The Saddle and Your Butt

THE WARNING.Firstly, the information here is just that, don't go rushing out to your bike and risk injuring yourself by moving your seat post up or down or both - for the more particular of you, you will end up with a scratched seat post to upset you before you get as far as the risk of injury a maladjusted Saddle Height can bring.

The purpose of the information here is more to raise general awareness rather than be prescriptive, the advice as always is to make sure your bike fits you as best it can.

The interface which takes the majority of your contact with your beloved bike is the saddle and it just happens to make that contact with (normally) the most sensitive part of your anatomy to remain in contact with your bike...

So what choices do you have with your saddle?

• Up and Down
• Forwards and Backwards
• Nose higher or Lower (tilt)

Part 1

Up and down

This is often the most simple and therefore commonly altered part of the bike geometry, with everyone knowing an expert who has guided them in to the 'correct' height. 

With what I see in the fitting studio, bikes with saddle heights too low by far out weigh the number of bikes with saddles that are too high.

Not hugely surprising given the need to reach the pedals and the insecure sensation of sitting too high.

So why bother getting it right?

Well perhaps we could consider

• To reduce the risk of injury 
• To increase comfort
• To maximise efficiency

The height of your saddle has a large impact on the ranges of motion that the Hip, Knee and Ankle joints move through during the pedalling cycle and given that this is repeated more than once per second for the average Cyclist for hours on end it is to be expected that this is important to get right. 

Due to the anatomy of the lower limb, the knee is the joint most often presenting with pain and injury, with large muscle groups conveying their power through the patella (knee cap) and down onto the Tibial Tuberosity, combined with the common predominance of Quadricep biased cycling (another time) the knee is often put through some real stress!

What does that mean to the rider and his/her saddle

• Too Low
• the knee will be forced to move to far in front of the foot at points in the pedal rotation, leading to additional unwanted stress and risk of injury.
• the knee may be forced from a simple path of up and down to a potentially torturous motion looking like an orbiting planet as it moves through the pedal cycle including unwanted rotation and sheering stresses.

• Too High
• the rider will have to rock excessively from side to side to reach the pedals.
• the Knee may not suffer too greatly here, but the inner thigh may become sore as it is forced to rub against the side of the saddle.
• the spine has to rotate as the leg reaches to complete the bottom of each pedal cycle.
• this can indirectly lead to knee irritation via the iliotibialband becoming tight and leading to the patella shearing.(again something for another time)

So with just minimal examples of issues caused by incorrect saddle height from the plethora out there it would seem the 'Goldilocks' approach of not too high and not too low is the key...

To find out what is 'just right' for you visit our Retul Certified Fitting Studio

To add further complication (fun) to the mix, the actual saddle height will often benefit from being altered to suit the riding discipline, for example

• Mountain Bike
• Road Bike, flat riding
• Road Bike, climbing
• Time Trial Bike

The Mountain Bike, speaks for itself, as the saddle can serve to hinder some riders. The other three simple examples perhaps less so, but nonetheless there is much information available to suggest that at least some of the data is relevant.

As the rider moves forward or backward on the saddle, the relative distance to the bottom bracket alters and this leads to a difference effective saddle height, but more of this next time.

Any Questions or to discuss a fit for you visit Dean Taylor @ Fit Me Up 

or call us here in Hertford on 01992 507901