MTB Saddle Height

sherlok

For all those who ride road and mountain bikes: do you have the same saddle height on both?

smacl

sherlok wrote: »

For all those who ride road and mountain bikes: do you have the same saddle height on both?

Not big on MTBing, but the couple of times I've been out, those in the know raised their saddles for the climbs and lowered them on the descents.

Sinbad_NI

sherlok wrote: »

For all those who ride road and mountain bikes: do you have the same saddle height on both?

Where its all climbing uphill on fireroads or tarmac then yes I'd have the saddle up as per the road bike, then lower it for the single track desent.... and repeat.

In other places where the trails are on a pretty flat area I keep it just a little lower than the road bike (but not by much TBH).

Colonel Panic

Lowered for descents, "correct" height on fire roads and climbs, somewhere in between when I get fed up with all that.

I wish I had the funds for a dropper post when I want getting my MTB. It'll be my next upgrade!

Tomred13

Hi

i do alot of road and mtbing, while my rdbike is at optimal height i have my mtb set a few cm's lower, check the compeditive cyclist site for correct mtb saddle height. Nothing worse then having to lower saddle height on a spin, also this affects the stretch of the leg muscles and can bring on cramp and fatigue. personally ive never lowered saddles for decents. just get used to throwing your weightback and ass out..

Peterx

Same as TomRed I kept the saddle at one height but I only doing XC stuff.

For XC racing you find the highest seatpost height that you can manage to descend with - this will always be lower than your best height for climbing. The closer it is to your optimal seatpost height the more power you can put down on the climbs.
You can't usually have it as high as you would like as your centre of gravity and saddle will combine to make descending difficult so it is a balancing act which depends on how comfortable you are descending. Start lowish and keep bringing it up 5mm at a time until you get to the point where descending is impaired.

For downhill (I never downhilled so may be talking complete rubbish) low is good as you want to go fast and a lower centre of gravity helps.

The gravity dropper seatpost is popular for enduro riding but costs about €180 and makes the bike heavier - which would be bad for XC and fine for Downhill

mockerydawg

I use a Gravity dropper, and when comparing to a normal seatpost it is far heavier. But when on a bike, the difference is unnoticeable. The big advantage is not having to stop to lower the seatpost, so your ride only gets interrupted by hitting a tree. Highly recommended piece of kit!

.ak

mockerydawg wrote: »

I use a Gravity dropper, and when comparing to a normal seatpost it is far heavier. But when on a bike, the difference is unnoticeable. The big advantage is not having to stop to lower the seatpost, so your ride only gets interrupted by hitting a tree. Highly recommended piece of kit!

They're a bit pricey though, aren't they?

rizzodun

mockerydawg wrote: »

I use a Gravity dropper, and when comparing to a normal seatpost it is far heavier. But when on a bike, the difference is unnoticeable. The big advantage is not having to stop to lower the seatpost, so your ride only gets interrupted by hitting a tree. Highly recommended piece of kit!

Ha, I know the feeling!
I have mine slightly lower than my road bike, and only lower it going down long steep descents that are very rough, otherwise its ass out the back. Only ever got caught out once with my saddle height, going down a steep descent I clipped the back wheel off a rock causing the back end to jump up and the saddle to kick me over the handlebars.

mockerydawg

Not sure if I can link to it, but I am running the Multi position:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ie/en/gravity-dropper-turbo-lp-seatpost-multi/rp-prod108189

It allows you run full roadie height (madness in my mind), around a 1" drop or full drop. This is the first dropper I've used, so cannot comment on infinite adjustment some other brands offer. However I've been running it problem free for 2.5 years on 2 bikes, all year around conditions with absolutely no servicing and attention given to it. So like a normal seat post.

The idea for these is not for racing, if you are doing serious XC, learn to descend with a high saddle. If you are like the rest of us weekend warriors, this is a great upgrade.

In terms of price, I'd rather spend a premium on quality materials and build that I can fit and forget, instead of chancing something cheap and of questionable quality. The choice is yours....

Tenzor07

.ak wrote: »

They're a bit pricey though, aren't they?

Around the €250 mark..

For general riding prob not worth it, but if you like going down the steeper stuff it's definitely a great piece of kit to have...