Originally Posted by
79pmooney
No! That is all backwards. The seat to BB relationship is all about your position relative to the best power, comfort and aerodynamics of your body. Same with handlebars. After those are in place, your weight is where it is relative to the BB and more important, the wheels. If that is not optimum for handling, then that frame doesn't really suit you. (My weight ends up being far enough forward of the BB that I have my customs built with rear triangles as short as feasible and longish front centers.)
My feeling is that the bike is a tool to support my riding, not vice versa. (Although this forum is "Fitting Your Bike" so perhaps I am in the wrong place. I should be in 'Getting Your Bike to Fit".)
Ben
You're right Ben. For one thing, having the center of gravity over the BB would only balance you if you were coasting. Pedaling, you'd need to balance somewhere forward of the BB (because that's where you're pressing down, not at the center). But my point is not important because it's not about balancing your center of gravity.
But
what if, when fitters say "center of gravity" they're using a term of convention and really mean something else? From that viewpoint, if you rephrase Road Fan: "The idea in saddle fore/aft is to get one's
position correct relative to the BB axis". To me, that seems absolutely correct and everything else he said follows. That would agree with you also wouldn't it, since your position for power depends on setting the saddle relative to the pedals.