How high should my saddle be above the bars? And do I measure above the elbow pads or the stem? Right now I have my saddle about 5cm above the elbow pads.
I realize that I need to still consider other angle measurements (elbow bend, back, etc.), but right now I am wondering about the height of saddle to handle bar comparison.
every rider will be different, as your riding style, body measurements, comfort, age, flexibility and type of event dictates your position
FWIW, I have a 130mm drop form the top of my saddle to the elbow cups
Tri bike or road bike? What is your height? As Gary mentions there are also a lot of individual factors to consider.
If in doubt, always go with the slightly lower (saddle) position.
I’m not so sure if I agree with going with the slightly “lower” position as being safer. I ended up with patellar tendonitis as a result of having my saddle too low (combined with pointing my toes down a bit too much) and it has taken me 3 months now to recover. If your saddle is too high you’ll get pain in the tendons in the back of the knee…too low and the front of the knee will hurt. If it’s too high, you’ll also find yourself rocking your hips to compensate, which is fairly easy to detect. Having your seat too low like I did…no warning signs and then sudden stabbing pain in the kneecaps. If in any doubt, find a good shop and get fit!
I’m pretty sure I can get my saddle height just right. I can also work the angles on my elbows and torso pretty well. There are quite a few other adjustments that I need to tinker with, but I wanted to start off with some known (if any) formula for height of seat to bullhorn or pads (it is a triathlon bike with 78 degree angle).
You can’t do this properly without a bike fit! I have a huge drop from saddle to elbow pads of 17.5cm. BUT…my back is not even close to being flat. I’m 6-3 with very long arms and legs and very short torso. Put this all together, including a bunch of broken bones in the back, 5cm in front of the bb…and you get a very wierd position. I’m sure the regular ST’ers would chew me up and spit me out if they ever saw my bike position. But its still fast, one of the best bikers in my age group as well as a top 5% OA, and very compfortable for an old guy (50).
Do yourself a favor and go to a local bike shop!!
One day I may pay someone to fit me and I’m sure it will be worth every penny, but right now I’m too cheap. I do it myself on the trainer, my GF takes measurements and angles and digital pictures. I then tinker with it for a long time and I usually end up with a comfortable position that is aero but probably not optimal. I am constantly looking for input, but I have found that even with FIST there are suggested positions and not all work for everybody (height, frame dimensions in particular top tube lenght, etc). I also have back problems (two compressed discs) which prevent me from dropping my bars too low.
Here’s JohnA’s totally screwed up rule of thumb for measuring your drop.
Set the saddle height so it is comfortable - there are tons of formulas out there, I tried the Lemond approach before I was fit. Measure to a spot maybe 3-4 inches behind the tip of the saddle - or to wherever your taint will be when you are riding aero.
Once this is done, set the saddle to dead level, and head out on the road. Move from your base bars to your aero bars under power - like 20 MPH or so. While you are doing this you should feel balanced, with most of your weight on the saddle, and you should be able to smoothly get in the aero bars. After each itertion, lower the front end until you lose the sensation of a smooth, controlled drop to the aero bars, then go back one step.
I know, this sounds like complete bullshit, but I have dinked around with my position a billion times - tilting the saddle down, lowering the front - just trying to get lower and more aero, and every time I end of coming back to a dead level saddle and the drop recommended by my fitter - which also happens to be the lowest point I can get while still feeling like I am in control while moving in and out of my aero bars under power.