Originally Posted by
Unglued
Great article, thank you for sharing.
Raising the saddle has helped quite a bit. I adjusted based on the average of the different methods found online. (Lemond's chart seems to have gotten me near where I want to be). Based on that, it was actually about 1.5cm too low. I may be a tad (1mm or so) high now. I feel some tightening/stretching in the back of my legs at points.
I have some residual pain from when the seat was low in the petellar and quad tendon, but nothing like what I experienced before where it was a global ache in both knees.
I also did the fore/aft alignment (KOPs) as well. I think I'm in a good neutral spot, maybe slighting forward as some recommendations said being a little more forward is less detrimental than backwards. Seat tilt is currently level.
I have a few questions on fine tuning... What is the best bet for climbing. Should I adjust a little more forward or backward? I have a lot of medium sized climbs and any 15 mile route could include 900ft of elevation change over multiple hills from 2-12% grades. I spend most of my time climbing seated, if that makes a difference.
Also, Speedplays seem great. May be my first upgrade as I move along with this.
Generally when my seat is too high I get pain in the back or side (near the back) of the knee, if I lower it 1-2mm that alleviates the pain almost instantly. In this instance I recommend lowering the saddle height by 2mm and see if the pain goes away, if so then lower it an additional 1-2mm because everyday will not be your best day.
Fore-aft saddle position should not change based on climbing, but should be set as the forward-most position that allows you to balance you weight between your hands and torso. Generally though further aft is good for seated climbing, but you do not want to be too far back because you will feel it in your knees. The area where I ride is roughly like yours, but with rolling hills in the 5-10% range, be sure you keep a higher cadence which helps to prevent large sustained stresses on your knees.
As far a cleats/pedals, have you angled your cleats to match the angle of your feet (assuming there is an angle to your feet)? This essentially increases your float. I am toed-out and if I do not match that with my cleat angle, then I have knee pain.