I've noticed old bike catalogs usually show bicycles with the seat clamp set in front of the seat post.


This is just about always the case on bikes with upright handlebars, and often (or usually) the case on bikes with drop bars.


Today, of course, we always put the seat clamp on the back of the post, or use a seat post with an integrated clamp that always goes to the back. Actually, I'm not even sure it would be possible to use a typical "modern" post this way ("backwards") (has anyone tried?).

And it would appear that il campionissimo had his 1952 Bianchi set up like a modern one (though of course it may have been changed later):


So I'm wondering, were the older bikes designed for a different weight distribution than today's? Does anyone ride this way today? I'm especially curious about those of you who ride bikes from the 50's and earlier.