Originally Posted by
mike868y
Pros do a lot of things I would never do. Just because "a pro" who rides 20,000+ mi/year is comfortable in a certain position does not mean recreational (or even local racers) who ride maybe 5,000 mi/year will be. Fit is an individual thing and generalizations are decent starting points, but in order to truly develop the best fit, you must work with a fitter in person. Not over the internet and not by looking at pictures of "euro pros." Plus, it has been mentioned that pros generally ride frames that are "too small" for their heigh meaning they use very setback posts and long stems. If they sized up, they could achieve the same position with less setback and shorter stems.
+1
Originally Posted by
DaveSSS
It is not necessary to work with a fitter to get a good position on the bike.
I gotta agree and disagree at the same time. If the OP is riding fine with no issues, I agree. However, if there is discomfort, I think a fitter is a good thing. We can't self asses how we are riding - someone else needs to look at it. In fact, I'm willing to be most pros probably have/do work with a fitter at some point. Nothing wrong with a good fitter. When I was fit, I had hand and foot issues. They are now gone. And my saddle was moved FORWARD.
Originally Posted by
mike868y
but if the OP has to ask about fit on BF, a good fitter may be in order - it will certainly be better than asking for advice on bike forums.
Originally Posted by
DaveSSS
The main topic of this discussion is saddle setback, rather than the total pro-fit, that includes a radical drop and reach. The pros know that you need ample setback to tolerate a large drop (to be aerodynamic) and it may result in more efficient use of the leg muscles, as well.
Setback is independent of drop IMO.
The amount of drop that I choose is quite arbitrary. I used 9cm for many years, then increased it to 11cm, just two years ago (at age 55). I could be comfortable over a large range of drops. I even tried 12cm once, but it just wasn't comfortable when descending mountains. Craning my neck for 20-30 minutes at a time wasn't tolerable. The 11cm drop I can tolerate. I could use 5-7cm too. It's not like there's some magic amount that only a fit guru can figure out.
Just curious but why did you change it?
Again, and nobody has called me out on this yet, stop looking at how pro bikes look. Rather, look at how pros look on their bikes if you believe they have ideal fit. Most pictures I was able to find look like the pros are close to KOPS when ON their bikes. Who cares if it's set back or non-set back that gets them there... they're close. There will always be exceptions and everyone is different but I really don't like this notion that zero set back posts are this terrible thing.