Originally Posted by
SlvrDragon50
Awesome, thanks. That hit on a lot of my worries. I am only having issues with maintaining position with really slow pedal speed. That makes a ton of sense with the rearward setup and loss of power, explains why I was able to have so much more power with the completely forward setup. I think I will need to replace this seatpost before I'm able to make minute saddle adjustments since it's just impossible to make those small adjustments with the Ritchey 2-bolt. I'll bring the saddle height back down again in the meantime.
I had pushed the cleats forward because that is what people were recommending in the previous posts as to find a better saddle position. I will move it back to just behind the ball of the foot now.
Cleat position has absolutely nothing to do with saddle position, though it may affect saddle height. That cleat position is related to saddle position is based on the theory that the knee should be over the pedal spindle, called KOPS. KOPS really has nothing to do with anything. If it were true, recumbent riders would not be able to ride at all.
When you move your saddle fore and aft, you need to reset saddle height each time.
Normal cleat position is with the center of the cleat even with the ball of the big toe. No one rides with them further forward than that, though many prefer them further back. It's preference, nothing really to do with average power. Cleats more forward make it possible to engage the calves briefly for extra power. Moving the cleats back reduces calf action, which works both ways: it's harder to develop a little extra power here and there, but OTOH the calves do less work and thus are less susceptible to cramping.