vintage city bikes....beauties

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I'd venture to say that those bikes were all ridden that way with the seats down low. These were bikes ridden by regular folks going to the store and work everyday. Likely none of them were into racing. I agree with Mimi.
Those people were probably shorter than us, wanted to put their feet down on the ground when they stopped at the corner, and were just pedaling around town on errands. They wanted to sit upright and be comfortable. They probably weren't riding long enough distances to experience knee pain due to low saddle position either. These were true utility bikes for regl'r folk.