Sincitycycler

This is what I've been told. However, I thought having your seat back gives you more power.
Greg Lemond is a big fan of this concept, right?

seely

According to a basic fit I had done, my seat was supposed to be way forward. I was sucking wind on climbs like I never had before, and was wearing out quickly. Moved the seat back 3/4" and I feel A LOT better on the bike now, for what its worth.

Sincitycycler

burp

Dr. Moto

This makes some sense to me. Having a higher cadence doesn't equate to having more power on the pedal stroke, so it's not contradictory that seat back = more power while seat forward = higher cadence. With the seat forward, more of your body weight is probably on the bars and over the pedals, so you'll bounce less and possibly have a smoother stroke leading to a higher cadence.

martin_j001

Agreed, moving the seat forward may help with increasing cadence, which in turn will cause your heart rate (energy expenditure, oxygen consumption, etc) to increase as seely noticed when he had the seat moved forward. It is not something you can just do and it will automatically help you, as riding with a higher cadence than usual will drain you very very quickly if you're not used to it.

R600DuraAce

Not so much of moving your saddle forward but sitting at the tip of your saddle changes your knee over spindle position. This can help you push a bigger gear (more easier to get your crank to pedal over). I mean big gear like 53 x 15 or 14. That's why TT bike has a more up right seat tube angle.

cryogenic

on the same note... if I'm getting pain in my legs just above my kneecaps (right where the quads meet my kneecaps)... would you say my saddle is too far back or too far forward? I'm guessing too far back from the way it feels, but I could be wrong. Any "experts" have an opinion of such? I'm pretty sure my up/down adjustment is fine since my knee is bent the correct amount at bottom dead center.

53-11_alltheway

This is really complicated and depends on the position of your torso.

All you have to realize is that biomechanically your femur is a lever arm. You want as much of this lever arm "in effect" while keeping your hip angle open enough to generate power.

operator

That statement is too general to say it works most of the time or even, "it works half the time".

I don't understand how any of you can be agreeing or disagreeing with it.

sunninho

I'm no expert, but it seems you're right about being too far back, as the pain is just above your knee. When my bike is adjusted for triathlons, I do move my seat forward, but it's so I can rest my whole upper body on the aero pads, causing all the work to be done by my hammies and quads. In the forward position, you feel it more in the upper regions, not so much around the knees.

You should probably move your seat forward a bit, but of course this may require some trial and error outside.

ed073

In it's simplest terms, yes. Further back equals more power generally. But this may not be optimal for you, just coz Greg LeMond does it.

cryogenic

When you talk about an open hip angle, what exactly is meant by that? The angle of the femur in relation to the torso? Would more open be closer to 90 degrees? If that's the case, then I probably SHOULD go forward with my seat a little bit. Oddly, tonight I rode a very hard 14 miles on my commute and experienced no knee pain at all. Also managed to set a personal best average speed over that route. Not so sure about adjusting my seat now.

samp02

seat position effects the knee over saddle position.

53-11_alltheway

Normally when you move your seat forward you shorten the distance to the pedals, so you can raise the saddle whenever you do this (high and forward saddle opens hip angle)

Nothing is without consequences and you can really upset the balance of the bike if you take this too far and have to use a long stem. This is where frame sizing (top tube length/seat tube angles comes into play)

The real problem with moving your seat forward is that it decreases your top tube length.

biker7

Improve your cadence?...depends by what you mean by that. The dynamic and relationships have been explained above. It is more about your priority and the tradeoffs that will result. Generally...moving the seat forward as mentioned will open the hip angle and apply a bit more pedaling force which is desireable for a TT bike for example. This is however not without a downside or more would run a more upright seat tube angle and knee position more forward of the pedal spindle at 3 o'clock. With a more forward position you have more weight bearing on your legs and on your hands...your whole body CG is more forward. This will not only tire your legs faster but put more weight on your hands which is typically uncomfortable for the recreational cyclist. I subscribe to Sheldon Brown's writing on the subject. For a recreational cyclist, KOPS should be over the pedal spindle if not back 1-2cm...not forward of it for the above reason. If your objective is pure power, then move your seat forward with the related consequences.
George

RiPHRaPH

i believe that works for him judging by the geometry of his bike line. having the seat back puts too much pressure on my lower back and hammies that it is uncomfortable. i discover that having the seat more **fore** than **aft** allows me to raise the seat slightly and give me more power. but that is just me.