My seat height

I took my bike to REI to have the computer installed today, and the guys were nice enough to tweak a few other things on it that needed tweaking. Then (at my request) one of them watched me ride and determined that the seat was fine, but the handlebars needed raising -- and wow! What a difference! I can't wait to go out and ride tomorrow morning and experience the new ride, plus finally see how slow I'm going, etc.

But.

Here's my prob.

Every time he motioned me to come back over to him so he could check something, I'd pull up along the curb so I could rest my right foot on it. This is my preferred way to stop. (I know, I need to break that habit, I guess, and learn how to do it right.)

But!

It wasn't until I was driving home that I realized -- when I was at my gynecologist and she mentioned that she fell over once waiting for a race to start, because she said, "You know how you balance on your tiptoes, well, I just lost my balance and felt like such a dork."

And when I first told the guy I wanted him to watch me ride because I wanted to make sure everything was adjusted right, since I have trouble (gads!) stopping without falling. Exaggeration, so I laughed, but he laughed harder and said, "Well, everybody does when they're first starting out. It's because your seat is so high you're balancing on your tiptoes and it's a hard thing to get used to."

But I guess he didn't notice because of me using the curb -- my tiptoes don't touch the ground when I'm on my seat. The only way I can touch even a tiptoe to the ground is to come completely off the seat and drop down to reach.

Is this normal for some people?

Because when I'm pedaling, it's clear that the seat needs to be that high for my long legs to stretch, but then they don't reach the ground when I'm stopped.

Help!

No way can I get a foot on the ground while sitting on my road bike. The geometry of the frame is just wrong and, plus, if you have small feet you don't have as much reach when pointing your toes. Staying on the saddle only works on some bikes (like Townies) and the saddle height for riding (as opposed to feet touching the ground) is the priority.

Get off the seat when stopping and starting.

I would say I almost never use the curb on the right hand side of the road when stopping because it puts the rider in the wrong place at the wrong time and sooner or later a car will turn right when you're going straight.

There are 2 factors involved in the seat-to-ground distance. One is seatpost height, which should put you right with the pedals. The other is bottom bracket height. If your bike has a high bottom bracket, it may well be that your tiptoes won't touch comfortably when on the saddle. That's OK. You may be perfectly fitted to 2 different bikes and the two provide different saddle-to-ground distances. Don't adjust your saddle based on ground distance. You should learn to dismount by standing on one pedal and stepping to the ground with the other. A high BB is good in that you can peddle through corners without worry of striking a pedal on the ground.

Pooks,

I until about a week ago had the same problem as you, I couldn't touch the ground with my toes when sat on the saddle on any of my bikes. Not such a big deal on the roadie but a problem on the MTB, especially doing starts after dabbing on technical climbs.

As part of a wider investigation into my bike fit due to some back problems I've had I noticed that I had my cleats as far forward on my shoe as they would go - this meant I had to put my saddle up quite high to allow full extension of my leg, I pedalled very very toe down. Its only because I got a side on picture of me pedalling on a bike that I realised how toe down it was. The toe down pedalling has also made my calves unbelievably tight which was another reason for the change.

Anyhow, a bit of research later (expecially on the www.cyclingnews.com form and fitness QA) and I have moved the cleats right back. This felt odd at first, however it meant I had to lower the saddle (and move it back a bit on the roadie) as I didn't need to extend my toes. I have a much smoother spin and am engaging all my muscles (hamstrings and glutes are currently complaining about it as I don't think they've been doing much for a while) but the best side effect is that I can now touch the ground with my toes!!

Maybe worth looking at your shoes and/or getting a picture of you riding to see if your toe down?

Thanks -- this all helps, especially the explanation of how different bikes can fit. It's one reason why I hated ordering a bike on the internet. I'd have probably chosen one with a lower BB if I'd had that knowledge/experience.

OTOH, I love my shaft drive bike, and I really just needed assurance that there was nothing wrong. I wondered if the tires were too big or the frame too big (which seemed unlikely since it's a 17" and I'm 5'8") and now I know it's fine.

I don't use cleats yet.