therh

Hello,

I was curious, can a saddle to far forward or back cause knee pain?

RH

Bob Dopolina 

Yes.

Esp too far forward.

therh

Are there any guides or tips on how to set the distance of the saddle front or back. I am riding at the correct height, but it feels like I am slipping off towards the front, so I have to push myself a back while I am riding. Does this mean I need to move the saddle forward or back?

Any and all advice it welcomed.

bored117 

Is saddle angled down in front? That could cause what you are talking about.

therh

That saddle is perpendicular to the top tube. If it help I have a Fuji Roubaix 2.0 with Tiagra gear set and 165mm crank arms.

Rx Rider

I'd say it needs to come forward. I lowered my stem by 3/4 of an inch and I needed to move the saddle back a little, where before I felt I needed a shorter stem. are your seat and bars level?, higher seat than bars?, lower seat than bars? how straight is your leg when DBC on the crank?
what kind of pedals? no float pedals have been known to give knee's trouble

Bob Dopolina 

+1.

Fore/Aft positioning is one of those issues that will quickly turn into a heated debate so be prepared...

Do a search on KOPS (Knee Over Pedal Spindle). Although some will disagree with this as an absolute I believe it is a good, neutral place to start and then personal adjustments can be made from there. For instance I am slightly behind my pedal spindle because of the ratio between my femur and tibia puts me there.

However you go about setting up your saddle keep in mind that adjustments to the saddle are made for your lower body and bars and stems are adjusted for your upper body. In short, don't move your saddle to fit your upper body.

Photos of the bike would help.

FrenchFit 

The obvious advice is to get a fit if you're lost for an explanation.

With me, a very slight nose tilt up and the saddle cocked very slightly to the right is the sweat spot. Additionally, if the saddle is a little low it can cause a variety of unexpected problems, you can try going up to your personal max and then backing off a few mm. Also, find your neutral KOPS postion as a starting point, then move the saddle slight fore or aft to find your sweet spot.

Hunt-man

This. Get a line with a weight on it and see where you are at. Gets me in the ballpark every time.

big john

That's your problem, it should be parallel.

Lewis_Moon

Ow. I don't even want to think about that.

KOPS is a great place to start. I myself tend to position slightly in front of the pedal spindle. No good reason, it's just where it feels right. As for seat angle, mine is flat to very slightly nose up.

therh

I will have to take a look more into that. I did move the saddle forward slightly and angle it up a little and that did help. I only when for a 5 mile ride but it seems to help. I just do 30 miles on Saturday, and my knee is still sore from then, so maybe it will be better to give it a few more days.

Currently I am not riding with clips though my foot position is just forward from the center.

dalava

My knees are super sensitive to the saddle relative to pedals position. Even a few mm would make a huge difference in terms of causing knee pain or not. I also like the Speedplay zero pedals.

OP, experiment a lot and you will find the right place for the saddle. I would start with the saddle level and KOPS.