There’s no shortage of ‘old school’ methods for seat height: the ‘Holmes method’, ‘Lemond method’, armpit on the saddle and fingertips to the centre of crank, and so on. Once you have your three measurements, it’s time to get started. How to get the perfect saddle height on your bike I recommend documenting to the nearest 1/10 th of a degree.

Place a piece of board over the seat and use your smartphone or inclinometer to find the overall seat tilt.ĭouble-check to see if your bike was level before you started. Thomas McDaniel / Immediate Mediaīecause many seats have contours, the best way to get consistent measurements is to measure the overall seat tilt. Measuring saddle tilt with a clipboard provides an overall angle, eliminating any deviations due to saddle contours – smartphones work great for this, too, but make sure your bike is level. It doesn’t account for the differences between seats because there is no such measurement, but it does allow you to measure any saddle accurately, and that’s a great starting point. The foundation for this measurement system is to eliminate saddle-specific features. It will come in handy in the future, especially if you find any changes you have made aren’t working for you – with your old position noted, you can go back to your starting point quickly. It’s good practice to document your starting position before doing anything. There are several ways to measure these, but the methods described below allow anybody with a tape measure and a smartphone to accomplish this task. The three critical measurements to consider are saddle height, fore/aft, and tilt. Let’s begin by determining where your bike seat is now by taking a couple of measurements so you can learn from the changes you make, and what the difference is between a good seat position, a better position and the best position possible. Getting your saddle height right will ensure you have a comfortable, efficient and controlled ride.

Full tilt bicycle