In the 70s this 1.09 x inseam recommendation seemed too high to a lot the older guys (assuming you were using max. pubic height and not just a levis inseam measure), and you could get a lecture from your coach if you showed upt with a high saddle position like this. Eventually it became standard, but as late as the 1989 I got a lecture about a too-high saddle from my older coach when I was using this formula. Sloane's 1.09 formula resulted in pretty much the same saddle height as Hinault's formula using .889 to get the distance from the bb center using 170mm cranks. Lemond's instructional book in the mid 80s recommended about the same formula as Hinault's book.
The other popular non-formula method involved looking for a little knee bend at the bottom of the stroke. Using the method from the Custom Bicycle Book" by Michael Kolin and Denise de la Rosa, among cyclists there was still disagreement over when you put your heel on the pedal whether you looked for a bent or straight knee. The latter straight-knee-heel-on-pedal method yeilded a little higher saddle more like the Sloane/Hinault/Lemond formula, but, like the formula, failed to take foot size into consideration.
Last year I went pre-Sloane by lowering my saddle a full inch less than the formula method recommends, and have been very happy with the 60s style saddle height.
Mitch Harris Little Rock Canyon, Utah USA
On Tue, Jun 16, 2009 at 6:20 PM, Hon Lee<lejosun@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> Sloan's recommended setting for seat top to pedal top at lowest point of a pedalling stroke at 1.09 times one's inseam was indeed akin to gospel in the early '70's when I was a mech in northern California. Sloan based this calculation on proper ankling technique and supported this sum using a study that measured energy output for various adjustments of this seat-pedal distance for a fixed crank length. The 1.09 adjustment had the highest energy output. As John Strizek pointed out, there are a number of other variables, such as the bb height, that will significantly affect the bike's "fit." At 5-4 with boring proportions, my favorite rides were a 52 cm. Mondia Special off the rack cyclocross and a 54 cm. Cinelli GC from Spence Wolfe set up with that 1.09 configuration, both 1971.
>
> Hon Lee
> Stockton, California where being number 1 on Forbes.com misery index is dynastic
> USA