Thread: Saddle Angle
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Old 08-30-23 | 08:14 AM
  #38  
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From: Ann Arbor, MI

Bikes: 1980 Masi, 1984 Mondonico, 1984 Trek 610, 1980 Woodrup Giro, 2005 Mondonico Futura Leggera ELOS, 1967 PX10E, 1971 Peugeot UO-8

Originally Posted by 79pmooney
No, I am not trying a level or tipped back seat because I know exactly what it will do. Yes, take weight off my hands and stop the (minor) tendency to slide forward. It will also have me tipping my pelvis back to take pressure of my soft parts or pay the price; both during the ride and after. That tipped pelvis means I cannot abdominal breath as effectively. Now I could then bring ,my bars up and/or back and solve both the weight on hands and reduced oxygen uptake, but at the cost of this lightweight, totally non-aero and low powered leaf laboring harder to go fast or upwind. In my book, totally not OK.

So I adjust my seats to get the position I want in comfort, then address seriously my hand comfort. End result? I can ride all day in comfort and if I have to spend real time upwind; well it's as good as I can make it.
I've also been in this long enough to know that I can't solve all the problems individually or immediately - the best riding position I can find pretty much eliminates perineal abrasion and lower back pain, and keeps my body weight balanced above the BB axis - those are the priorities. I don't just "tilt up (or down) the saddle." I edge the nose up or down just a little bit at a time until it feels right, then I ride a bit to see if it needs a height adjustment, then double check the tilt again, iterating as necessary. Once these points are set I can adjust bar tilt and stem height, and sometimes bar reach if I have enough spare stems in The Box. I usually can't feel bar reach errors until I've been back on the bike for an hour or so, anyway. So, I was trying to convey a little of the techniques combined with a sort of orderly iteration I use to achieve my balance. I find the same process works for a wide range of different saddles I've used.

While I phrased my advice as a universal, I know it is not that way for all of us, at least not my statements about saddle position. I just wanted to communicate some of the basics of height versus angle, because there was a lot of talk about just getting the tilt, or just the height, and not talking about how two variables (and additional variables) might affect each other. You are clearly the expert on your own fit. As I come back from Covid I'll again become the expert on my fitting, but meanwhile I have my methodology for setting up, and I can share that with others.
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