Categories: Defining MomentsLa Vie VelominatusTechniqueTechnologyTradition

The Curse of Four Millimeters

This isn’t the height you’re looking for.

I don’t know how a guy who shows off the better part of a half meter of seat post comes to the conclusion that his saddle is too low, but that precise thought occupies an enormous amount of time. Ever closer looms the minimum insertion point on my seat pin, yet I am irrevocably bound to explore its limits.

I actually wish my legs were shorter; long legs are only useful for the anorexic models who distort our youth’s self-image and for skipping steps on staircases. At the same time, I’ve spent the majority of my life wondering if my seat post was slipping; has my saddle always felt this low? In previous years, I have known better; the question will claw its way into my mind, usually when I’m struggling on a climb, and I will look at the strip of tape I’ve stuck around my seat pin just above the clamp and note that it has not curled up due to the pin sliding through. The saddle is at the right height.

These days, I’m riding a fizik seat post and fizik seat posts come with this cool little sleeve to mark the height. It works perfectly, apart from the fact that it doesn’t curl up like the lowly electrical tape does; were the seat pin to slide, the sleeve would simply side with it. Which means I have to judge the distance between height demarcations on the post to decide if it’s slipped or not. It used to be higher; I’m climbing this badly because the saddle slipped down a bit.

These are easy lies we tell ourselves; that the lack of performance is borne of a problem in our setup – our position or our equipment. Merckx was famously obsessive about seat height, why shouldn’t I be? I just make a casually deliberate stop at the roadside, swiftly raise the saddle a bit, and stage a Cyclocross Remount – the only way a Cyclist should ever board their bicycle once the ride has begun.

But then I got better at judging the marks on the fizik post, and was sure it wasn’t sliding. But still my power was waning and surely it wasn’t my form because I’ve been riding like a thing that’s been riding a lot. Perhaps my position on the bike is evolving, perhaps I should reconsider my stem length and slide my saddle forward to get more over the bottom bracket. Except that I’ve ridden happily in roughly this position for years – and in roughly the same form.

Then came the rains; they had been lacking this Spring, almost to a fault. It had been several weeks or even a few months since I’d been astride my Nine Bike. I set off, and was struck instantly by how comfortable I was, how fluidly the pedals were spinning, and how easily I gobbled up the climbs. Was I peaking today instead of in the usual Two Months, or was there something more sinister going on? There was no question of longer stems and saddles sliding forward; I had the usual sensation that I was in my element, that I was born to be in this position on two wheels and that walking was a locomotion I was leaving behind in my short-lived evolution as a human being.

Knowing the geometries of the two bikes – #1 and The Nine Bike – are virtually identical, I decided to revisit the measurements on #1. I measured the Nine and checked them against #1; the only difference was that the saddle on the #1 had crept up a whopping 4mm. Four millimeters over a saddle height of of 830. I climbed aboard her and set off, amazed at how good she felt. Immediately the power was back, the inherent comfort of riding a bike returned.

All over a lousy 4mm.

Fellow Velominati: we are all students of La Vie Velominatus. We must look to the future and seek to evolve; to experiment with new positions, new techniques, and with new technology. But we must also look to the past and recognize what worked well, when did change affect how well we ride our bikes or how much we loved it? To recognize the boundary between the evolution within us as athletes and to adapt to what feels good over time and those that erode our capacity as riders can be difficult. Sometimes we need a Sensei to help us recognize the difference, other times it will come to us through solitary meditation.

Embrace change, but also keep it at a distance. We should always be ready to return to the past and rediscover what worked before and apply it to the chance we face in the future. Vive la Vie Velomiantus.

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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View Comments

frank says:

Jun 3 2014 at 11:42 am

@piwakawaka

Fit is a constant evolution, the fitter I have become over the last four years of training, my position has become higher at the saddle, lower at the front and longer, yes aero is everything, you go faster for the same energy.

Most importantly, you're more stable and have more leverage.

@antihero

There's a prevalent myth that raising one's bars and lowering one's saddle will make a bike more comfortable, leading to the prevalence of galaxy-class headtubes and spacer stacks on many bikes.

Sing it brother!
frank says:

Jun 3 2014 at 11:46 am

@Ron

I have a question - do you lads always like to be able to go foot down while seated in the saddle? Via some of the equations for seat height, I can barely touch on some of my bikes. Should you always be able to?

Worry about your extension while pedalling, not when putting your foot down standing still. We're Cyclists for Merckxs' sake, not statues!

In all seriousness, depending your your BB height this will be easier and harder on different bikes with the same bb-saddle distance.
Nate says:

Jun 3 2014 at 11:47 am

@frank

@Nate

@frank That fi'zi:k doughnut thing is like a valve stem cap: it serves no useful purpose, especially if you already mark your saddle height with tape. Please dispose of it.

Its a classy looking bit of kit and keeps water from running in there. Also it eliminates the need for tape...

That's not what your article says. See, I read it!

I often think my saddle is too low. When I raise the saddle my undercarriage tells me otherwise. On the other hand, my knees are not telling me my saddle is too low.

Your saddle is too low, which I mentioned to you in SFO. The undercarriage thing doesn't make sense to me unless you move it so high you can't touch your pedals...Maybe your hamstrings are inflexible?

Never trust positioning advice diagnosed over the internet.

Yes, you did mention that to me... My hamstrings could definitely benefit from some souplesse.
unversio says:

Jun 3 2014 at 11:48 am

@Mike_P

Saddles, or rather saddle height, angle and setback are my nemesis. Saddle sores have recently become a painful riding companion and I'm never convinced of my position, even though it's been checked and rechecked to be where it should be...

Question your saddle width and shape. More specifically confirm your sit-bones measurement. Ask about a semi-flat shape with 140mm to 150mm in width.
frank says:

Jun 3 2014 at 11:57 am

For once I'm glad no one reads the articles; my Merckx there were a lot of errors in that damn thing. Probably still are. Sorry about that, someone who can write should get involved with this site.
Nate says:

Jun 3 2014 at 12:05 pm

@frank The writing is fine, but maybe the editing is lacking?
Teocalli says:

Jun 3 2014 at 12:06 pm

@frank

someone who can write should get involved with this site.

Holy Merckx, next you will be wanting rational and sane people to contribute to it too.
scaler911 says:

Jun 3 2014 at 12:50 pm

@frank

For once I'm glad no one reads the articles; my Merckx there were a lot of errors in that damn thing. Probably still are. Sorry about that, someone who can write should get involved with this site.

Drunk writing again? I noticed a few, but didn't matter.
paolo says:

Jun 3 2014 at 12:59 pm

@frank

@Puffy

Hrmm. The illusive perfect fit. I felt pretty good 18months ago but wanted to make sure I wasn't builing up to an RSI so got said Retul witch doctor to check things out. Minor mods, too short and high a stem, seat too far back. Fast forward 18months and I have a case where my left quad & ITB ache/burn when the right is happy. For three or four months now I have not known what to do about it and done nothing. There is a "guru" by the name of Steve Hogg down south but he'll cost me just over $1k for the flights and fit. I've been thinking the cleats are to blame, should I get rid of the red and go back to yellow and I need shims? That's a lot of coin to drop to be told... "oh, your fit is fine".

So here I am, reading this article. I think I will take your advice, pull out the Retul fit chart and check #1 to make sure all is where it should be...

Also, it could be a stretching thing. I've had something similar and using a massage stick on my hammie fixed it for me, in addition to giving me loads of extra power (those things rule).

@Mike_P

@Frank These are sage words indeed, my friend. Saddles, or rather saddle height, angle and setback are my nemesis. Saddle sores have recently become a painful riding companion and I'm never convinced of my position, even though it's been checked and rechecked to be where it should be, to have me back to that comfortable feeling you expressed so well. I may well be over-thinking it, but right now, it's a pain in the proverbial. Time to get right back to basics, maybe.

Are the saddle sores new? I hate to even ask but you're washing your bibs every time you ride, right? Your fit shouldn't necessarily be causing those - that would seem more like a saddle/shorts/ass compatibility matter.

All things being equal and your hygiene being what it should be, saddle sores can be caused by chaffing from the slight rocking motion of pedaling if your seat is set slightly too high. It ain't necessarily so, but it could be. Which is what I believe Nate was also alluding to earlier.
PeakInTwoYears says:

Jun 3 2014 at 1:10 pm

@scaler911

@frank

For once I'm glad no one reads the articles; my Merckx there were a lot of errors in that damn thing. Probably still are. Sorry about that, someone who can write should get involved with this site.

Drunk writing again? I noticed a few, but didn't matter.

"Overuse of semicolons throughout." Ha ha ha.

Will edit for a signed copy of The Rules...