nesdog

Just checking a couple of quick things....in general, does moving the saddle backwards then cause the rider to engage the hamstrings and glutes more and moving it forward, the quads?
(assuming saddle height stays relatively the same and is adjusted for that move)

cyclezen

if you haven't changed the saddle height much, then
back - more glute engagement
forward - more guad
at a certain point back the hammies may become under-utlilized

'on the rivet' - spin speed and short burst power - forward - track/sprinters/big guads
steady climbing - back in the seat, steady cadence rarely above low 90's - smaller/lighter climbers/the chicken/ the Schlecks
everyone else somewhere in between...

cleat rotation has a huge effect on all this

nesdog

Thanks. I had swapped out for a new saddle and placed it where I thought it should go. Had issues with knees and ended up getting a pro fit. Took care of that but now I'm having more saddle sores showing up. Didn't have that before. So I'm thinking of making a minor change closer to my original location a few mm farther back but wondering how it would affect overall muscle utilitization.

oldbobcat

Yep. In general. And lower it slightly if you move it back significantly, to maintain the same stretch to the cranks.

It seems some pro fitters like to move the saddle forward to accommodate KOPS or make it easier to reach the handlebar. Listen to your body. It will tell you where to sit.

nesdog

The saddle was at 7 mm before the fit and 0 afterwards. I just moved it to 2, a very small adjustment. So hoping this will help.

cyclezen

saddle sores - shape of the new saddle may not be what your ass likes...

I can usualy ride most anything, as long as it's 143+, but some of the newer tabletop designs put too much pressure at the leg-butt kink, for me... which not only causes immediate pain, but also causes circulation lose on longer (50+) rides and very early onset of monkey-butt.
hence I like a more traditional shape

going from -7 mm (I'm assuming saddle nose behind BB ???) to 0 is a HUGE difference!
no wonder you rknees are complainin.

but saddles vary, so I usually measure and use setback from BB to sitbone position - which for me is just a wee bit more than 30 cm - usually puts me somewhere around 6.5-6.7 behind, on my current saddles.
On a new saddle I'll 'find' where my sitbones like to settle and use that 'mark' to adjust to my preferred fore\aft.

nesdog

The rails of the Avatar have measuring points, hence the 7 mm mark. However these are not necessarily related to the position behind the BB. They are just there for relative position changes.

cyclezen

Oh...
yes, the rail marks are relative, but not to anything on any other saddle... maybe in the same product line... but that's all I would expect.
I thought you were using 'nose behind BB' - that used to work moe betta back when saddles were relatively very similar in length and somewhat similar in shape.
maybe you might want to go to a more related 'relative' mark and position your old saddle (if it worked for you), determine the actual setback from BB to sitbones and then position the new saddle at the same relative point.