Hi Everyone
I just received my new Nimbus 26 inch Mountain Black. What is the proper length of my seat post compared to my inseam or leg length? How much should my leg be bent when my pedal is at 6 Oclock? At this time in my Unicycling career I am happy to be freemounting and Mountain Unicycling.
Uniqueways
As a general rule, when riding on smooth ground your seat wants to be at a height so when your pedal’s at 6, your leg is only very slightly bent, similarly to it would be on a road bike.
When riding offroad it’s more a matter of personal preference and down to how much hopping you do. I have my seat quite low so I can get some height on rolling hops but other people have tried my unicycle and can’t ride it any distance without knee pains.
Vouch, as a rule (not that i am overly knowledge) i set the lowest part of the top of the seat at my belly button, that works for just about everything, as mentions for hopping and muni preference is key, trying different things is very important =D
I have the seat on my muni far lower (relative to the bottom pedal) than the seat on my MTB. Having just got a road 29er, I’m busy working on increasing the seat height on that - currently about 2cm higher (relative to the bottom pedal) than my muni and expect to go higher. I have no plans to raise the seat height on my muni any time soon.
As others have mentioned, your seat will be lower for offroad riding. The reasoning is that as you go over bumps or go off drops, you will unweight the seat. I.e. you will use your knees as a shock absorber, instead of absorbing the bump into the seat padding. So how low you want your seat will depend upon how much you bend your knees to absorb the shock for the bumps and drops on the terrain you are likely to ride.
On flat terrain you might have a knee angle of 160 degrees. Offroad, maybe closer to 130 or 140. If the angle is too low, you’ll tend to get knee pain when riding in the saddle. Everyone is different, so you’ll have to play with this to find the right balance for you and the terrain you ride.
Thank you everyone
Thank you everyone to my request for information about my initial setup. You confirmed everything I was seeing in the many videos I have watched lately. Long seat posts for smooth sailing. Shorter seat post to use my legs as shock absorbers for Muning, drops and hopping. Great info, I will tlk to you soon.
Uniqueways