I strained a muscle somewhere in my hip/lower back recently, and it's been a slow recovery. As it's gotten close to normal I've discovered that some of my bikes aggravate the injured area more than others. After careful measurement, I narrowed it down to saddle height. While I had intended to have all the bikes setup the same, it turned out there was some variation (about 1/2 inch) in the saddle height. The bike with the lowest saddle height caused the least strain on my hip/back.

Soooo..... Once things are back to normal, how should I interpret this?

A) The lower saddle height is best because it was most comfortable during recovery.

or

B) The higher saddle heigh is best because it is engaging more muscle groups.

FWIW, I'm not 100% certain but I think the injury came about from overdoing it on the leg press in the gym rather than by anything on the bike.

I don't think that the lowering of the saddle that helped. It's most probably the saddle to handlebar drop and/or saddle to handlebar reach. Bending/Reaching less = less stretching of back muscle. You need to precisely measure the drop/reach on both bikes to confirm this.

If the saddle on the other bikes is too high, then the bike with the lowest saddle height is just right.

I suggest you just right whatever you're comfortable on for now, and see a doctor, physical therapist, or chiropractor about that injury.

The bike with the lowest saddle also happened to have the most drop from saddle to bars. After I noticed the difference, I lowered the saddle on two other bikes and in both cases it helped. The specific issue I've been working through is something that only surfaces in particular circumstance, most noteably climbing, where my glutes are being engaged.

Lowering the saddle will also move the saddle forward. Sliding the saddle forward will take less of a load off your glutes and more on your quads. This could be another angle to look at. Maybe your injury is in that specific area and not the back.

From my experience back strains/light tears are very painful. Getting off the bed or couch could be quite a challenge. Usually heals in about 3-5 days of rest.

Yeah, between the saddle/seatpost/bars and the hip/back/glute there are a ridiculous number of variables here. I've kind of given up figuring out exactly what muscle is injured. The pain from the injury tends to move around. Sometimes it's in my lower back. Sometimes it's in my hip. Rarely it even hurts my inner thigh. I just know something in that system wasn't happy.

I went to a chiropractor and he suggested that I work on strengthening my hip adductor muscles, so I've been doing that. The problem is mostly gone at this point. Now I'm just trying to figure out if I can glean some information about the bike setup from this experience.

If you are interested in learning bike fit here is a guide. There are many other similar sites. Articles by Steve Hogg is also very informative.

https://bikedynamics.co.uk/guidelines.htm

The lower you set the saddle, the more your knee is bent at the top of the pedal circle.
The effect on the knee is as if you went to longer cranks.
If it doesn't cause a problem, then go for it, but I like my saddle as high as I can go w/o causing rocking of the pelvis.

I strained a side glute thingy swinging a leg over my bike once; straddling the top tube or riding I was fine, but very difficult to get on/off, or do anything once off the bike other than lie down. Couldn't sit.

Lots of stretching fixed it. Lower saddle would have made mounting the bike easier but not much else. Maybe this has nothing do w/ your situation, but in general more stretching fixes all my back ills.

I couldn't stretch more if they brought back the Spanish Inquisition (which, of course, I don't expect). My official self-diagnosis is that I'm suffering from Old Man Syndrome. I got a foam roller a few weeks ago, and I'm loving that.

They never do.

andy_k.

Lowering the saddle will reduce back pain(it's probably too high),and it will use more of your leg muscles,also you will go faster.I used to have the saddle high.You look at the pros ,they have the seat quite low