Bouncing at high cadences

It's not rare that an experienced cyclist will turn up at Rollapaluza and tell us how high (too high) to set up the saddle , we've even had tape measures, we'll politely explain our tips are based on over 10,000 racers, some will persist...."OK, but you won't be very fast"....and they never are!

raising your saddle is more likely to sort this out: the bouncing is probably due to space between your arse and seat

rubbish... it's all about the souplesse.

Cadence sensor measures rpm. Yoga or pilates will teach you fine control over core muscles. When spinning at over 30 mph on 48/19 I need to tighten up the pelvic muscles, referred to as bandas in yoga.

do you leak wee when this happens?

+1 to keeping your core relatively tight or tensed and a loose limbs approach. I don't think thats a fixed only thing, just seems to help with all cycling. Also, I'm a wannabe (failed) drummer (love it, just not great at it) and used to ride with another drummer... he used to count triplets in his head to even up one leg pushing more than the other. eg: 1,2,3 - 1,2,3 ... 1 being the "power" stroke so it alternates left and right every 3 strokes. works well for me, but that was XC MTB.

raising your saddle is more likely to sort this out: the bouncing is probably due to space between your arse and seat

joke?

joke?

i fear it's meant in seriousness, although im struggling with the logic on this one, i'd love to see how high this guys saddle is, i wonder if he can reach the pedals any more!

It's seriously bad advice that could lead to injury........

Bobbing in the saddle is nothing to do with "resonant frequencies" or frame materials.

Fair enough. And I know I punch the pedals a bit, so I am the cause of the up and down bounce to start with, but my logic says: Same rider who's cycling at same cadence, on two different bikes and gets two different amounts of bounce - it can't all just be the rider. The bike involved has to be part of the picture. One either enhances the bounce I put in, or the other damps it.

I guess the fix is always the same though - get a more solid posture and more consitent pedal stroke.

Nice tip about the saddle height and I will adjust it some because I think I may be over-extending anyway, even though I set the saddle using the same rule of thumb Dammit quoted - heel on the pedal etc. But as I'm a commuter/getting-around-town rider, I'm riding freewheel not fixed and I stop at red lights, which means I rarely get up to high cadences anyway, so is it worth dropping my saddle too far to help with this problem? Is this just a tip specifically for high-cadence spinning or not?

Please remember that your hamstrings ***shorten ***over the duration of a ride. It's one of the reasons people end up getting behind-the-knee injuries despite being certain their saddle height is corrected (checked when not in riding mode).

the heel on pedal thing is only an estimation, does not take into account, things like age, suppleness and most important how hight the heels on your shoe are!

Most hipsters have their saddle too high, because it looks cool, which is a perfectly valid reason, the bobbing up and down and your arse being dragged from one side to the other look good married with sideways snaking when attempting to stop.

lowering your saddle will allow you to pedal faster and it will save your knees, tendons and muscles too...often only has to be 10mm.

pearls before swine

Oink.

I didn't mean you, he said hipsters!

It's not rare that an experienced cyclist will turn up at Rollapaluza and tell us how high (too high) to set up the saddle , we've even had tape measures, we'll politely explain our tips are based on over 10,000 racers, some will persist...."OK, but you won't be very fast"....and they never are!

I wasn't very fast.....but I don't think it was due to saddle height. I could still spin, without bouncing, up to almost 200rpm though.

In the real world, I can spin up to 36mph without any bouncing (that's about 175 rpm at my current gear ratio.)

rubbish... it's all about the souplesse.

+1

A correctly set up bike and souplesse - which riding fixed should help with - are the key.

I forgot to add, if you want to work out your cadence use the formula:

speed (inches/min)

                     ----------------------- =  Cadence (rpm) 
                     gear inches x Pi.

the heel on pedal thing is only an estimation, does not take into account, things like age, suppleness and most important how hight the heels on your shoe are!

I NEVER ride in high heels, I tell you..!!! That's defamation of character..!!! ;-)

I wasn't ever supple, not even as a child - didn't matter how much stretches I did for gymnastics or for martial arts class, I just stayed pretty inflexible. I'm worse now, since I stopped proper sports (must take up yoga again). And at 40, I'm not gonna get any stretchier, so overextension is going to def be a problem - particularly if my already tight hamstrings shorten over a ride (didn't know that one).

Plus wearing MTB shoes, rather than road shoes, the heels are quite pronounced. So maybe I need to take more off the saddle height than I thought...

Thanks for the advice. looks around for allen keys