Cycling UK Forum

I know I'm answering my own question but I would be interested in other peoples opinions or experiences of this.

After riidng all day last Sat 10.30-7.30 ( fairly hard but few stops and only short steep hills I then got up on Sunday and started out at 7.30 - once I'd raised the seatpost by about 5mm the aches and strains in my thigh muscles in particular seemed to ease.

This was on the same bike I rode on Sat -I've previously noticed that when I ride another bike on the day after a long ride its a bit more comfortable.

Has anyone else experience of the same thjing?

I presume its that I'm not using the same bits of my body that makes all the difference and believe me it did make adifference

I presume its that I'm not using the same bits of my body that makes all the difference and believe me it did make adifference

I dont think that is the case, I think that you just had the seat post too low to use the muscles in the right way, especially for climbing.

We can now put this to the test, if you get tired out with the post in its present position, you can lower it 5mm and see if things improve or feel worse. This is very much a case for when climbing, I find it makes no noticeable difference on the flats.

I do agree that 5mm or 1cm can make an enormous difference to how the thigh muscles feel.

When I get the saddle high enough it feels like I am "jogging" on the bike.

Get it the perfect height and put some electrical tape on the seatpost so if you swap saddles you know where its up to.

One thing is I must have long legs and short feet or something because I have it so its hard to pedal with my heels, which really most would say is a bit too high, but that's when it feels perfect and I get the jogging effect/feeling.

Thanks to both respondents, I tend to adjust t he saddle height by feel and err on the side of being too high -I definetly know when its too low but if its on the high side could I not potentially hurt myself if it was heightened too much?

Steve Hogg on saddles too high.....https://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/bikefit/2011/05/addendum-to-seat-height-how-hard-can-it-be-2/

Put simply, don't do it.
At high cadence, saddle too high is a real pain....see Mark's "magic bouncing butt" here....http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=73840&hilit=Mark&start=420
At low cadence "forcing the gear" all you have to do to get greater leg extension (for "more power") is to slide back in the saddle a bit if you set the saddle a bit low.