I rarely agree with Leah (*) but I am one old-school rider who also likes his saddle slammed back and his gears high, and I blame Grant. I used to be a spinner -- would maintain 20-22 mph over distance in a 64" gear, back when I was a pimpled 40-something -- until I started ordering bikes from Rivendelll and complained that I felt as if I was "losing power at the top of the pedal stroke," particularly when torquing up hills or into winds. (There were also handling problems from my, then, habit of riding seat-forward, bar-forward-and-down.) Grant said: Move bar up and back and move saddle back and down, and so I did. Much better for climbing, but it also made me into a masher, this probably helped by age.
On Riv frames with 73* stas, I used to use a rubber mallet to get my Flites as far back on my favorite, fairly setback, DA 7410 seatposts. I don't do this any longer -- I've moved my first edition Flites forward by about 5 mm -- But I have to say, I have no desire to go back to that forward riding position. (*) Kidding, of course, and I daresay Leah could hardly care less. Saddle position apart, Leah, that's a pretty bike, tho' I recommend grips to match the saddle. Patrick "over and out" Moore On Sunday, October 15, 2023 at 5:03:31 PM UTC-4 George Schick wrote: > >> I'll probably get clobbered for my reply to this discussion - I'm used to >> it - but from viewing the pics of Leah's bikes in this thread plus others >> in previous threads, her bike always seems to be either in the highest gear >> or at least the next to highest. And she has admitted to as much in >> previous discussions that's how she likes it. And since she likes the >> saddle moved as far as possible to the rear this means that she's using the >> leverage of that angle while pulling back on the bar grips in order to >> "stomp" as hard as possible on the pedals. Since she has the leg >> development and strength to get away with that kind of riding due to her >> weight training and other off-bike workouts, that's just how she's using to >> riding. >> >> Many of the rest of us old farts who learned road riding on a >> diamond-framed bike with drop bars, having the saddle positioned more >> closely to the center of the BB so we could "spin" the pedals at as high a >> cadence (RPM) as possible, shifting gears when necessary in order to >> maintain that cadence (which is how I assume the pro racers still learn to >> ride). Which is probably why she gets some sideways looks by others in the >> pace lines of her bike club. That's not how she's learned to ride for >> whatever reason, so fiddling around with saddle position is likely to be a >> problem, or as least a considerable adjustment for her. Anyway, that's my >> 2¢. >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CALuTfgveade-UBdwMGyE_iAA2zJCyXSQhitQbBLr_nWketdg2A%40mail.gmail.com.
