Relatively new to the whole bicycling thing and have been road riding a couple months now (very low miles) and was out yesterday when this question came to mind.

The bike shop adjusted my seat height when I purchased it and to me it seemed fairly well placed. Although as I've been increasing my cadence, I'm wondering if it might be just a tad low. Essentially when I'm at my maximum, it feels a bit like I'm just barely coming off the seat. Not sure if that's standard or if I just need the seat a bit.

Summary: Fine at low cadence, perhaps not at high.

Thoughts? Need to head back to the shop soon anyway, so will of course ask those guys too.

I judge my seat height by how my knees feel. Tension over the kneecap -- too low; stretching feeling behind my knee -- too high.

I haven't yet figured out how to judge it by what my body does at high cadence. For now, I think that bouncing off the seat means it's too low.

I start to bounce at high cadence when I'm not properly "pedaling in a circle." I can get rid of it by focusing more on the scraping motion at the bottom of the stroke (like scraping mud off your shoe) and the opposite pushing motion at the top of the stroke. I find it difficult to do this on standard platform pedals though (feet slip off), so i'd suggest clipless pedals.

I don't know about the bike fit you received. There is the quick, ballpark type fit which pretty much involved a bike person "eyeballing" you riding position (Is the seat high enough? Do you look comfortable on the bike? - good enough). Quality of such a fit is dependent on the diligence and education of the fitter. Then there is the certified bike fit. This costs a tad more money and is usually worth every dime you paid. Consider the tens of thousand pedal strokes you will take over time. Imaging lower back pain with each stroke.

Here's a quick check you can use to determine if you are "in the ballpark" of a good fit. You can approximate good seat height by placing the heal of you shoe on the pedal in its lowest position. You should have a slight bend in the knee in this position. Also, with pedals at 3:00 and 9:00 positions, you should be able to drop a plumb line from the front of your kneecap through the pedal spindle.

One cause of bouncing at high cadence is low resistance. Try clicking up a gear or two. Consider smoother pedal stroke, as already mentioned.

For me, saddle height is like this: Have you heard of the method where you sit on the seat and put your heel right over the axle of the pedal, then back pedal? If you have the height set right your leg will straighten, but your hips wont rock. Well, I do that, but then raise the saddle like another 1/4" till my hips just start to rock. For me, thats the right height. I like to spin a lot and probably average about 95 rpm. Its really a subjective thing, but this is what works for me.