Fully extended or not?

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raleighnut

Legendary Member
Thanks. More or less likely to hit my chest when bombing on like Froome?
Depends if you can manage this position
chris-froome-descending-630x420.jpg
 

Heisenberg71

When you're dead, you're dead
Location
Wakefield
Sadly, I have tried that and can safely do it.
I might do it on a downhill Strava segment if nobody is around that knows me. It does work!
 

boydj

Legendary Member
Location
Paisley
Put your heel on the pedal and adjust your saddle until your leg is straight. Then when your foot is on the pedal at the correct position it'll be about right

Full extension will knacker your knees.

Almost straight, but not quite, I find is better.
 
U

User33236

Guest
I set my saddle height up using the goniometer method and had no issues with my knees until I didn't drop saddle height for the few mm's difference in stack height when I changed to Speedplay. Readjusted height and problem went away so not fully extended for me.
 

rugby bloke

Veteran
Location
Northamptonshire
On a slight tangent - I'm curious about the lateral alignment of the knee when cycling. When I ride my knees and lower leg are pretty much parallel to my top tube, whilst I noticed that some people have their's angled out at perhaps 15 degrees. I cannot think of any good reason for this as it does not look like the most efficient way to transfer power but perhaps I'm missing something ?
 
On a slight tangent - I'm curious about the lateral alignment of the knee when cycling. When I ride my knees and lower leg are pretty much parallel to my top tube, whilst I noticed that some people have their's angled out at perhaps 15 degrees. I cannot think of any good reason for this as it does not look like the most efficient way to transfer power but perhaps I'm missing something ?
Nothing missing, it's not an efficient position and should be avoided. You see some and I assume it;'s either just feels more comfortable for them or it's their chubby thighs. Try to avoid if you can and keep everything inline
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
Mine were set using Bernard Hinault's 'Racing and Training book' - you never have your leg fully extended. The easy 'quick set up' is pedal at the bottom, and if you can just touch the axel with your heal in socks, then that's a good starting point. I usually have to drop the saddle slightly from this position to get comfortable.
 

Bonefish Blues

Banging donk
Location
52 Festive Road
I look back at my saddle height when I used to cycle tour pretty seriously and wonder how I could do 80-90 fully-laden miles with it set so high. Actually, one rather silly-long day my achilles agreed with me and I had to abandon the tour :sad:
 

r04DiE

300km a week through London on a road bike.
Put your heal on the pedal and adjust your saddle until your leg is straight. Then when your foot is on the pedal at the correct position it'll be about right

Full extension will knacker your knees.
^^This.
 
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