Triguy

On the road bike you ride most, what is your setback like as a percentage of your saddle height?

I know that individual body physiology is a good reason for differences but I'm curious.

As an example of how to measure:
my set back 6.1cm/71cm saddle height measured along the seattube
=8.6%

This is only a question to satisfy some curiosities that have arisen with me.

svtmike

Measured from the nose of the saddle? 14.5%

Triguy

yeah, horizontal distance of nose of saddle to bb centerline, like this image:
https://blog.charleslloydfitness.com/..._dimension.gif

adriano 

this is worse than the other pseudo studies on here because you think its well thought out but the formula itself is flawed.

fordmanvt

I thought this too. Results will be all over the board and will end up telling us that the figures are meaningless.

adriano 

"you" being the op.

Triguy

Though it's easy to criticize, I only hoped to create a basis for a more generalized fit discussion. Lots of people around here don't seem to understand the importance of saddle setback in bike fit.

I don't think it's a perfect formula(it's not actually "mine"), and in my original post stated "I know that individual body physiology is a good reason for differences..." But to that extent, obviously riding goals and style also play in to the equation.

What actually spurred me wanting to ask here is an article from Dan Empfield; https://www.slowtwitch.com/Bike_Fit/R..._Fit_2631.html

Dan apparently has a set of data from Mediterranean pro level riders, and recently surveyed long time road racers who are members of the ST forum. I suspected that the wider variety of bike riders here would result in a wider variety of results. Whereas Dan saw a fairly narrow range in the experienced racers' setbacks, mostly right around 8-9% setback; in what he posted on the ST forum there was a fairly small standard deviation in his data. Even in the few responses my poll has, there is obviously more variety here.

Dan used the results to tweak his fit protocol for road bikes. Starting at about +10% and then moving forward based on feedback.

I know instead of starting a fit conversation, it would have been more valuable to start another aero v. weight thread or maybe a handbuilt v. factory wheels thread or a Caad thread... So many options and I chose something as mundane as saddle setback.

adriano 

one of a long list of reasons why this is pointless: you dont sit on the very nose of the saddle.

svtmike

I think we had a very similar discussion not too long ago, but instead of this formula we were looking at the measurement from the nose of the saddle to the bar.

Yes, here it is... https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/796530

Bob Ross

Crap, they never told me there was gonna be math...

mmmdonuts

About two thumbs but I don't know what that is in % of height. I can't count higher than two thumbs.

Saddles are different lengths. The distance from the nose to the sit spot varies between different saddles. The sit spot is not in the same place for different people on the same saddle. And so on, and so on...

adriano 

there it is.

Triguy

Again, not perfect. I understand this, my road bike has ~6cm setback, my commuter has about 4cm; but if you measure from bb centerline to the spot on the respective saddles where they are "x(i believe 10)" cm wide, then the number is the same. The commuter bike just has a saddle with a 2cm longer nose.

adriano 

and this offset destroys all proportionality, the entire point of this thread.

abstractform20

so a guy did a non-random sample on a very select and small group of professional cyclists.

nice.