Originally Posted by
PeteHski
Probably the best way to confirm any positional trends is to look at the evolution of road bike frame geometry. .....Less saddle setback also appears to be a recent trend over the last few years, with more race bikes having zero-offset posts and relatively short-nosed saddles. But not all the pros are following that particular trend.
I am not all that sure about the trend either, and I am sure that "all pros" are NOT using the more forward offset, sprint-like, time-trial-like, quad-centred, "toe down" (with provisos) style. Tom, Pidcock ankles even on downhills.
But please consider the style that Terry is saying is
physiological, and I thought so too, for the same reasons as Terry outlines.
Originally Posted by
terrymorse
Interesting to read about the reduced saddle setback trend (although there is a UCI 5cm minimum setback). Maybe because racers are using more aero positions on their road bikes?
I have for many years used a smaller than regular setback, as I felt it harder to put force into the top of the pedal stroke from "the back seat".
I guess there's some physiology to support the shorter setback idea, as it makes the hip angle wider, and anyone who has done leg presses knows it's hardest to produce force when your knees are closest to your chest.
The reason being it is difficult to push down with your knees below your chest.
But the point of this thread is to point out there is
another way to be physiological, and that is to pedal "from the back seat" by pushing
forwards, and give up pushing before you get to the bottom of the stroke, and then use your glutes to bring the pedals back past the nadir;
The trick to the glute portion, is to put the base of your femur on the saddle (!!!) and catapult your feet backwards, (as if your glutes are the weight of an upside down trebuchet).
To push forwards (and only forwards NOT down from your chest) it helps but it is not essential to drop your heels. Even if you don't drop your heels below level you will feel as though you have dropped them compared to the (my previous and) Terry Morse style above.
To get a rigorous forward push you can:
1) Rotate your hips forwards so that your whole leg and lower body, as if sitting on a recumbent but then you have a rounded back and it is difficult to get low.
2) Use ankling to put an acute angle between your foot and your shin and push your foot forwards at the top of the pedal cycle, and then loading it up to the acute angle again on the glute/bottom part of the stroke.
3) There are some cyclists such as Anquetil who seem to be kicking forwards using dropped toes, even though they are pedalling "from the back seat" ("Bunched up at the back").
Some cyclists are heel dropped all the way, and others are flat all the way around the pedal cycle.
So there are lots of variations but I think that
forward with open hips using quads VS "back seat" with tight hips using quads AND glutes is the main dimension of this "trend" (if it is a trend) or difference in style, rather than foot angle.