Do your toes touch the ground?

[Pale Rider]

I've got really bad balance (legacy of a herniated disc a few years ago) and if I can't touch the ground after stopping I'm prone to toppling over.

Sarah,

If you really get into ebiking, Dutch maker Gazelle has the answer.

Full leg extension and feet flat on the ground:

http://www.electricbikesales.co.uk/...gazelle/gazelle-balance-innergy/prod_763.html

They used to make the Balance bike as an ordinary push bike, but stopped doing so which I think reflects the popularity of ebikes in Holland.

 

[Sara_H]

Sarah,

If you really get into ebiking, Dutch maker Gazelle has the answer.

Full leg extension and feet flat on the ground:

http://www.electricbikesales.co.uk/...gazelle/gazelle-balance-innergy/prod_763.html

They used to make the Balance bike as an ordinary push bike, but stopped doing so which I think reflects the popularity of ebikes in Holland.

I got a Woosh Santana which is quite comfortable. Still getting used to it at the mo, I don't always stop as quickly as I think I'm going to and come to a halt with both toes dragging along the road!

 

[Pale Rider]

I don't always stop as quickly as I think I'm going to and come to a halt with both toes dragging along the road!

Ebikes are heavy and can take a bit of stopping.

There's a cable disc on the front of the Sant Ana I think.

Cable discs seem more prone to glazing than hydraulic ones.

A good tip is to smear some dirt on the disc and use the brake as normal.

 

[Sara_H]

Ebikes are heavy and can take a bit of stopping.

There's a cable disc on the front of the Sant Ana I think.

Cable discs seem more prone to glazing than hydraulic ones.

A good tip is to smear some dirt on the disc and use the brake as normal.

TBH, though I'm generally delighted with the bike and it's given me back my freedom - it's obviously at the very budget end of things. The bike is very "noisy", lots of rattling and clanking (the OH says the rear mudguard wobbles about all over when I'm riding), and I don't think the gears and brakes are very well adjusted. I'm going to get my LBS man to look it over and get set up a bit better.

Having said all that, I'm used to hydraulic discs on my usual main bike, and often find myself in bother when on other bikes with lesser brakes!

 

[danjanoob]

I can just touch on tiptoes and slide off or seek the kerb if stopped for any length of time.
Regarding the heel on pedal straight leg method. I think this is recommended as a starting point and adjust from there depending on your personal body structure. I actually used this method and had to move the saddle slightly higher on all my bikes to get comfortable. Shoe/foot size will make a difference.
My personal knee pain epiphany came when I realised it wasn't the height, but the fore-aft relative position of pedals to saddle. Once fixed all my knee issues were relieved.

Maybe this Is my issue.

How did you fix it?

I rode with the seat an inch higher yesterday and felt much better. But while my right leg felt brilliant with no fatigue, the left thigh still ached.

 

[Mallory]

I've used one of the various measurement guides to set my saddle height. If my bike is dead upright I can just reach the ground with my the end of my toes, so I have to lean the bike to the right when I stop at lights etc.

 

[Davidc]

Some people recommend this for safety reasons - it allows you to do an emergency stop if your brakes fail. The chances of both brakes failing at the same time are rather slim though.

Perhaps it only applies to those fixie riders who don't have them? It's not unknown for a chain to slip off.

I've been riding a bike for a very long time and a very long distance in that time. I have never seen a bike have both brakes fail on the road, not mine or anyone else's.

When I stop I can touch down on one side with the bike leaning a bit. Unless there's a kerb or bank I then just slip out of the saddle.

When buying a bike I do always make sure the ground to top tube clearance (stepover height) is more than my inside leg, be otherwise.

 

[Blurb]

Maybe this Is my issue.

How did you fix it?

Hi, THIS site describes it well. Worked for me, but there is some debate about it on a few sites.
I tend to run at a higher cadence to protect my knees and keep the knee as close to over the pedal spindle as possible. Give it a go. Change one thing at a time and test a few times. Good luck

 

[Psycolist]

Or stop near the kirb.

Dont put your trust in kerbs. The next town along the coast to me decided that thier main shopping street would look lovely in block paving, but to reduce the cost they did it between the kerbs. I ride into town shortly after all the work is complete and slow to a stop, popping a foot out to rest on the kerb, not realizing that the kerb was now at the same level as the road surface. A swallow dive it was not, but the only thing hurt was my pride, so, as I said, dont trust the kerbs

 

[tyred]

It just might be possible to have the saddle correctly adjusted and touch the ground as a factor of frame geometry and bb height. I can do it on a 1960s Dutch roadster I have, but such bikes are a minority.

 

[earth]

Good question. After taking the bike to a lbs recently they raised the saddle a good 20mm. I agree the extra leg extension is probably more efficient but I find it difficult getting on and touching the ground when stopped at lights. I lowered it again by about 10mm as a compromise but it is still difficult. I have pulled a muscle in my right calf now and I am thinking might be due to over stretching that leg at the lights. But as someone else has pointed out saddle distance to the ground is irrelevant, it is the distance from the saddle to the pedal and there is another way to change that.

If people find it necessary to raise the saddle so far that they cannot touch the ground with their feet, what about longer crank arms?

 

[youngoldbloke]

Longer cranks would actually make the situation worse if your saddle is not set correctly high enough. The crank at 12 oclock would be pushing that foot even higher - admittedly only by 2.5 or 5 mm, but no help if the saddle height is not set properly. It is basically wrong to expect to be able to put both feet down whilst in the saddle - move forward off the saddle when stopping. You may be able to touch the kerb with your toe when in the saddle, but that is the very most you should expect.

 

[earth]

Longer cranks would actually make the situation worse if your saddle is not set correctly high enough. The crank at 12 oclock would be pushing that foot even higher - admittedly only by 2.5 or 5 mm, but no help if the saddle height is not set properly. It is basically wrong to expect to be able to put both feet down whilst in the saddle - move forward off the saddle when stopping. You may be able to touch the kerb with your toe when in the saddle, but that is the very most you should expect.

I don't mean you should be able to put both feet down just one with a bit of lean.

Having a crank 5 mm longer means you can lower the saddle by 5 mm and still achieve the same leg extension on the downstroke surely. I agree your knee will move 5 mm higher on the upstroke but are there any important consequences to that?

 

[youngoldbloke]

What is the problem with moving forward off the saddle? It soon becomes instinctive. Equally when moving off you should expect to be out of the saddle. I am constantly moving, lifting weight off the saddle - when going over speed bumps for example. If you use longer cranks you will still need to set the saddle height correctly - leg straight with heel on pedal at 6 oclock, good starting point, as many posters have suggested. I don't expect you would notice the effect of longer cranks on the 'upper' leg, but the need to change crank length for this reason seems a bit of a red herring to me

 

[byegad]

I can put the flat of my hand onto the road.