Vent: Rode 3 years without realizing my seat was too low

Last weekend I did the Kettle Valley Railway trail near Myra Canyon... gorgeous ride but my knees were screaming by the halfway point. I passed a guy on a gravel bike who mentioned my pedal stroke looked 'crunchy' which I thought was just a me thing. Got home and actually measured from my saddle to pedal at the bottom... I was running 4cm too low the whole time. I just always assumed that's how it felt because I'm short and never bothered to look up proper fit. All those years of thinking biking just hurt your knees... nope, it was just me being lazy about adjustments. Anyone else have a basic setup thing you ignored for way too long?

2 comments

2 Comments

barbaraschmidt1mo ago

Wait, did your friend end up having a similar revelation after years of riding wrong? Cause my buddy Mike just went through this exact thing last summer. He was complaining about how his hands went numb on every long ride, like for two whole seasons. Turns out his handlebars were tilted way too far down and his reach was all off, he just figured everyone's hands fell asleep after 30 miles lol. He fixed it with like a 5 minute adjustment and suddenly he could ride for hours no problem. I swear half of bike misery is just people not wanting to look up how stuff should actually fit.

logantaylor1mo ago

Hang on though, Mike might still have some issues. Numb hands can also be from putting too much weight on them, not just handlebar angle. Did he check his saddle position too? Still cool that a quick fix helped him that much though.