"How To Ride Obstacles" thread

[Vibrato]

Basic way to Setting the proper Seat Height-

Do your knees hurt? Almost ALL new riders start with their seat too low and this causes so many ailments it would take a chiro to list them, so here's a good rule of thumb to start! This even works with short travel full suspension bikes as a starting point.

Next to a wall or something else you can hang onto, sit lightly on your bike with your sit bones on the wide portion of the seat, one foot on a pedal in the all the way down position. Place your HEAL in the center of the down pedal. Is your leg straight? If not, you need to raise the seat until it is "just" straight. Now, when you think you have it high enough, place both heals in the center of the pedals and pedal backwards so they spin- if your hips have to move up and down to stay on the pedal, then you raised it a bit to far.

Generally, when people 1st starting out think this "feels" like it is too high because you can't stay on the seat and touch the ground, However this is correct, in fact a lot of cross country riders will eventually raise their seat slightly higher once they get used to it.

If you feel this puts too much weight over the handlebars, then it may be necessary to raise the bars a bit or get a slightly shorter stem. This would put your upper body back into the position you were in before you raised the seat. If this sounds like a major pain, believe me, it isn't, but NOT doing it can cause major pain!!

If you aren't sure what to do to the bars and stem to get the "feel" back, get a buddy to help or head to the bike shop that's closest to your house (or your favorite one) and ask them for help.

ALSO- make sure you ride with your sit bones on the wide part of the seat, and make sure your seat is level or with the nose SLIGHTLY pointed down. If the seat is pointed up it can cause long term damage.

When you 1st start riding, you may feel a soreness on the sit area of your rump. Be aware that the same muscles that you are sitting on are the ones that you are working when you pedal- so if you do a few short rides a week, you will find that as those muscles get stronger, the soreness will go away. Usually this only takes a week or two!

[Gunchie]

ALSO- make sure you ride with your sit bones on the wide part of the seat, and make sure your seat is level or with the nose SLIGHTLY pointed down. If the seat is pointed up it can cause long term damage.

That can be disputed. There are are lots of resources saying it's ok to SLIGHTLY tilt the saddle up. I personally do so myself and have had no issues. Anyway, level is still the best way to go. To do this, set your bike on a level surface and place a book on the saddle. Place the level on the book and adjust it so the bubble is dead center. Once level go out and ride it a couple of time. The first ride may not feel like it's comfortable, but after several it should. If after several rides it still feels off then readjust using the dead center as a benchmark. Some saddles are not truly level with the bubble dead center since they all have different shapes, but this will at least give you a benchmark to start from.

Adjusting Fore/Aft

Take a place of string and tie something heavy to the bottom. I like to use several big washers. This creates a pendulum. As said earlier "Next to a wall or something else you can hang onto, sit lightly on your bike with your sit bones on the wide portion of the seat". This time put the pedals so your crankshaft is horizontal. Put your foot on the pedals the same way you as if you were riding. Position your body as closely as you can as if you were riding (in other words when you have your hands on the handlebar your body is tilted forward so try to mimic that position). Now take the pendulum you made and put the top of the string at the top tip of your knee on the side that is vertical. Let the pendulum hang down and hover over your foot. The string should align with the shaft on the pedal that screws into your crank. If it isn't that adjust accordingly. If you feel too stretched out or too crunched into the cockpit when riding then CHANGE OUT THE STEM, DO NOT ADJUST FORE/AFT TO ACCOMMODATE. This position is were your knee needs to be. Prolonged riding in a incorrect position could cause knee pain.