Mountain Bike Saddle Height
Guidelines To Prevent Numbness When Biking
It starts with a tingle on your large toe or pinkie finger. Before long, your foot, hand or complete leg has gone numb and you spend the remainder of your ride squirming to get the impression back. Most insensibility issues are a result of poor fit. Heres how to adjust your set-up so your extremities never go to sleep on a ride again.
FEET
Ill-fitting shoes is the root cause of most lower-extremity numbness. When shopping for shoes, consider their width and height in addition to numerical size. Shoes with more height allow for taller arches. Shoes that are too small pinch nerves in your metatarsal arch at the ball of the foot. The arch will collapse if it isn’t adequately buttressed, so be certain yours have sufficient support.
HANDS
A long reach to your handlebar creates a wrist extension that pinches nerves. To determine your correct reach, ask a chum to watch you spin on a coach. When your hands are on the hoods your elbows should be slightly bent and your arm should be vertical to your body. Vibration from aluminium handlebars can also rattle your hand to sleep. Install dampers to take in road gossip.
GROIN
Leaning forward on your saddle compresses the perineal nerves ( in the soft area between your groin and butt ), which cuts off blood flow and feeling. First test your saddle lean. The top should be parallel to the ground, which allows your sit bones to carry almost all of your weight. Next, test your handlebar reach as explained above ; a long reach rotates your hips forward and transfers weight to your perineum.
LEGS
A saddle thats wrong for your body can place excess weight on nerves and blood vessels, numbing you from your hips down, so test-ride a few with varying shapes and thicknesses. If you experience insensibility and loss of power after dialing in fit and
Gear, you will have iliac artery impingement, a condition that restricts blood flow to the legs. The affliction is rare, but can turn up in cycle riders who train in aggressive and time-trial positions. A 2004 study in Sports medication found the condition in twenty percent of elite bicyclists surveyed. If rest and a more relaxed position fail to resolve the problem, see your doctor
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How to set up a bike
