Originally Posted by
wphamilton
the red figure has much less weight on the hands than the brown figure.
I don't think race enters into it, but if that's the way you see the world...
Originally Posted by
wphamilton
Nice illustration!
Thanks! I quite like it, too!
Originally Posted by
wphamilton
Your head does move back relative to it's previous position, but the important feature with regards to weight is relative to the points which bear weight. Hands and seat. It has moved way forward relative to the seat and the red figure has much less weight on the hands than the brown figure.
I don't know that is necessarily does - if your hips were a frictionless pivot then maybe, but the more you bend over the more your weight is supported by your stretched out trunk muscles. That is where my graphic is misleading - people seldom ride perfectly upright as the red figure is... they are almost always leaning somewhat. And the weight you have to support is much closer to the saddle than the bars when you move your weight back. Imagine balancing a heavy weight on a 10 foot ladder - and the weight is 1 foot from one end of the ladder and 9 feet fromt he other end - the person lifting the end 9 feet away from the weight is lifting much less than the guy close to the weight.
Anyhoo, my theory is that excess hand pressure is almost always caused by and cured by the angle of the saddle... if the saddle is pointed nose-up, it tilts the pelvis back and forces trunk muscles to support more of the weight. If the saddle is nose down, not only does it not encourage the pelvis to rotate back, but the riders weight has to be stopped from sliding forwards.