Is Your Saddle too Far Back or Forward? (Saddle setback explained)

#cycling #roadbike #fitness

[saskhiker]

I have watched many bike fit videos, but this guy explains things so well and helps me really understand my body in relation to my bike.

[Hermod_Hermit]

The more bike fitting videos I watch, the more I appreciate that I've always bought bikes that are just a tad too large. I have bought most of them by going on "recommendations" by the manufacturers.
My personal problem is that I got long legs, thus a relatively short upper body, so reach is constantly an issue. I am down to 60mm stem on my road bike, and now it works fine but if I had a chance I'd rather like to downsize a fram size and get a slightly longer stem.

[tataitibia]

For those with knee injuries: try to put the saddle a litte to back, do it in minimal milimeters for once, this helps me so much that i dont now how to explaine, in two weeks my knees feels much better, no pain.

[sirubenpo]

Sir, you are my Virtual Coach your Knowledge helping me to win some of my races

[jerryavalos]

I've come across two schools of thought on saddle fore and aft. First school believes that the saddle is adjusted to get the knees over the pedal spindle. If you want to adjust reach, you shorten or lengthen the stem. Second school believes that the saddle is adjusted so you are balanced on the bicycle meaning if you can take off your hands off the handlebars and not fall forward, then you are perfectly balanced on the bicycle. Reach is again based on shortening or lengthening the stem.

[abfutrell]

In the last week I moved my saddle another 5mm forward (was already +5mm), so I'm now 1 cm forward from neutral and I raised my saddle 5 mm to compensate. This was the result of a mountain ride last week. I noticed my tendency was to sit on the nose of the saddle to maintain cadence and to get over the top of the pedal stroke. There were 3 separate climbs that averaged 9% for 2 miles each. ~7, 000 feet of climbing. So far my power seems higher and I'm setting PRs on segments with hundreds of efforts without working any harder.

[vernonlacey]

top coach - very informative, funny, and ironic where needed

[christopherwelch]

numb hands and scrunched up neck... yep that describes it. I need to micro-adjust my seat. I'm on a straight handlebar commuter bike, not a fancy racing bike but it is uncomfortable and I thought I needed different handlebars. Thanks for the clear explanation.

[markhill]

General rule, Road bike, 1 to 1.5 inch behind centre of crank, Track .5 behind centre of crank. Having said this it is a very subjective thing, Le Cannibale after his back injury would stop during a race to adjust his seat height, as his back felt.

[sherab]

I belong to this (relatively) few individuals of rather low height (162 cm). And this is causing me a lot of trouble with buying and setting up the bikes. Low budget don't help either, really. I have now the Kross Esker 2.0 with Microshift groupset (2023 model). And this is a nice bike for its price. But I bought the lowest possible frame size, and on the one hand, I can't set (with the original parts) the saddle back enough to not slide forward when getting my hands off the bars, and at the same time, I need to be reaching out forward to the hoods. Oh... and I had to cut the saddle tube to set the right height for me. Oh... why does the cycling industry hate low-height people so much?

[beemrdon]

I had to put my Campy set back seatpost back on the bike as the forward weight was affecting the handling, especially going down hill. My next move will be to raise the handlebar as I am getting some neck discomfort with holding my head up.

[VishnuRajendranAmboo]

Thanks.. a very good info

It's a bit of trail and error when you don't have someone to help you to ensure your settings..

[eikkapelimarkka]

This guy is great. Thank you for the videos.

[guspecunia]

My new TCR ( boxing day ) has a D shaped or propriety seat post, the set back is minimal compared to some bikes I’ve purchased… I’ve always swapped the OEM post for a zero setback….
so as I’ve had to do the majority ( about 1400mi ) of my riding this year indoors I think I’m ready to start diving into the set up since I think I’ve settled into the bike by now…
This video was GREAT! I’ll be applying the lesson see where I am….BTW joining your Patreon page as I’m really impressed by your advice and knowledge coach!!
Cheers from Richmond Va.

[jameslopez]

Much appropriate the straight forward information Brother 😎. Peace ✌️ and Love 💕 from Tucson Arizona Desert 🏜️.

[Jazz-uudk]

Been playing with position for weeks now, still not comfy 100%. At first I felt like I really have to reach too far so changed the stem from 120mm to 100, still grabbing the handlebar away from the brakes so moved saddle forward more. Get numb hands almost instantly with discomfort in my thumb muscles. Dont think going with shorter stem will change it for the better so will have to try the mummy thing and see what might be the culprit. Keep up the good work.

[ReneeBasurto]

You have taught me so much. Thank you so much!

[nicke]

I’m trying to set up my Wattbike. Your advice is amazing 🙌

[krisztianbuglavecz]

this my very first comment on YT. I like your style, and explanations to make people understand bike settings what sometimes seems otherwise rocketscience to begginers like me. I needed to sharpen my ears as English is not my mother tongue :-) t bijk=bike but a big thumb up! (anyway I am 178cm, how long of my crank should be? thx)

[leed]

Great video - thanks for sharing - I’m definitely going to experiment!