Saddle higher for time trialling?

[steephill]

Would anyone be able to advise if I should be setting the saddle a little higher for TTing? If so, by how much, and why? It has been suggested to me, but I could do with some advice on this.

 

[Rob3rt]

Typically if you are using clip on aero bars on a road bike, you slam the saddle forward, then raise it a bit to compensate. The reason being:

Road bikes have a typical seat tube angle of 73 degrees, a TT/Tri bike has an angle something between 76 and 78 degrees, thus it has a shorter top tube than a road bike. If you put aero bars on a road bike then the longer headtube will mean you are reaching too far forward and bending at the waist a lot, this closes the hip angle and negates any aero benefit due to power output reduction.

By pushing the seat forward, you are essentially increasing the effective seat tube angle of your bike, but you are also closer to the bottom bracket height wise, so to preserve proper pedalling motion the seat needs to go up a bit.


The effect you are looking for is to rotate your road possition forward around the hip, not to crunch up in the middle.

In short, unless you are adding clip on aero bars, you should not alter your bike for time trials (assuming your bike is well set up in the 1st place).

 

[steephill]

Thanks Robert. Yes, I am just starting out with TTing and I am using clip-ons on a road bike. Any idea how big the adjustment should be? E.g. saddle set to max forward position and seat up by 1cm? Obviously I'll need to experiment to find my personal settings but it would be useful to read what others have done.

 

[MacB]

Thanks Robert. Yes, I am just starting out with TTing and I am using clip-ons on a road bike. Any idea how big the adjustment should be? E.g. saddle set to max forward position and seat up by 1cm? Obviously I'll need to experiment to find my personal settings but it would be useful to read what others have done.

if you pick a mark on the back of your saddle, I have an emblem on one and Brooks rivets to use on another. Then measure from the top of the BB shell in the middle to the mark. That'll tell you how high you currently like your saddle, then you can slam the saddle forward on the rails and measure to the mark again. It will be shorter and that's how much to raise the saddle to maintain the same position. Most people can cope with a range of saddle heights, mine covers about 20mm, above or below that I get knee problems. I tend to prefer my saddle in the middle of the range but could go up 10mm, without rocking my hips in the pedal stroke.

Once you have the saddle as far forward as you can then experiment raising it 5mm at a time until you find the max height you can maintain a good pedal stroke at. This won't necessarily be a comfortable riding position, you're looking for efficiency rather than comfort. But keep a note of the measurements, and adjustments, and it's easy enough to move back.

 

[Arsen Gere]

When I push the saddle right forward I tend to drop the nose bit down too. It makes it a bit more comfortable as you can afford to slide forward a little when you have weight on your forearms/elbows. See whats comfortable for you.