My wife recently got a Cube Touring Hybrid e-bike to replace a VanMoof X3. She's finding the bike a bit tall, by which I mean that with the saddle height set correctly for pedalling she finds it difficult for her feet to touch the ground when coming to a stop. Basically the bottom bracket is higher compared to the X3, largely due to wheel size (29" vs 24").
I have already suggested a dropper post or coming forward off the saddle when stopping, but these are apparently not acceptable options.
I am therefore thinking of replacing the Cube's 29" wheels with 27.5" or even 26" wheels to bring the BB height down a bit. Obviously this will change the handling (hopefully to be a bit more nimble), but will it be dangerous? To be clear, the most off-road this will be going is towpaths and fire roads.
Can anybody touch the ground when seated at the correct height?
But to answer your question, I'd imagine 27.5 will be fine if that will make enough of a difference. I'd be hesitant to go to 26 though
Can the saddle go low enough so she can put both feet down when stopped? If yes, put the saddle there and never mention it again.
How tall is your wife?
Mrs_oab is 5'1" and some small geometries just don't work. It's not only bb height but seat tube angle, stack etc. Then then supply small bikes with 175mm cranks...
It might be worth trying 27.5 and smaller tyres.
But I would borrow first - we've gone to buy bikes before and just couldn't believe how "big" thier small frames were. A Cube e-hybrid was one of them...
Can anybody touch the ground when seated at the correct height?
On anything with a reasonable bottom bracket height (hardtail or short/med travel XC ish bike), and seat tube angle/saddle set back. Yes. 90% of the population will be able to reach the floor with (at least) part of one foot on a bike that's the right size.
If you've talking about a 150+mm travel trail bike, maybe not.
Also, loads of people set their saddle way too high.
It's not a great idea. Could you fit a dropper post?
edit - I missed part of your post, sorry!
Also, loads of people set their saddle way too high.
Heel of foot on pedal, leg straight gives your seat height. I can't see how loads of people ride with it any higher.
With the seat set to the correct height for efficient pedaling it's not possible to reach the ground from a sitting position, maybe with the bike leaning over.
It’s an electric bike, there’s zero requirement to pedal efficiently. Let the motor you’ve paid a lot of money for do it’s job and save on having arguments with the wife and sleeping in the spare room.
It’s an electric bike, there’s zero requirement to pedal efficiently.
Absolutely - when I talk about correct saddle height here I mean "saddle height my wife prefers for comfortable cycling". It's just that with a bike on 24" wheels she could comfortably touch the ground with the saddle at a height she found comfortable.
with the saddle height set correctly for pedalling she finds it difficult for her feet to touch the ground when coming to a stop
If your saddle is set at the optimum height for pedaling, your feet won't be able to easily touch the ground when you're seated. Your wife needs to practice moving forward off the saddle and standing when she comes to a stop. This is one of the basic skills of riding a bike, it quickly becomes automatic.
I can’t see how loads of people ride with it any higher.
And yet i see many people sliding from side to side on the saddle or over extending at knee/ankle to try to pedal.
Not helped of course by the trend for ever longer cranks, even on tiny sizes.
With the seat set to the correct height for efficient pedaling it’s not possible to reach the ground from a sitting position, maybe with the bike leaning over.
Well, yes, if you don't lean the bike over a few degrees to put one foot on the floor, you'll fall over as soon as you put one foot on the floor.
(And FWIW, except for my longest travel bike, i can reach the floor on all of them. So can my wife. >On her bikes obviously, not mine.)
If your saddle is set at the optimum height for pedaling, your feet won’t be able to easily touch the ground when you’re seated.
Sure, you CAN design a bike like that, but but you tell that to a recumbent rider. If you move the pedals so they aren't so close under the saddle, this doesn't have to be true. See electra bikes.
https://electra.trekbikes.com/gb/en_GB/flat-foot-technology/
If you move the pedals so they aren’t so close under the saddle, this doesn’t have to be true.
Those extremely slack seat angles are terrible for pedaling up any sort of hill. That's why modern geometry went to much steeper seat angles. The basic issue is that getting off the saddle when you come to a stop should be automatic. Yes, on flat terrain you can stretch a toe to the ground but you're going to fall over anytime you try and stop somewhere that isn't flat. Much safer to learn to stop the bike properly.
It might need new mudguards, unless you can live with the gappiness
I've had 26 inch wheels in 29 inch frames before, the only problem was the low bb height, but that's what you want so that's fine! Realistically though, as per the above suggestions, the answer is to lower the saddle height and try not to think about it too much
A design where the pedal touches the floor when at the bottom of its 'stroke', or a recumbent...
My wife (5'1" on a small framed Merida hybrid) has the same issue with the seat the correct height for pedalling. It's taken me a long time to persuade her that the saddle is set for pedalling the bike,not for sitting still.
As others have said it's a case of getting used to standing off the seat when stopping. She's fine with that now.
I have the same issue on my 29er hard tail and I'm 5'11" on a medium frame. My road bike is fine.
It makes me cringe watching the number or people cycling around with their knees up around their knees slowly destroying their cartilage.
It makes me cringe watching the number or people cycling around with their knees up around their knees slowly destroying their cartilage.
I'd be more worried if their knees were somewhere other than around their knees 😉
Update:
I switched the bike to 27.5” wheels several weeks ago, but for a variety of reasons it took until today for my wife to try the reconfigured bike. She didn’t die - in fact she got on very well with it, even on a fast downhill section. The one minor issue is that the top assisted speed is a little lower because the Bosch is measuring speed using a rear wheel spoke magnet and the wheel circumference is lower, but honestly it made no discernible difference.
Thanks all for your input!
Haha, if that was me, I'd just have dropped her saddle by a couple of millimeters and not told her 😄
