Saddle too low?
Mon, April 12, 2021 
If I see someone riding with their knees splayed outward it is often a good indication that their saddle is too low.
It may also be the rider is overweight and has a large belly to contend with, but not always.
Stand with your back to the wall and raise one knee forward and upwards towards your chest.
There is a limit to how high your thigh can go. Once that point is reached, the only way you can make your knee go higher is to move your knee outward and then it can travel an inch or two higher.
Squat with your knees together and you can’t go as low as you can with your knees spread apart. In non-medical terms, it is the limit of travel of the ball at the end of your thigh bone in its socket in the pelvis that restricts your movement beyond a certain point.
It amuses me to see riders with aero bars in a low horizontal tuck position, riding with knees splayed outwards. Any aerodynamic advantage they gain by the low tuck position is lost because the outward knees has increased their frontal area by 20% or more. Not only that, but the outward spread thighs is like an open ended “V” catching air as they travel forward.
In order to achieve a low horizontal position, one must be flexible enough that the pelvis remains near vertical and the back bone or spine bends forward. Three things affect the angle of the thigh bone in relation to the pelvis. The saddle too low, the saddle too far back, and the back too low, but only if it causes the pelvis to rotate forward.
It is rarely I see someone with their saddle too high. One can feel that they are stretching at the bottom of the pedal stroke, or they are rocking side to side on the saddle as they pedal. But a saddle too low may feel fine, but it is not necessarily the most efficient riding position.
If your knees are splaying outwards it should be easy to spot, just look down. Knees should pump straight up and down like two pistons, and should pass an inch or so either side of the top tube. If you suspect your saddle is too low, it rarely does any harm to raise it. Put a piece of masking tape around the seat post to mark the original position. Raise it by a small amount 1/8 in, or 1/4 in. Maximum. (3 mm. to 6mm.)
Ride for a week or so, then possibly you can go up a little more until you find the sweet spot. Saddle height is not a fixed thing. As you lose weight and muscles stretch a saddle needs to be raised. The questions you need to ask yourself after raising the saddle is, does it feel better, do I feel stronger, and am I going faster.
To reiterate, few ride with a saddle to high, but many ride with their saddle too low, because it feels fine. Unless you try raising it a little you will never find out. I feel any person’s ideal saddle height is the point where the saddle is almost too high, then down a tad from there.
The leg needs to reach its full extension at the bottom of the pedal stroke, without stretching to reach that point, in other words the power is on right to the end of the pedal stroke, and definitely not reach its upper limit at the top of the stroke.
Footnote: I couldn’t find a better picture to illustrate this piece, except the exaggerated one at the top. But it did lead me to realize how BMX riders manage to pedal straight with their saddle so low. The saddle nose is positioned up which causes the pelvis to lean back thus increasing the angle in relation to the thigh. I'm not suggesting you try this on your road bike.
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Reader Comments (3)
"It is rarely I see someone with their saddle too high."
Too low vs too high must be a demographic thing, because the fitter known as Bikefitjames finds more people who go to him for a fit end up being positioned too high and rocking, but to a degree they don't notice. My guess is that the potential damage of "too high" compared to the theoretical optimal increases faster vs "too low", but you don't notice immediately - it's longer-term.
I'm not a bike fitter but personally I'd drop more than you suggest once you start to consciously feel like it's too high, due to that potential. Without paying for a high-tech bike fit it's better to be a bit slower than sore.
Old man posts a quote about life and the young man says, "How wise, so simple."
Another old man posts something about a bicycle, based on a lifetime of experience, and the young man says, "That is too simple, it needs to be more complicated."
Lesson to be learned: Life is complicated, we need simple quotes from wise men to help us understand.
Bicycles are simple, we need complicated explanations, so we select few can appear to be wise.
Dave.
Dave,
I do believe it could be a demographic thing.
- The person who goes for a "high tech" bike fit will most likely be an enthusiast complaining of pain. He may have raised his saddle to try to emulate a pro. This is where it gets into the realm of sports medicine. This may be what Bikefitjames sees most of the time, and I'd guess most online discussion about bikes is more in the "enthusiast" market.
- The person riding with his knees splayed out would almost certainly be more casual, maybe so that he can put a foot on the ground - and his local bike shop would be good if they helped him correct this. The advice as you gave would work to make the ride a bit less awkward and more comfortable. This is likely the majority of "people riding bikes" in aggregate, so you would be right on that point, but the post might not be reaching those people.