Saddle Setback - Waht's Yours?

[MacB]

as per title, just curious as to what sort of saddle setback people have and if they vary it for different styles of bikes/riding?

This is measured from centre of BB to saddle nose vertically, you can drop a plumb line from the saddle nose and measure BB to line at BB. Or you can stand bike upright with rear wheel against a wall. Measure from wall to BB centre and from wall to saddle nose and subtract the first from the second.

At 6'1" I have 80mm of setback on two bikes and closer to 70mm(due to Brooks saddle rails) on another.

 

[ColinJ]

I don't think that this is a particularly useful measure.

I have Arione saddles on two of my bikes but I have a different type of saddle on my mountain bike. It has a much shorter nose and a different shape so I set its position up differently to the Ariones.

I never go by theory, I just move a new saddle about until it feels most comfortable. I don't even know what the numbers are.
If for some reason I was replacing a saddle with another of the same type (perhaps due to crash damage), I'd get a tape measure out and copy the position. 

PS Still, there's no harm in telling you the numbers once I've discovered what they are! I'm the same height of you - I'll check the bikes later.

 

[MacB]

thanks Col, this is more about getting measurements together to avoid making ill fitting purchasing decisions. Before anyone else says it, yes I know I can get fully fitted etc. I like to tinker myself and you don't have to reply if you don't want to.

I'm trying to get the setup right for bikes I've converted from flat to butterfly and then drop bars. This means the top tubes are quite long compared to a road geometry frame, I'm also using Midge bars which only have 65mm of forward sweep, which is pretty short.

I was curious as, no matter what way I seem to do the measurements, layback seatposts seem to be a no-no, yet I see plenty of them around. Depending on the fit calculator used, and style of riding input, I get anything from 62mm to 90mm as a setback recommendation. On most frames this sort of setback only seems to be achievable with an inline seatpost.

If anyone can be bothered I'd also be interested in the saddle nose to centre of bars measurement.

 

[ColinJ]

I still haven't measured the saddle position on the bikes, but I can tell you that I find a 58 cm road bike frame is ideal for me using a 110 mm stem. 

My first bike was 56 cm and I felt a bit cramped on it though I still have one that size in the Midlands. I've pushed the saddle back further than I normally would to stretch me out more on that bike. 

I had a 60 cm bike once and got on okay with it once I switched the 110 mm stem for a 90 mm one.

I have flipped the stems for a more upright position. I don't like a big drop from the saddle to the top of the bars.

My inside leg measurement is 32" which I reckon is a bit short for a 6' 1" man, so I'm probably longer in the body than most people of our height.

One day if/when I have the money, I'd like to ride over to Paul Hewitt in Leyland and have a proper bike fit done for a new bike. I'd be interested to see what position he came up with relative to what I ride now. I do suffer from back ache on long hilly rides, but I think most of that it is due to not being fit enough!

 

[HLaB]

I found the distance back from the BB to point where a theoretical seatpost would intersect the top of the saddle. The distance to the back of the saddle is also important. Whereas the length of a saddle may vary making the distance to the nose inconsistent. IIRC that point on my bike is about 218mm and the setback to the rear is 120mm; on one of my bikes though this is reduced by 2.5mm as its got 175mm cranks whereas my other bikes have 172.5mm cranks. btw I 5 foot 9 and 1/4 inch.

 

[woohoo]

I was measured before I bought my current road bike and the recommended saddle setback came out at 3.4cm. I've moved things around since I bought the bike e.g. changed the handlebars, stem and saddle and find I'm happiest with a 3.0cm setback but for all of my 5'6", I have a long back and short femurs.

IIRC, the UCI have a minimum standard of 5.0cm for saddle setback but exemptions are available for riders with short femurs. (I don't know if this applies to TT bikes but riders in these events always appear to be riding on the point of the saddle in an attempt to shorten the effective setback.)

 

[GrasB]

On Selle Italia SLR saddle with the seat tube at 78 deg I want about 10mm layback seat post & at 74 deg I use a 0mm layback seat post. This puts me further forward to the handle bars with the 78 deg seat tube but you can lower your torso more thus you want a slightly shorter reach to compensate & take better advantage of your different natural handlebar position. I don't know what the saddle setback is as I've never actually measured that.

 

[e-rider]

I use an inline post with a 73 degree seat tube if that helps - saddle rails are fairly central in the clamp.

I believe I have short femurs relative to my overall leg length so I find it easy to have too much setback (hence the inline post)

 

[jimboalee]

The answer to this is nothing to do with the nose or length of the saddle. It is where your butt is most comfortable on the saddle.

Saddle manufactureres think of this and design their product so that ( the average bod ) the sit bones are in the best position when the straight line up the seattube intersects the top surface half way along the saddle ( if the saddle was the shape of a Brooks ).

A fizik Arione can be made the same shape as a Brooks if you chop off the pointy bit at the back.

 

[jimboalee]

BTW.

5mm either way doesn't make a fat lot of difference. Your riding style adapts after a few miles.

Did anyone notice Contador constantly repositioning himself on the seat during the Individual TT on the Tour? His seat was not in the best position and he should sack his ergonomics engineer.

 

[MacB]

thanks Jimbo but I did really want some real world numbers, I've got various theories coming out of my ears.

 

[HLaB]

BTW.

5mm either way doesn't make a fat lot of difference. Your riding style adapts after a few miles.

Did anyone notice Contador constantly repositioning himself on the seat during the Individual TT on the Tour? His seat was not in the best position and he should sack his ergonomics engineer.

I guess my body doesnt adapt but if I put my saddle up or back too far (about 2.5mm) I stretch my calf too much (did an injury that way) but agree with you moving it forward makes no difference after all Contador and plenty of others are on the rivet one minute, the back of their saddle the next

 

[redddraggon]

I'm only 5'7" and have about 80mm on my Ti bike, no idea on the other bikes as I've not measured them, but they are probably less.

 

[potsy]

I've really struggled to get my saddle position right on my Secteur,height seems OK now but can't work out the fore/aft position at all.
It's quite far forward now yet it still feels like my legs are stretching forwards to turn the pedals,trial and error I guess I'll get it right eventually.
All these figures and measurements that MacB mentions confuse the hell out of me

On the hybrid I left it as it came out the shop and it's been fine.

 

[GrasB]

BTW.

5mm either way doesn't make a fat lot of difference. Your riding style adapts after a few miles.

5mm can make an awful lot of difference. Set the saddle to far forward & you'll find that you get rubbing & thus chaffing. A 5mm adjustment could move the saddle far enough back to solve this. The same goes for setting it to far back, while you can ride on the nose this is uncomfortable so you move back but that means your leg line is now wrong so you move forwards... again a 5mm adjustment may put the saddle in a position which is more comfortable for the rider without this constant shuffling.


HLaB, if you move forward in the saddle & can get proper leg extension it leads to a more aero position & allows you to put a bit more power into the pedals. From what little I understand about TTing on the pro circuit the impression I get is the saddle is put in a position to maximise power output in the rules, this means tipping the saddle a little to forward so the rider will slide down it & need to reposition them selves on a regular basis.