Steve Hogg is the master wizard of real world fit, IMHO. His use of a goniometer to measure leg angle and thus determine saddle height has worked for me. My local shop has one, so they set the height on the two bikes I ride the most. I then measured from crank center, in parallel to the seat tube, to top of saddle. With each bike setup that way, all is good.
Using The Fit KIt at a shop, I had my PBH measured. The Fit KIt uses foot length to determine a saddle height range. The range given was spot on with what the goniometer showed. All has been good for years on a variety of bikes with my saddle set to the proper height using cycles shoes with cleats, both SPD and SL systems. Ever since developing knee issues last fall, I started getting pain at the left sit bone, the insertion point of the hamstring. I stretched a lot and iced after rides, which helped. But, the more climbing I did (pretty hilly area, can't avoid), the worse the symptom became. Then just a few weeks ago, I stopped by another town to see a friend and he said lets go ride. He setup his spare bike just eye-balling the saddle height to my hip. Amazingly, the ride was pain free. I wondered if it was the Brooks saddle or saddle height. After the ride, I measured the crank center to top of saddle height - easily a half inch lower than my "ideal" saddle height. Next ride at home I lowered the saddle on my CX bike, did a 24 mile 2,400' climbing route and voila, no sit bone pain! I later talked with a friend's daughter that is a sports med practitioner. She said what I had is much like tendonitis - the sheath around the muscle and attaching ligaments become inflamed. Stretch, ice and rest will alleviate the problem in a few weeks. Not to mention lowering the saddle! The lesson shows there is an ideal saddle height that works when things are ideal. Then there is real world saddle height when your body says change is needed by shouting at you via pain point. Adjust as needed. Cheers, Bill in Roswell, GA sitting comfortably on the bike On Saturday, July 29, 2017 at 7:23:01 PM UTC-4, Christopher Cote wrote: > > Oh, and this article mentions the tilted hip thing: > https://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/bikefit/2011/11/knee-pain/ > > Chris > > > On Saturday, July 29, 2017 at 7:20:50 PM UTC-4, Christopher Cote wrote: >> >> I'm curious how many here find that Grant's "rule" about saddle height >> being 10-11cm lower than PBH to be true for them. My PBH is 86cm and for >> the longest time, ran my saddle at 75cm from the center of the cranks. >> Lately, I switched from clipless pedals to flats, and now that the weather >> is warm, I have been riding in Bedrock Sandals. Because the soles are so >> thin, I had to lower my saddle a bit. I've also been dealing with some knee >> pain and came across these articles: >> https://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/blog/2011/02/seat-height-how-hard-can-it-be/ >> and >> >> https://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/bikefit/2011/05/addendum-to-seat-height-how-hard-can-it-be-2/. >> >> I think a lot of what he says is going on for me: knee and back pain, >> tilted hips, pedaling toes-down, etc. I went for a ride this morning and >> stopped to lower my saddle a few times. No new knee pain (same as before), >> and now I feel like I can pedal with a more level foot. My legs are still >> pretty far extended at the bottom of the stroke, and I can't reach them at >> the bottom with my heels (another possibly flawed guide for setting saddle >> height). When I got home I measured the saddle height at 73cm. I know the >> Bedrock sandals are thin, but I doubt they're 2cm thinner than my clipless >> pedals and shoe combo. Maybe the additional sole flex makes them >> effectively even thinner? >> >> Chris >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
