Originally Posted by
wphamilton
I think if you have very little or no weight on your saddle, it doesn't matter much where it is.
I don't know about you, but I seldom ride with my rear hovering over the seat other than for short distances. When I do sprint my position changes. When I'm not sprinting but at a brisk pace I may stay on top of the gear which pushes me backwards and changes the pressure at both hands and butt. Yet most of the time I have some weight on the saddle - and I don't dawdle around.
Any weight on the saddle changes the balance picture. The pedal stroke changes the picture. I think that crouching still over the saddle does not reflect the riding dynamics.
Hi,
That is like saying only the saddle matters and your hands take no weight, which is not true.
My conjecture is with the pedals level, if you lift off the seat a little on your legs and there
is very little force on your hands this indicates your CofG is basically over the crank spindle.
Of course for climbing and sprinting you pull on the bars, in or out of the saddle.
YMMV, but for my folder, which I ride mostly in the saddle, it indicated lifting the bars
would be better, I tried it today, and it definitely is in terms of hand comfort. It may
be a gross simplification, or a good rule of thumb, I'm not claiming to be an expert.
However I will mention coasting downhill I have the pedals level and lift off the seat a
little for bumps. The amount of adjustment you make when you reseat is what I'm
on about. If it's a little, nothing to worry about. If its a lot and your not riding a
bike intended for extreme riding positions IMO you have some cause for concern.
I agree that crouching over the saddle is not typical. But if you do it indicates
how your typical riding postions CofG relates to the crank spindle. It's a very
logical preposition your CofG should be over the crank spindle, why not ?
rgds, sreten.
I changed the bar height on my one size fits all folder from minimum, level
with the saddle (set as far back as it will go and the right height for leg
extension) using this method, lifting them by about 2".
No doubt the real problem is the bars to saddle is too short, but the bars
have no stem for adjustment, and surprisingly for me the higher bars
were a lot more comfortable, with all the aero of a flying vertical brick.