by Mike Finlay

Created on: May 28, 2008

Whether you are looking to buy a new bike in the near future or want to get the most out of your current bike, seat height is one of the most important factors to get right from an early stage.

For the purposes of this article, we will assume that you are looking into adjusting or sizing up a road bike, cross-country or all-mountain mountain bike. If you ride anything else such as downhill, trials or dirt jumps then you can crank your seat down as low as possible and ignore the rest of this advice...!

Ideally, you should first be able to stand midway between the saddle and handle bars with one leg either side of your bike frame and around 2 inches clearance between the frame and your nether-regions. This is something to test when buying a bike and, I promise you, don't want to get wrong (especially important for the guys!).

Once you have the right frame size and style of bike for you and are raring to get going on your first ride, you need to adjust the seat to suit your leg length.

WHY? The human body has an optimum way of completing all tasks. To get the most speed and endurance out of your body, you need to use all muscles in the most efficient and effective way and the height of your seat is the most important factor in obtaining this from your bike.

Now seek out a bike stand or a friend of around the same weight as you or higher.
Position the rear wheel into the stand or get your friend to hold the handlebars of your bike in an upright position with you sat on the saddle. Now is the time to test your
friendship(!) as you lift both feet off the ground and place them onto the pedals of your bike. You need to now adjust the saddle (once you dismount) to a position where you can rotate each pedal to the very bottom of its stroke with only a 10 to 15 degree kink in your knees.

Adjusting the seat is a simple task that depends on the type of fitting supplied with your bike - either a quick-release lever must be pulled to allow the seat to be slid up or down to suit, or an allen-key bolt must be loosened (and re-tightened after adjustment).
Always ensure that you do not extend the seat post past the 'max' marking etched onto it to maintain a safe, rigid riding position. If you happen to have particularly long legs and find that it is impossible to adjust the seat high enough to obtain the optimum riding position, head to your local bike shop or browse the internet for extra long seat posts. These come in the same styles as regular posts but will give you the extra length need to suit you.

Once all of the above has been completed properly, it's time to grab your biking gear and head for the hills...!

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