cyclezen

Fine tuning my saddle... hmmm
well I sortta, over time, have come to what seems the optimum saddle setup for me, on a road bike (still playing with mtb a bit... depends a lot on the bike... TT position - think I've not yet found 'IT'...)
see, I know my setback - BB center to where my sitzbones would be on a saddle, and my extension - as combined with setback. I know what happens when I might vary my setback and extension in any combination...
I've never had Big Guads - nor big Glutes... I have a quite long femur - 44.5 cm, and the muskels tend to be long and stringy, not bulky and flexible... My hamstrings might even be larger than the Quads...visually.
so for long riding time motoring I favor a setup which involves the hamstring & glute a bit more (with strong calf involvement) - over quads... But If I don;t balance that properly, then the quad power for quick burst/sprints is lost.
So - general start setup for a new saddle - depending on the shape/longitudinal profile - the saddle setback starts with sitzbones placement at 31 cm behind BB Center. For a Specialized Toupe or Phenom saddle that means the saddle nose is 8.5 cm behind BB. For a San Marco Strada that would be 8 cm. With the Saddle extension of 78 cm from BB center, for a 172.5 crank.
Saddle starts visual 'level', I only use a level to get visually close, but will vary very slightly if the saddle has a significant tail turnup (those saddles I avoid, so usually not a consideration).
Then I ride... Being very aware of my posture, especially hip/back tilt. I don;t force a strong hip tilt forward, but also make sure I'm not 'hunchbacked' ('kyphosis' is a medical condition, often used by fitters as a fancy term to WOW, for forward bend of back - I prefer not to confuse others..). But I do have some hip forward tilt.
Also make sure I'm not having 'Lordosis' (that fancy fitter's WOW term for forward bend of the central and upper back with a more vertical hip angle - 'Lordosis' is also being a medical condition...). BS & WOW (Shock & Awe)
It's all about 'posture'... I'm almost never in a very upright posture - usually highest is about 45-50 deg up from horizontal - at most. If I'm in my 'neutral', balanced space, then I have most of my 'weight' on the sitzbones; not much pressure anywhere else. Then I go into an 'aero hoods' position, and check for up front pressure - if it's too much, I might rotate the saddle just a hair, and then do the whole testing again.
done.
Setback and extension does all the heavy lifting... I've recently started riding in faster groups again, now that I seem to be feeling much better. And realizing my chicken leg quads need more development - so I've gone, in early May from 8.5 setback to 8 and 7.8, and just this past week to 7.5 cm. The quads are complaining a bit - but it's good for them - Shut Legs !!! LOL!
Happy to notice that my power to bridge a sizable gap at speed has improved tremendously in the past 2 months... Now the big challenge - climbing...

I have to ask, did the Fitter explain why he set you up with so a dramatic down saddle tilt ? I See it a lot these days... I don;t think it's good or effective, except in some very special cases...
AS for the cockpit - too much to go into here... but pretty straightforward.... I groove with a good reach...
Ride On
Yuri
EDIT - Oh, and like 79pmooney noted - 2 screw clamp adjustment for my seatposts !!! best !!! very easy to get the tilt set - number of screw turns noted, allows you to make the right adjustments either way from where you started. You can get there with a one screw - but it's a much longer process of fiddling...
also, if you wanna change setback and not screw up tilt - count turns as you loosen one screw, until you can slide saddle on rails/lower clamp - then tighten again same number turns in reverse... - done !