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Seat Adjustments
Careful adjustment of the seat can make all the difference
in riding comfort. It is critical to provide an overall
proper fit between the rider and the bike. When you are
choosing a bike size, you should be able to straddle the
top tube and have adequate clearance (most experts say around
2 inches) when both your feet are on the ground. Make sure
you are wearing the shoes you will be using when you ride.
The next thing to do is to adjust the seat position, both
up and down and forward and backward. On a standard bike,
the height of the seat is determined by how deep the seatpost
is set into the seat tube on the bike. The tilt and left
and right positioning of the seat are controlled by the
clamp that holds the seat on the seat post. To adjust the
seat to the proper height, set the height such that when
a pedal reaches its lowest point, your knee is slightly
bent. For the fore and aft setting, sit on the seat and
pedal backwards until the cranks are horizontal. Then with
the ball of your foot placed over the center of the pedal,
a vertical line passing through the ball of your foot should
intersect your knee just in back of your kneecap. To adjust
the seat to this position, loosen the seat clamp and slide
the seat to the correct position. If adjustment doesn’t
work, then the seat on your bike is probably a poor fit
to your anatomy! Try a new seat.
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