Originally Posted by
bike eagle
This reminds me of another thought I had the day I discovered the simple seat positioning idea outlined in the OP. When are we putting out the most power? For me, it's when I am standing and pedaling. I haven't tried this yet, but maybe an even better way to locate the saddle would be to move your body forward until it's in the position you are normally in while standing and pedaling. Then, from that position, simply lower your body until your behind contacts the seat, then move the seat to match that position.
Obviously, that position would be forward of the position I advocated in the OP, but it would result in the seat simply being a place to rest instead of standing, but with the legs in the same place as they would be if standing. In other words, standing would not require moving up and forward, but simply moving up, when transition from seated to standing pedaling.
On rare occasions, original thought by newcomers to a field can change the conversation. This field is well over 100 years old and original thought was active around the time of the Wright Brothers. By now, everything's getting pretty much cut and dried. Saddle position for recreational riders and long distance racers is all about balance. There are several ways to test for balance. The way I use is to be pedaling normally on the flat, at my usual cruising speed. If I can briefly lift my hands off the bars and not slide forward on the saddle, that's good balance. So go for that, at least to start with. The idea of being in balance on the saddle is that you should be able to ride for . . . well forever without your arms and hands becoming overtired. A key to riding is to be able to control the bars, brakes, and shifters. That ability starts to go away as the arms and hands tire and that's not good.
When you stand, don't put weight on the bars. Rather pull up slightly on the bars, pulling up slightly on the downstroke pedal side. Thus you'll be slightly rocking the bike away from the downstroke leg. If your standing position is correct, you might find that the backs of your legs are lightly brushing the saddle nose. If you were sprinting or climbing hard, you'd be pulling up hard on the downstroke leg side.
If you can't stand without weighting the bars, stand more, you'll get stronger and better at it. A good policy is to stand for about a minute every 10 minutes, by the clock. That's good for your butt, too. It's also nice to stand on the last bit of a climb, gradually accelerating before you sit down for the descent.