Adjusting the seat on your road bike to its proper height is vital to optimize your riding experience. The wrong seat height can force you to work harder and expend unnecessary energy. It can also cause discomfort and make your ride less than enjoyable. Foremost, be sure your bicycle's frame size is appropriate for your height, otherwise a properly adjusted seat won't do you much good.
Performance Factors
Finding the proper seat height on your road bike directly relates to your pedaling performance. Seats that are too low cause you to pedal harder than needed and waste energy. This type of improper form can also cause strain on your knee and ankle joints, cycling expert Jim Langley warns on his website. Seats that are too high make it difficult to complete pedaling rotations and cause you to rock your hips from side to side in an effort to reach down far enough with your feet. The rocking motion can also cause you to become unbalanced, further affecting your overall riding performance.
Proper Form
A properly adjusted seat on a road bike can make riding seem nearly effortless. The pedaling motion should be smooth and natural since the seat's height is customized to complement your legs' full range of motion. Your hips remain stationary while pedaling, which helps stabilize your center of gravity. The legs should be fully extended at the bottom of their pedaling strokes, with only a slight angle in your legs. Your toes should be able to dip down below your heel while rotating through the bottom of the stroke. This helps produce a more powerful stroke by engaging your calf muscles.
Fitting
Road bikes that have clip-less pedals --- pedals designed for normal athletic shoes --- require a different seat adjustment than road bikes with clip pedals. The difference is minuscule to the eyes, but significant in the way it can affect your riding performance. Wear the shoes you would normally wear when riding your bike and sit on the bike while it is supported in a trainer. If you don't have a trainer, position the bike in a doorway so you can support yourself with one arm when sitting on it. Determine if the seat needs to come up or down, then get off the bike and adjust incrementally. Repeat this sequence until your leg is completely extended on the bottom stroke. If you have clip-less pedals, shorten the height by 3 millimeters to adjust for the difference between athletic shoes and clip shoes, the Colorado Cyclist website suggests. Mark the seat post where it inserts into the frame with some tape or a marker. This way you don't have to repeat the entire fitting process again if the seat shifts in the future.
Experiement
Once you believe you've found the optimal seat height, take your bike on the road and test it out. You can determine for yourself if the pedaling motion is more effective. A new pedaling motion range will take some time to get used to, so don't critique too harshly based on how it feels. Rather, pay attention to your form and recognize whether your legs are extending fully on the downward stroke. If they are, you should notice all of your major leg muscles engaging more equally.
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