Originally Posted by
virtualvision
How tall are you Rickybails?
What is your handle bar to seat tip length if you don't mind.
I'm 6' and the saddle tip to handlebar/stem clamp is 53cm with drop bars. Different drop bars have different forward reaches so to measure reach, and also compare drop bar positions to handlebar position, the measurement I always use is tip of seat to where the centre of the palms when riding. That dimension is 66cm when riding with hands on the brake hoods and also 66 when in the drops ('cos my saddle is much higher than the handlebars).
However, there is one bit of wisdom I'd like to pass on from the many bike fits I've had over the years and experiments I've done with different positions and a power meter....
The most crucial part of the fit is the position of the saddle relative to the bottom bracket - this is more important than the reach. This means you should not be moving the saddle back to achieve the right reach - the saddle should always be a set distance behind the BB for your ideal fit. By ideal fit I mean where the work your glutes do vs the work your hamstrings to is balanced and the leg extension at the bottom of the stroke is as long as it can be without overextending at the knee. So you are stuck with the saddle/BB relationship for your ideal fit and the ideal reach has to be achieve through the combination of the effective top tube, stem length, and handlebar shape.
I have had 3 bike fits, by 3 different people, on 3 types of bikes over a 7 years span (first on a MTB, then 5 years later on the swift with drop bars, then 2 years later on a track bike used only for racing) and with each fit, the saddle/BB relationship came out exactly the same - and I mean to the nearest millimetre. When I went for the track fitting and told him my MTB and Road fit were identical, he told me the track position would end up with the saddle much further forward. I didn't tell him what my MTB/road fit was but he came to the exact same conclusion on my track bike. I've had a power meter on my swift for the past 3 years and I've experimented with slight adjustments to the position, and sometimes kept them there for months in case it was an adaptation thing, but I could never get the same power out.
Digression 1: When comparing position between bikes with different crank lengths, you need to take account of the crank lengths too. So for me, with 170mm cranks my saddle tip must always be 73mm behind the BB as well as a particular height above it. On 175mm cranks the saddle would be 5mm further forward and 5mm lower.
Digression 2: Moving the cleat position forwards/backward would require moving the saddle backwards/forwards the same amount