Seat postion

[KDEE]

Is there a popular thought that a seat should be fitted in the centre of the cradle on the seat post?

 

I have always ridden with my seat pushed back as far as possible as I always feel I need to extend..

 

Get the feeling that my seat nose is coming up over time because Its positioned as far back as possible ...

 

[wisecrack]

I have to ride with my saddle almost all the way to the front as my top tube is rather long and I feel a bit stretched.

 

 

 

[bob_the_builder]

You guys should look at your stem lengths. It's never a good plan to have the saddle slammed all the way back or forward.

[kingjreid]

for a tt i bring take all the way back. it helps, but it's uncomfortable..... my 2c

[bob_the_builder]

That's weird... most TT bikes have a very over the BB saddle position by design. Pushing the seat all the back on the rails seems at odds with this.

[GoLefty!!]

what kind of bike?

what type of riding?

[AndreZA]

The stem is only for reach. The correct seat possition is relative to the BB. You should sit on the seat on the most comfortable spot, normally the widest part. With you cycling shoes clipped in you and presumably your cleats are in the correct position under the ball of your foot, you rotate the crank arms to the the front paralel to the ground. Now use a plum line and place it just be behind the knee cap and it should fall over the axle of the pedal.

 

Now you go and play with the stem to get the reach of the bars correct.

 

 

[GoLefty!!]

...... The correct seat possition is relative to the BB. You should sit on the seat on the most comfortable spot' date=' normally the widest part. With you cycling shoes clipped in you and presumably your cleats are in the correct position under the ball of your foot, you rotate the crank arms to the the front paralel to the ground. Now use a plum line and place it just be behind the knee cap and it should fall over the axle of the pedal.

 

Now you go and play with the stem to get the reach of the bars correct.

 

 

[/quote']

 

 

Hmmm, this knee over pedal spindle method of bike fit needs revision.

Your saddle should be positioned in a space where it allows teh best weight distribution between the wheels. Th ball of your foot should be over the pedal axle but your knee is irrelevant.

[KDEE]

Thanks again for all the replies...

 

Im now more confused as there are two replies ( Mampara and GoLefty ) that seem very sensible, but which one... And how does one work out where the best weight distribution point is...

 

Cleats are positioned correctly..

 

Bike is a 15 yr old Diamond Back Apex Hardtail... ( never had a problem when I was younger ). Riding is very ( at this stage ) light XC..

 

[Ox_Wagon]

Mampara is talking about the following: <?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

http://www.andoverwheelers.com/Documents/Erics_bike_set_up_instructions.htm

http://www.bq.org.au/cycle-info/education/riding_position.shtml

 

Which is a good starting point.

 

Some more tips.

http://www.rivbike.com/article/bike_fit/setup_mistakes

http://www.brianmac.co.uk/cycling/bikesetup.htm

 

But if you look at Tri athletes you see that they ignore this type of setup completely.  And this gets us to what GoLefty is talking about this.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/kops.html

 

I must say that I understand only half of what he is trying to say.  In short you need to setup individually for your specific build and the type of riding your want to do.  I looked at the info required and got to the conclusion that it would be to difficult to do the setup.

[GoLefty!!]

What I do is place both wheels on bathroom scales. We have his and hers in our house. I always make sure to calibrate hers before I use it for this purpose.. .

with bike on scales, sit on bike and get her or other to take the readings. Shift body mass backward or forward to get the two readings as close as practically possible. 55/45 rear front to 50/50 is what you are after. I find shifting 1cm backward or forward makes a difference on the scales.

 

Play around with this. You'll find that you won't be too fat from knee over pedal spindle to cause injury, well unless you have high ape factor

[SwissVan]

Thanks again for all the replies...

Im now more confused as there are two replies ( Mampara and GoLefty ) that seem very sensible' date=' but which one... And how does one work out where the best weight distribution point is...

Cleats are positioned correctly..

Bike is a 15 yr old Diamond Back Apex Hardtail... ( never had a problem when I was younger ). Riding is very ( at this stage ) light XC..
[/quote']

 

The ultimate seat position would be one that provides maximum efficiency and comfort at the same time. Each person has to experiment with their seat position (fore, aft, higher and lower) to try and achieve this.<?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Imo a comfortable position is more desirably than a highly efficient position, simply because if you are uncomfortable for long periods of time the last thing you will want to do is remain seated and pedaling, which if either one is absent will seriously affect your ability / desire to continue cycling.

 

To achieve this you need to make sure that the basics are correct, i.e. is the frame size correct, if not then you will more than likely end up with your saddle in some sort of extreme position.

 

Check out Steve Hoggs thoughts on the whole bike set up procedure, some pretty interesting thoughts, courtesy of cyclingnews.com

http://www.cyclingnews.com/fitness.php?id=fitness/2008/bike_position

[GoLefty!!]

I agree with Steve Hoggs thoughts entirely.

[bob_the_builder]

 

I agree with Steve Hoggs thoughts entirely.

 

I just read some of that, I agrre with bits. I gotta go buy another scale now Cr@p. This cycling thing never cuts you any slack...

 

[GoLefty!!]

ReasonI agree with what he says is because it's exactly the method used by Dr Jeroen Swart. He set me up on my road bike and I spent a few hours with him afterward to unpack some of the thinking behind it.

 

Reason I throw in weight distribution is because it determines how a bike handles. The magic triangle so too speak. The base being defined by the axle distance and the peak being the CofG of the rider.

The better the symmetry of the triangle the better the handling, in my view. It works well for me ona road bike and on MTB when youhave the suspension working.

[#Pete#]

 

You'll find that you won't be too fat from knee over pedal spindle to cause injury' date=' well unless you have high ape factor

[/quote']

 

Unless your bike is sized completely wrong, and therein lies the rub!