AuntieM

When seated, should your leg fully extend when pedalling? Mine doesn't & I feel the need to stretch my legs a lot.

webist

Generally, you want at least a slight angle at the bottom of your pedal stroke. I too like the stretch. By placing the pedals at 9 and 3 oclock, I stand, stretch the legs and relieve pressure on that part of me that contacts the seat.

freeranger

Depends on what type of riding you are doing-I'm guessing you're talking road or recreational street riding?
You should have a slight bend in your leg. If the seat is too high, you'll find you hips "rocking"-that's too high. An easy method to check is to put the heel of your foot on the pedal-when the pedal is all the way down, your leg should be straight. Then when the ball of your foot is on the pedal-it will have a slight bend. If it doesn't exactly hit it, it's at least a good starting point.

will dehne

We have three bikes. Racing bike, Hybrid and Tandem. I had experienced bikers advise me to lower my saddle to have more bend of the knee. My wife and I developed knee pain. We raised our saddle until we are just a little off the saddle when straight.
Result is no more knee pain for either of us. By the way, we are fairly active bikers with over 200 miles per week, every week.
The advise I got was not really wrong. These guys spin at up to 125 RPM. I cannot do that.

will dehne

We have three bikes. Racing bike, Hybrid and Tandem. I had experienced bikers advise me to lower my saddle to have more bend of the knee. My wife and I developed knee pain. We raised our saddle until we are just a little off the saddle when straight.
Result is no more knee pain for either of us. By the way, we are fairly active bikers with over 200 miles per week, every week.
The advise I got was not really wrong. These guys spin at up to 125 RPM. I cannot do that.

Scooper

Freeranger has it right. The attached is from an early seventies Schwinn Owner's Manual, but in spite of refinements in bicycle fitting techniques, proper saddle height hasn't changed.

michaelnel

Sheldon Brown advises "The only way to find out how much height is enough is to find out how much is too much", or words to that effect.

Raise your saddle a bit (5mm or so). Go for a ride. Pay attention to how it feels, especially watching for the point where your hips start to rock. If all feels OK, then raise it again and repeat.

At some point you will start to feel your hips rocking as you pedal. That's too high. Drop the saddle back down 5mm and you're done.

stapfam

That rocking means that you are too high, and I find the easiest way to set up a saddle height for me is to find that rocking height with the heels on the pedals. When I then pedal with the ball of the foot, It will be the right height. This is a combination of the above two postings, so I must be doing something right

GrannyGear

FWIW, let's make it more complicated....don't forget to factor in fore/aft position of your saddle. Traditionally, with the pedal at 9:00, the pedal axel and the "bony proturberance" just below your knee cap should line up perpendicular to the ground. But, like all fit rules, there's latitude for style of riding and individual body structure.

Just remember that a farther back saddle will give you slightly more leg extension and may make you want to creep forward onto the saddle's nose if your saddle is "too high".

This is is probably the most picayune post on this thread.