When I use KOPS to position myself on my bicycle, I get a lot of hand, trapezius, shoulder, and upper back pain. It seems my weight is too far forward. I have to have my seat almost all the way forward to achieve KOPS on my 56cm frame.

My question is, would achieving KOPS on a 54cm frame change anything as far as how forward my weight is? I know it would change my weight distribution on the back wheel.

I know changing from a 100mm stem with a 17 degree angle to a 110mm stem with a 7 degree angle helped with pain, too.

What do you guys think? Thanks in advance.

KOPS is a great reference point. Not a golden rule. If you want to go behind KOPS then by all means position your saddle behind KOPS. Definitely more comfortable. I think that recreational riders should be setup behind KOPS as a matter of course.

Now the catch to being behind KOPS is that your leg angles can close up a little making it harder to spin high cadences. Being in front of KOPS opens your leg angles but places more weight on your hands and shoulders.

KOPS is a balancing act that seems to work for most but certainly push your saddle back and see what its like.

Anthony

I ride with my saddle all the way back on a set-back seatpost. Ignore KOPS and go by comfort. Putting your saddle further back slightly changes muscle recruitment so it takes a while to get used to, but in the long run it's fine. I don't think a smaller bike would change anything much for you since with the saddle the same height and the seatpost probably at the same angle, your position w/r to BB would be the same.

It's counter-intuitive but moving your handlebar down can often radically relieve hand, back, neck, and shoulder pressure. I'm fairly tall so I require at least 4" of handlebar drop relative to the saddle height, and even with that I like to get down into the drops. The lower the bars the shorter your stem needs to be.