rms13

Every 80s road bike I see on Craigslist has the saddle slammed all the way down to the seat clamp. Is everyone just selling their bikes because they are actually way too big for them or did people really ride like that? I have only been riding road bikes for a couple of years but both my bikes have about 6 inches of seat post showing and they both have level top tubes not compact geometry.

auchencrow

Generally, seat posts get slammed by people who are used to cruiser style/upright bikes and cannot make the transition to a road bike with drop bars. Seat posts ought to be exposed - and least a couple of inches- even on a French fit.

OldsCOOL

I sure didnt, though I agree with your observation.

wrk101

A lot of people position their saddles so both feet can reach the ground when seated. I see it all the time, riders with their saddles positioned several inches too low. On the same bike, I often see the stem overextended up, way past the minimum insert line. It really looks bizarre to me.

busdriver1959

6 inches is just about right. The only factor that really matters is that there is just enough post to grab it with the clamp on a Park workstand.

auchencrow

Oh no no no no no no no no no no Nooooooo!
6" is TOO much post for a real French fit!

( It is nice though if you can clamp the post - I can't on most of mine! )

eschlwc

4" looks perfect.

i'm talkin seatposts here.

RobbieTunes

I think it was the short shorts and the tube socks.
After those, a low saddle wasn't even noticeable.

photogravity

I'm all over the place with mine, because I have some frames that (at least technically speaking) are too small for me so they have lots of seat post, while larger ones have just a little seat post showing. I have frames ranging from about 21" to 24", to give you some idea. Needless to say, I guess a 22.5" frame is about the most comfortable for me.

rm -rf

From the 1985 Raleigh catalog. (via Sheldon Brown's Retro Raleighs site.)


Yep, looks like 3-4 inches of seatpost:

rms13

So it begs the question. When shopping for an 80s road race bike do I find one that fits the way my modern bikes do or do I find one that fits the way they fitted bikes at the time? I'm aware of the French fit and on the competitive cyclist scale I lean toward the competitive fits. But all that basically means I guess is that I prefer a smaller frame than what would have been recommended to me in the 80s. So do I look for a 54 which is what I'm riding on a road bike today or do I get 56 or even 57 which is probably what the shop probably would have put me on in the 80s as I'm about 5'11"?

Wildwood 

When I bought my first adult road bike in 1985, I tried 2 different bike shops. Both shops had me straddle the top tube, making sure you could lift the front wheel at least an inch off the ground, the second step was to position the saddle with a 'fist-full of seatpost' exposed. Then a parking lot test ride to fine tune the saddle position. Without the fist-full of seatpost., the next smaller frame was recommended. I don't remember anyone mentioning swapping stems or handlebars to get an ideal position and no setback seatposts then either. It was all so simple then.

tmh657

I'm 6'1" tall. Ride a 58-61cm frame. It's about the top tube length and leg extension for me. I could ride a 54cm frame with 10" of seat post, (around the block maybe) Or possibly a 63cm frame with 4" of post. This is what it is on a 24"/61cm frame. Just right for me.

Chombi

A lot of people who ride with slammed saddles are mostly just riding bikes that are just too big for them....

eschlwc

i have a 32" inseam.

a small bike (56cm) with 6" or more post showing is great fun in the city on short trips or flying up and down the city's hilly streets.

but give me a 58cm bike with 4" of post for those long, fast treks way across town or county where i can really stretch out and feel long and comfy.

sloar 

I found a picture of me during the 80's with my new Raleigh. Man that thing must've been a 60cm. And I should've had a 53cm. That's maybe why a lot of seats were slammed. I know mine was.

big chainring 

Typical age to buy your first ten speed was 12-14 yrs old. The bike shops, particularly Schwinn stores sold kids(their parents) the largest bike they could ride, because the kids were to grow into the bike. Most of the time the kids did grow but never raised the seat. And being 'merican kids, at 16 they were behind the wheel of a 'merican V-8.

Road Fan

Where did you live???? I never saw that (on guys) in my home. For us it was more blue jeans, tie-dyed Tshirt (smokes rolled up in sleeve), a cycling cap, and Adidas sneakers -- and French fits.

Cycling shorts? I got jeans, I'm good!

Maybe things got weird in the '80s, I dunno.

Road Fan

And Auch's fleet is about as French as anyone's can be!

Road Fan

Sounds very right - just like my mom taking me to buy pants in the '60s! "you'll grow into them, I'm not buying you new pants every 6 months!"

Bikedued

Funny thing is, if you own a "new" bike and a "vintage" bike and put one behind the other...... The saddles are about the same height, and only the sloping top tube causes the extra 5-6 inches of post of a modern "fit". I had the 08 Schwinn SS that I converted to single speed, and the new to me SLT 12.2 sitting together a few days ago. Guess what? There's 8 to 10 inches of post sticking out of the single speed, and 3-4ish sticking out of the 12.2. The bars, saddles and bottom brackets are very close to being the same distance from the ground. Part of the "new fit" is the slope of the top tube. I wonder if the top tubes were sloped so people could look like racers, with the same saddle height, haha!!

That's just an observation though. It depends on the bike for me. If it's a racing bike I run a little smaller frame and more post. If it's a neighborhood comfort cruiser (sport touring) road bike, larger frame and less post.,,,,BD

Chrome Molly

But not below the aero part of the post. I'm so out, I'm in...

repechage

The vast majority of non enthusiasts I see riding around have their saddles painfully too low.
The "fixie" crowd does seem to be better off.
Many "roadies" in full lycra kit riding hard the I have recently seen are going to have knee problems later as their stroke has one or both knees translating way out of line as they pedal then moving inboard. One guy the other day I was really tempted to advise to get his cleats professionally adjusted, but it would have been awkward at best as I was driving a vehicle.
Bad fit is everywhere.

bikemig 

Top tube is more critical than seatpost in many ways. You probably are best off with a 55-57 top tube (guessing from your height) and that will be tough to find on a 54 cm bike. Even on a modern bike a lot depends on whether you are getting some sort of compact geometry or not.

I think this advice from Sheldon Brown much spot on:

Revisionist Theory of Bicycle Sizing

Also handlebar height matters. On a modern bike with threadless that is easy enough to fix; that can be an issue when getting a somewhat smaller vintage bike.

I'm 5'11" and I like a 56 (C to T) on a vintage bike; on modern bikes, it depends and sometimes a 54 works, other times a 56 works for me. Not enough seatpost showing to use to mount the bike on a stand with my 56 cm RB-1 but I'm comfortably stretched out for a long ride:

Sixty Fiver

French fit...



A little less French... my UJ10 is a smaller frame with a much higher bottom bracket.



Old guy fit...