Originally Posted by zzzwillzzz
the distance from the saddle to cranks might be the same the but the distance the saddle sits behind the cranks is not and for me its unacceptable as i have longer arms and legs and a short upper body that require me to have the seat set well back and after more than 20 years of refining my position i wouldn't want to radically alter it so that i would fit the bike instead the bike fitting me.
Sorry, I wasn't specific enough.
I use a plumb line to ensure that the seat is the same distance behind the pedals as my road bike and also measure the distance from the centre of the cranks to the seat rail (I have the same seat for each bike and mark a line on the rail to measure to).
To get the seat forward I needed to replace the seat post with a straight one. I use a Thompson
Elite aluminium seat post. I was a little concerned about a change in angle because of the higher handlebars but after being on a tour last week and riding 550km I feel fine and think that I have finally got it right.
I know where you are coming from when it comes to not compromising with position on the bike. I made the mistake in the past of not realising the bike had longer cranks (duh) and I was also using different pedals to my road bike. It meant that despite having what I thought was the same setup I was pointing my toe at the end of each downstroke. After 2 days I was really paying for it with calf pain and it took a few months for my achilles tendons to recover.
Cheers
A