Road Cycling - Why is the seat so high?

Nearly everytime I see a picture of road bikes, the seat always looks so much higher than the stem and I was wondering why?

I have searched the internet for fitting my bike and although I have gotten the seat height right, I cant find anything on how high the stem should be?

Any suggestions? :)

Ad photos of road bikes & Mtb's are always shot in that manner (and sometimes over-exagerated) because it is aesthetically pleasing to took at and makes their products 'look' fast.
If your frame and stem allow you to do, a good starting point would be to set the handlebar almost dead level or slightly lower than your saddle and just experiment to see what's comfortable for YOU. Of course, with the traditional quill type stem, raising or lowering is so much easier to do...

George!

stand up and then bend over and reach for your toes, if you can touch your toes your stem should be lower than your seat, if you cannot it should be level with you seat.

If you look at pix of professional road racers, that, essentially is how they set
up their bikes. It is fairly common for pros to have frames that are 2-3cm smaller than what you would expect for their heighth, allowing the seat to be elevated to 4" above the stem. Since these guys have 2-5% bodyfat they can ride with their back parallel to the ground or even with a down slope back: sacrum higher than neck for high speed descents. unless you want a really uprite posture you will end up with the seat 1-2" higher than the bar. Look around at the next group ride and you will see a fair number of bikes with the seat 3" above the bar. Steve

Whoa, I got bodyfat WAY higher than 2- 5%, and I like my handlebars lower than my seat. In fact, the lower for me, the better. It feels really good to have my handlebars that low.

I have pretty decent lower back flexibility, and I really feel more comfortable with the handlebars lower than higher. When they're higher, I feel more stress on the back of my shoulders, but when they're lower, I can relax my shoulders and upper body, conserving my energy for the legwork.

I think the pros like to ride with the low handlebars because they are much more aerodynamic and efficient in that manner. The bad news for them is that some of them don't have the lower back flexibility to ride in this manner, so consequently, they really do suffer from some lower back problems later on.

If you do want to ride in that manner, consider some core strength work and some flexibility and stretching exercises for the back.

Koffee

Damm, 2-5% body fat...I knew had had more body fat to lose, but I didn't realize I'm a fat pig at 13%..Lol

Originally posted by bman
Damm, 2-5% body fat...I knew had had more body fat to lose, but I didn't realize I'm a fat pig at 13%..Lol

13%!!! Well I probably got you beat so don't feel bad. :cry:

Even though the pros can and do ride lower, it clear to me that their frames have to be smaller than what would be standard because if you just look at the geometry of some of their bikes, if they did fit even close (stand over height) their legs would have to be abnormally long. Whenever I've seen a bike setup with the seat 6" higher or more than the bars, either the person does have extrremely long legs or they've chosen the smaller, lighter frame size.

Originally posted by Koffee Brown
Whoa, I got bodyfat WAY higher than 2- 5%

Koffee



What like 6-8% :p

I'm looking over at my bike now and the seat is maybe 3" higher than the stem. The frame fits me perfectly by the way.

Originally posted by Laggard
I'm looking over at my bike now and the seat is maybe 3" higher than the stem. The frame fits me perfectly by the way.

Mine is about the same too. I think they're talking about picture in ads or shot of the pros where the seat is literally 6" or more higher. It does look more appealing visually

Originally posted by astonv0l
Nearly everytime I see a picture of road bikes, the seat always looks so much higher than the stem and I was wondering why?

I have searched the internet for fitting my bike and although I have gotten the seat height right, I cant find anything on how high the stem should be?

Any suggestions? :)


Having the handle bars 4" lower then the seat level sort of makes the bike look like it is going fast when it is standing still. People think they can sell more FAST LOOKING bikes then bikes that look sort of normal. Hmm that still does not explain some of the yuck colors they come up with.

And maybe the handle bars should be 4" lower then the seat if you are a procyclist, 25 years lod, flexible, unbelievably fit, and you want the most aerodynamic position possible.

I really liked the old system where you could adjust handlebar height easily with an allen wrench. When I was out of shape, I rode with the handlebars at the same level as the seat. As I got into better shape and lost weight, I gradually lowered the handlebars.

I always heard the issue with the pros was two-fold. They ride smaller frames because: (1) the higher seat makes them more aerodynamic (as others here have stated), and; (2) the smaller than normal frame was to help cut down extra weight (a couple of ounces in most cases).

Don't know if it's true or not.

Some of it may have to do with the angle the bike is photographed from. I run 3.75 inches of drop from the top of my saddle to the top of my bars but I can take a picture and you'd swear there is 6-8 inches of drop depending on how I shoot it.

Fit is personal and should have more to do with your comfort and flexibility than a preconceived ideal that you need 4 inches of drop. If you're comfortable with 1 inch difference between the saddle and bars, that's how you should set up your bike.

stand up and then bend over and reach for your toes, if you can touch your toes your stem should be lower than your seat, if you cannot it should be level with you seat.

voodoo alert voodoo alert.

I can not only touch my toes but I can rest my hands flat on the floor. My bars are at least seat height...maybe a touch higher. Are you talking about stem length?

A riders seat is always the same height in relation to the pedal. Smaller frames make it appear as if the seat is higher when in reality its not. Some pros ride smaller frames for aerodynamic reasons. Some ride them because they are stiffer and some to save weight. Smaller frames lower the head tube. Some pros are raising thier brake levers and rotating the bars to compensate.

Miami: I noticed that bar rotation for the first time this yr in the
TDF. Lance had his brake hoods a good 3" higher than I have mine. They seemed to be at 25-30d upangle from horizontal where mine are 5-10d at most. LA frame size looks like 54cm, but at his height I would expect at least 56cm. The higher brake hoods would seem to be optimized for climbers. Steve

SCH, you correct about the TDF bar angles and brake lever position. Its important that everyday cyclists dont go out and try to imitate the TDF cyclists. Those guys are 'repositioning' thier bar setups to compensate for riding to small of a bike. It does seem like it would make climbing easier, doesnt it?

I remember back in the '80's when Greg LeMond was riding with very laid back seat angles and a seat way back on the rails. Every Cat4 rider coming into our store wanted that setup. We're not all runnin' around with slicks on our car cuz lil E runs em on his stocker are we?