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The original was posted on /r/velo by /u/Educational-Device93 on 2023-09-25 10:01:10.

Before I make the drive all the way to the bike fitter, just wanted to see if anyone had an opinion on this situation. It’s reddit so I figured this was the best place for one.

Saw a bike fitter who uses the Shimano cycling dynamic system. The result was a straight seat post, longer stem, raising the saddle height, cleats as far back as they will go, and maxing out my old toupe saddle rails so that it was as far forward as possible.

I even tried to buy a new saddle and he wouldn’t sell one to me because the prologo saddles he carried didn’t have long enough rails to have the saddle as far forward as he wanted. He said the frame was the correct size.

Then my cycling coach saw the new setup and was pretty fired up and said that it’s a terrible position. His rational was if the saddle was further back and lower I would engage the glutes and hamstrings more. The coach said this was an extreme fit for even a TT bike with aero bars and that it wouldnt even be UCI legal because how far forward the seat was over the BB (not that I’m racing in UCI events).

The fit felt like an improvement over my own trail and error fit, but I did notice the seat height was probably too high because I was pointing my toes and the stroke was a little choppy.

So I went ahead and lower the seat a couple mm and brought the saddle back a mm. The pedaling stroke smoothed out, which felt great, but then I started getting some upper back pain and knee pain. Probably because I would then need to change the cleat and stem as well.

The bike fitter was a bit of a drive away, and he’s hard to schedule with, but I want to go back and get re fit for the issues.

So while I wait for the appointment, I was wondering if anyone else has some wisdom to share about a saddle that is extremely far forward?

I realize bike fit is just as much a personal opinion as it is a scientific one, but I will say that saddle was noticably further forward then anyone I see riding.