#115: saddle height…
I don’t know how I evolved to this, but it looks like I have been riding with a low seat height for a quite a while. I know that when I got my Kuota last April, I adjusted it to match my Trek (at least I believe…). Anyway, my new Felt FC and my Kuota before that were setup with a seat height of approximately 31.5 inches (80.0 cm). My inseam to the floor is 35.5″ (90.2 cm).
Since I was setting up a TT bike for the first time (see post #114), I decided to stop by RB’s and get a bike fit… After setting up the trainer…he looked at my knee angle and adjusted my saddle to 34″ (86.4 cm). That number is exactly the classic 96% number (90.2 cm * 0.96 = 86.6 cm) that is used for a starting point.
So, I left my TT bike as adjusted and when i got home I took a look at my Felt. As mentioned before, I had a seat height of 80 cm… I was able to adjust it up 20mm. Andrea helped me adjust the seat fore-aft using a plumb. I was also significantly behind the pedal spindle (pedal at 3 o’clock, plumb bob from my knee). I ended up moving from about 4 cm behind the axle to about 1 cm. It was a drastic change, but I decided to go with it since it was so far off the mark. (And it is as far as I can extend my seat post safely.. if I want to go further I will need a 40 cm post.. which might be a good idea anyway since the Felt carbon seatpost is a hassle to adjust…
I rode RB’s ride into spring (75 miles) in the early spring chill.. It was high 40’s and generally miserable this morning. Andrea and I started out in the lead group, but stopped in Arlington for the rest room. The group didn’t stop, so we rode trading pulls out to the 35 mile sag stop outside Brighton. Just after we got there the 2nd group showed up.. we ended up riding back with them. About half way back, Andrea wanted to a do a long interval and I rode off with her just ahead of me. I felt pretty good following (a testament to the saddle height fix…maybe). A bit later, I also put in a good effort up the rollers on Memphis-Arlington… all-in-all I like the new position… higher and more forward, but definitely better.
Tomorrow is another long ride with about 75 miles on offer riding from Germantown to mid-town to Shelby Forest and back.
