Pointy toes?

[soprano]

Newbie/lurker here, with perhaps a silly question.

I got a new hybrid back in March and started biking instead of driving almost everywhere in town. I ride about 60-80 miles a week. Over time, I've been raising the seatpost bit by bit as I've become more comfortable on the bike. Right now it is right at the minimum insert mark. This was OK until I put clipless pedals on the bike, but now I feel like I want a bit more length.

If I just sit on the bike with my foot flat, when I reach the bottom of the pedal stroke my leg is straight. However, when I'm riding I tend to point my toes. This effectively makes my leg longer, so my knee doesn't get to straighten out so much.

I'm trying to figure out if I should try a longer seatpost, or learn to point my toes less. Or maybe I'm just thinking about it too much? I live in a super hilly area, so I'm always trying to make things easier - perhaps I'm going overboard?

[indigoiis]

I'm fairly new to this, so don't take my word as gospel and wait for others' to chime in. But, my understanding is that the leg should not be totally straight when the pedal is down. The knee should be slightly bent.

Your best bet is to get a bike fit.

Here's some web articles too, to get you reading while you're waiting for your fit appointment.

http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/fitting.htm

http://www.jimlangley.net/crank/bikefit.html

http://www.cyclemetrics.com/Pages/Do...t_formulas.htm

Tweaking is good, but if you're tweaking and tweaking, the bike doesn't fit you, probably. It was amazing to me when I tried two different brand bikes of the same size, and one "fit" - it felt right - the other didn't.

[Grog]

First, welcome to TE.

Second, as Indigoiis says, you should not have your leg totally straight. I have to add: you shouldn't be pointing your toes either. That's "ankle pedalling," and it's not very efficient, and may hurt you in the long run.

Think about scraping gum from underneath the soles of your shoes when you pedal. That might help... Your heels should not be significantly higher than your toes... Think of your hips as you pedal, that's where the movement should be coming from. On hills, it's especially effective.

Why exactly do you keep on wanting to raise the saddle?

[aicabsolut]

Grog said it well.

Everyone has a slightly different riding style. I tend to drop my heels more than average, and of course there are people who ride a bit more toe-down. The general rule of thumb is that at 6 o'clock with your foot in a neutral to flat position (with clipless pedals this can be slightly heel up), you want around a 30-35 degree angle in your knee. Those who have more heel drop will want to have the knee less straight under this test, because on the road, the extra drop in heel will straighten the knee more. Some people who ride more toe down may want less or else they'll feel like they're bottoming out on the pedal stroke too early.

There are still extremes that should be avoided, and it sounds like you're getting there. When your saddle is too high, despite your ankling style, you will start to rock your hips on the saddle to be able to reach the pedals instead of sitting squarely on your sitbones. You may also find that you're losing power, particularly on those hills. Finally, you are putting yourself at risk for injury from hyperextending the knee.

Your saddle position should maximize comfort and power output. This can vary a little bit with terrain. For example, I will raise my seat a couple of millimeters when I'm doing a lot of flat riding to make it easier to enlist all the muscles in my legs evenly, since I will be in the same position for most of the ride and not dropping my heels as much. Still, that is only a couple millimeters different from when I am doing some climbing.

What has prompted you to continue raising the saddle?

[soprano]

What has prompted you to continue raising the saddle?

When I got the new bike in March, I hadn't done any significant riding in about 6 years; mostly before that I'd lived in a rural area and never really had to deal with cars. Now I live in an urban area with lots of stop-and-go traffic. I had the saddle much lower at first so I could easily put both feet down. As I've become more confident and regained better balance skills I've been able to move the saddle up. Guess it's time to stop!

Nice to hear that I'm just out-thinking things (as usual). The bike is quite comfy otherwise.