Originally Posted by
Leisesturm
I find saddle tilt MUCH more determinant of weight on the hands than the fore-aft adjustment. I haven't seen saddle tilt even mentioned in passing yet. Or did I miss that post? Saddle should never be nose down for any reason, for anyone! I know, I know, just kidding ... kind of. Saddle dead level is but a starting point. Try nose up a skoosh and see what happens. I personally do not find for-aft adjustment has any effect on my quad effort. I use it to dial in knee comfort. Quad comfort is determined by gearing. O.p. wants to wear the hair shirt and mash gears that the CAT 3 20 year olds train in. Who am I? Nobody, but I know that they should revisit their thinking on the sweet spot re: anaerobic vs aerobic effort. I am replacing the 11-28 on my roadie with an 11-34. Leaving the 50/39 on for now but when I am the o.p.'s age it's going to a 48/??. FWIW.
My saddle's about 1/8" down in front. Need that to prevent saddle sores. You're right, does weight the hands a little more, but the saddle's.all the way back on a 30mm setback post. I go by the "should be able to take hands off bars briefly w/o sliding forward on the saddle" thing. I ride my rollers a lot, so I'm one of those pedal circles cranks. My quads don't tire any more than my hams.
My triple is 53-39-26 and the cassette is 11-30. I hope to ride that until I'm done. When the bike was new in '05, it was 52-42-30 and 12-25. Bars are a few cm. below saddle, same as always. On my 6th week post-op, back on the rollers, not outdoors yet.