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I ride a road bike three times a week (Bitten by strava bug)( I am 5'9" and use a 54 cm frame)

I installed my new pedals and am wearing my new cycling shoes for first time. I raised the saddle height few centimeters hoping to match the rise in height due to cleats.

Also, i moved my saddle towards the stem to accommodate the height change, for some reason my saddle is a real pain. I feel uncomfortable and have to focus constantly on setting myself on saddle rather than focusing on the road ahead.

I think this also is pushing me back in terms of giving my best on the road. I have tried using methods like leg seam length, knee slightly bend method to try adjust the saddle and it doesn't seem to work.

Has anyone of you also faced this problem and what did you do to fix it ?

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    I raised the saddle height few centimeters .... Wow. Put it back immediately before you cause an injury. Then measure the difference in pedals. I bet there is very little. In general adjusting seat height by more than a few mm at a time is asking for injury trouble! And always record the position of every bike component you're going to adjust, so that you can put it back later.
    – andy256
    Nov 10, 2016 at 8:42
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    As for ride a road bike three times a week, Ok, so you ride. We all do here :-) Many people commute, meaning 10 rides a week. It's only getting excessive when, like the guy I rode with this morning, you average 600km per week!
    – andy256
    Nov 10, 2016 at 8:47
  • The way to set seat height is by riding it and seeing what works. You should be getting nearly full extension from the legs, but without "rocking" in the saddle. As to forward/back, that's again something you set with trial-and-error. Nov 10, 2016 at 12:35
  • But don't forget about seat tilt. You should start from a position where, if you set a board atop the seat, the board will be perfectly level. Then, as you experiment, tilt forward/back from there until you find the "sweetest" position for you. Nov 10, 2016 at 12:37

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Are your cleats "a few centimetres" thick? It seems unlikely! It's hard to imagine that your cleats put your foot more than a centimetre farther from the axis of the pedal than was the case with your old pedals, so the simple conclusion is that you moved your saddle way too far.

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  • I had to adjust the seat and was waiting for the new pedals. The change in centimeters includes the cleats and pending change I had to do anyway.
    – Atul
    Nov 10, 2016 at 16:44
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You said you moved your seat slightly forward shouldn't be the opposite?. Also you can use another measure when your cranks are parallel to the ground your knee should be aligned whit your pedal.

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