Originally Posted by
AndyK
My saddle height is 81cm. Should my longer legs rule out KOPS? Should I have the saddle at least 8cm behind the BB - due to my longer than average tibias?
Hipcapie with almost a 36 inch inseam...most pro's ride close to the Lemond formula of .883 X inseam has a 80cm saddle height. Big George rides with 9.7cm of setback i.e. plumb off of saddle nose horizontal distance to BB cL. I ride with 10cm with a 35.25" inseam and 78cm saddle height as I like to ride slightly behind KOPS. So my response to you is yes. You have very long legs and I believe KOPS is a good 'general' target although the veracity of KOPS is often debated. The only way to know is to try it. Farther behind KOPS does close your hip angle but it does get your glutes involved and take weight off your hands. Guys with real long legs sometimes have a hard time achieving KOPS unless they have either a frame in the 72 deg sta range and setback seatpost...or extreme setback post + 73 deg frame. The reason why many pros choose less setback is they are in the business of being fast and creating power and not in the comfort business. They can sustain less setback because their natural tendency is to put more watts down compared to the average guy naturally unweighting their hands. Plus they generally have a lighter torso than your average beer drinker. So less than KOPS works well for a racer but for the average guy having the saddle back more will take more pressure off the hands for the simple fact that he doesn't unweight his upper body as much with lower pedal pressures.
Honestly, the best medicine is to experiment. Roadwarrior made an asute observation...he makes many because he is in the bike fitting busiess

and he lets powertap watt output be the gauge of a proper fit. It stands to reason. A rider in the most efficient position will put out the most power. The rider in the best power position
maybe also in the most comfortable position as well. My advice with any of this stuff is there is no absolutes and most won't know what is the best position until they try it.