Seat Height on Mountain Bike

[mpowers]

Hey there,

Do you guys find yourself lowering the seat on your Mountain Bike more than your Road Bike. I love a tall seat on the road, but I about kill myself that high on the trails at wilson. I'm no trail rider just starting to fall in love with it and was wondering...... I lowered mine today and it seemed alot better although seated climbs blew my thighs up. LOL

Those trails at Wilson are just about AWESOME!

Mark

[Shad]

I keep all of my bike seat heights the same (road/mountain/cross). All of the current literature out there suggests 25-35 degrees of knee bend when you're at the bottom of your pedal stroke. This is measured during normal cycling which takes into account having your ankle flexed (or not) during your down stroke. This is completely from an efficiency standpoint though. If you can't handle the bike because the seat is to high, you've got another problem. You could always try something like this

http://crankbrothers.com/seatposts_joplinr.php

With a movable seat post you get the best of both worlds, efficiency on the ups, and control on the downs. There are a number of these types of posts out there for varying $$.

[skc]

Hi Mark!

I am glad I saw your name on the sign up sheet at Wilson, as I was debating whether you were a legit user signing up to use the forum!

Listen to what Shad has to say for seat height. He has put alot of research into things like that..for his personal performance and his schooling..and is he ever a good athlete on the bike!

I also keep the same seat height on road/mountain/recumbent/cross bikes. I see many people overextended on their road bikes. Some people know they are and do it out of preference. And some people don't know they are overextended. On the mountain bike trails, and especially Wilson with alot of climb and descent, you need to make sure you have that proper bend in the leg so you get good power for those climbs! Most of the descents, you want to make sure you have your rear off the saddle and over the back wheel to keep good control of the bike and back wheel.....so you don't want a saddle so high you can't get off the back of it!

Have you rode the trails since we had the trail build day? What do you think of the super sweet new mile addition to the Hell Creek Loop?!

sk

[mpowers]

Yeah, that's where it gets me on the downs, darn near stabbs me in the gut. This could be a sign that my gut is gettin too big tho.... I did see a pretty cool post at rasebike dotcom but too expensive for an experiment!

I haven't made the new Hell Creek Mile yet but it wont be long and I'll be out there again!

btw my new trainer I got from ya is WAY cool, wish I would've got it earlier in the winter, i couldve of been so much better off when spring hit... always next winter tho...

Have fun at the races!

[skc]

Hi Mark!

yep, when you understand what those trainers really do for you if you work them right, you will appreciate them more!! Hah, Next winter, it will help you keep that gut slim and trim! Well, and there are still those rainy and super windy spring days left to keep working out on it!

The April races are going well. Working on getting the body recovered for the 600k on the 17th. I would love to do a 24 hour or less time on it. Hopefully my perfomance for it will be better that the 200 miler at Heart of the South, Alabama. Of course, there will be significantly less climbing!! that always helps!

Enjoy the trails this spring. It will be June before I will see the dirt path again (two more ultra races in May, the last on is the biggie.....Kansas West to East, 424 miles, hopefully a 27-28 hour crossing time!)!

SK