurt quite a bit after many many miles. I stopped and raised the nose of the saddle just a hair or so and surprisingly the pain went away shortly thereafter and never returned.

I can remember when it was recommended by many authors of bicycling books that changes in saddle height be done in small increments at a time with a fair number of miles ridden between each adjustment.

Cheers

On 11/18/2018 5:13 PM, wrote:
On Sunday, November 18, 2018 at 1:20:16 PM UTC-6, wrote:

Rather than increasing saddle height radically perhaps you should get a proper bike fitting. There are several services. Most people work their way into the proper position over time but a proper fitting would put you in the proper position immediately.


No it wouldn't. A bike fitting might get you maybe possibly close to where you need to be. If you're lucky. But a bike fitting is just a guess. Only way to get properly fitted is to ride a bike for a long time and make adjustments as you go.

+1

I remember when a new shop opened up in our area. Within about a year,
the young guy who owned it was offering professional bike fitting.

I'm sure he was professional by definition, because he was getting paid
for it. But I saw no evidence that he knew any more than I did. He
probably paid a thousand dollars to get a kit and a seminar. I doubt
that was worth more than my decades of personal experience.

However, that service might have had value for a raw newbie - one who
was too lazy to crack a book covering the subject.


--
- Frank Krygowski

On Sun, 18 Nov 2018 22:07:14 -0500, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 11/18/2018 5:13 PM, wrote:
On Sunday, November 18, 2018 at 1:20:16 PM UTC-6, wrote:

Rather than increasing saddle height radically perhaps you should get a proper bike fitting. There are several services. Most people work their way into the proper position over time but a proper fitting would put you in the proper position immediately.


No it wouldn't. A bike fitting might get you maybe possibly close to where you need to be. If you're lucky. But a bike fitting is just a guess. Only way to get properly fitted is to ride a bike for a long time and make adjustments as you go.

+1

I remember when a new shop opened up in our area. Within about a year,
the young guy who owned it was offering professional bike fitting.

I'm sure he was professional by definition, because he was getting paid
for it. But I saw no evidence that he knew any more than I did. He
probably paid a thousand dollars to get a kit and a seminar. I doubt
that was worth more than my decades of personal experience.

However, that service might have had value for a raw newbie - one who
was too lazy to crack a book covering the subject.

I suspect that even position on the bike effects seat placement, to
some extent. The tri-athletes, for example, here seem to be sitting a
bit forward on aero bars then the simple knee over pedal "standard"
would indicate.


cheers,

John B.

On Sunday, November 18, 2018 at 7:07:16 PM UTC-8, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 11/18/2018 5:13 PM, wrote:
On Sunday, November 18, 2018 at 1:20:16 PM UTC-6, wrote:

Rather than increasing saddle height radically perhaps you should get a proper bike fitting. There are several services. Most people work their way into the proper position over time but a proper fitting would put you in the proper position immediately.


No it wouldn't. A bike fitting might get you maybe possibly close to where you need to be. If you're lucky. But a bike fitting is just a guess. Only way to get properly fitted is to ride a bike for a long time and make adjustments as you go.

+1

I remember when a new shop opened up in our area. Within about a year,
the young guy who owned it was offering professional bike fitting.

I'm sure he was professional by definition, because he was getting paid
for it. But I saw no evidence that he knew any more than I did. He
probably paid a thousand dollars to get a kit and a seminar. I doubt
that was worth more than my decades of personal experience.

However, that service might have had value for a raw newbie - one who
was too lazy to crack a book covering the subject.


--
- Frank Krygowski

Remember that Mr. Berg said that he was going to make a "radical change" in his seat height. This is asking for leg, knee, ankle and butt problems. Even the least "professional" of professional fits would avoid the majority of problems. This is not to say that you cannot make slow and specific changes because of your own physiognomy but you would be starting from very close.

Mr. Berg was very happy to finally get two quality, modern bikes to play and learn and ride. After riding them a lot, he heard from another rider the saddles were way too low. The rider told about the heel method which confirmed his observation. Mr. Berg did the adjustment but felt immediately the saddle should be put more forward. He asked here and learned of the KOPS method which, again, confirmed the intuition. Mr. Berg has read this whole thread with great interest and would like to express his gratitude for all the answers.

Sorry I can't cite. The other poster called me Mr. Berg so I thought I do that as well as a joke. But without the citation, and you probably forgot his post, maybe it didn't make sense. I really don't like these smartphones but for some time now I have limited access to my computer system. Well, whatever. Heel + KOPS + adjustments it is

On Thu, 22 Nov 2018 20:26:57 -0800 (PST), wrote:

Sorry I can't cite. The other poster called me Mr. Berg so I thought I do that as well as a joke. But without the citation, and you probably forgot his post, maybe it didn't make sense. I really don't like these smartphones but for some time now I have limited access to my computer system. Well, whatever. Heel + KOPS + adjustments it is


However... those settings are simply those that many (most?) people
find comfortable. If, after riding the bike for a while, you feel that
moving the seat up/down/forward/back might be more comfortable, just
do it... you can always move it back :-)

On Thursday, November 22, 2018 at 9:02:57 PM UTC-8, John B Slocomb wrote:
On Thu, 22 Nov 2018 20:26:57 -0800 (PST), wrote:

Sorry I can't cite. The other poster called me Mr. Berg so I thought I do that as well as a joke. But without the citation, and you probably forgot his post, maybe it didn't make sense. I really don't like these smartphones but for some time now I have limited access to my computer system. Well, whatever. Heel + KOPS + adjustments it is


However... those settings are simply those that many (most?) people
find comfortable. If, after riding the bike for a while, you feel that
moving the seat up/down/forward/back might be more comfortable, just
do it... you can always move it back :-)

If my saddle is as little as a 1/4 inch too low I get knee pain in a pretty short period of time.