JNorm

Hey everyone, this is my first post and I had a question about seat height:

I'm pretty new to cycling, having bought my first road bike last summer and putting probably 200 miles on since then. My question is how do you determine how high you should have your seat? I know you can go get professionally fitted at bike shops, but I've also heard that they charge an arm and a leg. Is there something I can do myself to determine where my seat needs to be, like leg measurements...etc? I've been told for years, since I was about 8 at YMCA mountain biking camp, that you should have your leg slightly bent when you're at full extension but I always feel that when I'm actually spinning the pedals that I'm not getting enough length, but when I'm just balancing against a pole or handrail and testing the lengths, that it's extended far enough.

Am I just playing mindgames with myself? Sorry if that was a boring and confusing paragraph but I appreciate any input I can get.

Thanks
~JNorm

botto 

the shop you bought your bike at didn't fit you?

doesn't matter. too late now. try this.

Retro Grouch 

Go for a ride with somebody that you trust.

Have him ride behind you and gradually raise your saddle until your hips start to rock side-to-side. Then lower it a bit till they stop rocking.

JNorm

They didn't put me on the saddle and measure me or anything like that. They did the basic, 'straddle the top tube and lift the bike' to make sure the frame was the proper size, but that was pretty much the extent of it

JNorm

@Retro: I'm assuming you mean stop and adjust the height right?

Alphonso

Holy crap!
That is in no way a bike fit.
Use a bike fit calculater as posted by Botto.

The next thing you have to do is tell yourself to never go back to that lbs!

JNorm

Ha ha. Yeah as I read topics around this forum I started to realize that maybe they forgot something Unfortunately it's in a really convenient location so thats where I go for my bike stuff... oh well. (It's a Goodales btw, I'm not sure if its a national chain or just local)

Yeah I'm going to use that calculator as soon as I can get someone to help me take the measurements.

Thanks everyone, I'm sure I'll have some more questions in coming days but I know just the place to go to get them answered

EDIT: Would the make of bike have any effect on posturing? I have a LeMonde and I was told that they design their bikes to have a straighter posture when you're riding as compared to some other brands

ttopaz

Only 200 miles from last summer?

JNorm

Give or take. I didn't have a ton of time/motivation to ride during the fall or spring because I was on the crew team and that was 6 days a week after school, and I live in NH so theres really no chance for winter riding.

However the college I'm going to in the fall is in the middle of nowhere with long rolling roads as far as the eye can see, so I plan on putting a lot more miles in

Retro Grouch 

Probably.

Do you happen to know one of those TDF mechanics who make those kinds of adjustments while leaning out of a van window?

JNorm

As a matter of fact...

Well you said to get someone I trust. You'd have to trust someone to fiddle with your saddle while you're on it

biker128pedal

Go with the link to determine the starting point for your fit. Then adjust from there. My seat height is about 5 mm lower than the recommended. The trained fit expert at the shop watched me ride and lowered it. Funny thing is the height she came up with was what I usually use.

Campag4life

Bicycle fit is a puzzle of sorts and saddle position is an integral piece...perhaps the centerpiece.
Rider CG is affected by front to back position relative to the pedals. As is turns out, setback affects seat height and visa versa. The most eloquent summation on the subject if looking for a distilled explanation is written by Peter White. Peter writes brilliantly about many of the inter-relationships and tradeoffs and dispells many myths. If you get really into it, you will begin to understand the complexity of it all...why KOPS is limited etc...predicated on a statistical norm of femur to tibia length etc.
Hope you enjoy the article and best of luck with your cycling:
https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/fitting.htm