Originally Posted by genejockey

Boringly technical discussion of bike geometry and fit follows. Feel free to scroll past:

I was puzzling over why the saddle on the Litespeed seems to be slammed forward in the cradle of the zero setback post I bought. After a bit of analysis, I conclude it's a combination of several factors.

1. Because I have short thighs for my leg length, my saddles are generally farther forward than average.
2. Because my legs are long for my height, and I point my toes when I pedal, my saddle height is higher than average.
3. Because the virtual seat tube angle at 73 degrees is more slack than my other bikes
4. Because the ACTUAL seat tube angle is even more slack than 73 degrees, since the seat tube is curved to shorten the seat stays
5. Because the clamping part of the saddle rails on the Fizik Aliante VSX is about 1 cm farther forward, relative to the contact points, than my other saddles.

The funny thing is, with the saddle slammed all the way forward in a zero-setback post, the saddle setback (measured saddle nose to center of BB) is about a cm greater than my other bikes with different saddles. So I measured the distance between what is functionally the back of the saddle and the tip of the nose, and the Fizik is a cm shorter. Which just goes to show you that measuring setback that way only works when all your saddles are the same.

In any case, Sunday's ride confirmed that the saddle height and setback are correct, no matter how odd they may look.