🚲 Bike Saddle Height Calculator

The LeMond method is a commonly used starting point for saddle height: multiply your inseam by 0.883 to get the distance from the center of the bottom bracket to the top of the saddle. Fine-tune from there based on comfort and pedaling efficiency.

Inseam length (cm)

The 0.883 factor

This is the LeMond method, the fit rule Greg LeMond's coach popularised in the 1980s:

saddle height (cm) = inseam (cm) × 0.883

An 80 cm inseam gives 70.6 cm. That distance is measured up the line of the seat tube, from the centre of the bottom bracket to the top of the saddle at the point you actually sit on - not to the nose, and not to the tip of the rails.

Setting it and checking it

Tape the post before you move it, so you can get back to a height that was working.
Change 2-3 mm at a time and ride each setting for a full session. Anything larger and you cannot tell which change did what.
Too high shows up as hips rocking side to side, toes pointing down to reach the bottom of the stroke, or ache behind the knee.
Too low feels cramped and tends to ache at the front of the knee. A cross-check is knee angle at the bottom of the stroke, which most fitters put 25-35° from straight.
The formula takes no account of crank length, shoe stack or cleat position. Fitting longer cranks effectively raises the pedal, so drop the saddle by the difference to keep the same leg extension.

Check your seatpost's minimum insertion mark before raising it. A post pulled past that line can snap the post or crack the frame, and it is the one part of saddle setup that is not just a comfort question.

Frequently asked questions

What saddle height should I use with an 80 cm inseam?

70.6 cm from the bottom bracket centre to the top of the saddle (80 × 0.883). Treat it as a starting point and expect to end up within about a centimetre of it.

Where exactly do I measure saddle height from?

From the centre of the bottom bracket axle, along the seat tube, to the top of the saddle where you sit. Measuring from the pedal or the frame's top tube gives a number the formula was never built for.

How can I tell my saddle is too high?

Your hips rock in the saddle, you stretch your toes down at the bottom of each stroke, or you feel it behind the knee. Drop it 3 mm and ride again.