[AsiKati]

Hi, a question to those training for XC racing/endurance on both their mountain bike and road bike - do you try to keep your saddle fore-aft and height vs the BB the same on both bikes? Similar drop to the XC handlebar as the hoods? To each it’s own?
Thanks!

 

[Skier78]

I try to keep saddle position relative to BB exactly the same on all my bikes, taking the suspension sag into account.

I used to have the same drop (about 10cm) to the bars, but I have raised it on my mountain bikes so it is about 5cm drop now. I think it helps for manuals, bunnyhops and control in general.

 

[Lopaka]

Fore/aft saddle position is the same on all bikes. My mountain bike saddles are about 1/2 inch lower to give me a little more room to move around. My trail bike has a dropper of course.

The bar height is lowest on the road bike, slightly higher on the hard tail race bike, higher again on my full suspension XC bike and higher still on my trail bike.

 

[bootsie_cat]

Full sus or hardtail?
You can set up a hardtail more or less in the same saddle position of your road bike-
On a full bus it can be different. The measured setback can produce different results with the rider sitting on it.
So on the full sus- You want the same "rider position"- this may not require the same setback as the road bike.

For bars- My opinion is that to want reach to the bars to be longer than the reach to the tops (of a road bike), but shorter than reach to hoods.
Drop- Road should be lower than mtb- But everyone is different with respect to handlebar drop.
I would say that a good pace to start is to have your mtb set up with drop about half of what your road drop is.
Adjust up or down from there for control and comfort.

 

[RadBartTaylor]

My opinion is based on a few things like, full sus vs hardtail, dropper or not and the type of terrain you are riding.

Flat terrain, keep saddle close to road position. Lots of climbing, saddle forward and nose down. Dropper post, run saddle same height as road bike, no dropper, lower it a few mm. Full suspension, adjust saddle position at rider sag, not static with no rider weight - this makes a HUGE difference. Bars height, about the same as road bike, there are arguments for going up (better descending) and down (to deal with steep climbs), but it's highly personal.

My school of thought is you want to be positioned optimally where you are going to spending time pedaling....on a MTB that is generally while going uphill, where a road bike is generally on flat ground. So I try and set mine up with a more forward position and aggressive position so when I am on a climb, it's similar to my road bike on the flats. I also find a more forward position helps with transitioning from sitting to standing and vice versa on steep punchy climbs.

Obviously if you live somewhere flat, you probably want more of a road position.

 

[wheelzqc]

What's an easy way to calculate saddle fore/aft with sag?

 

[Skier78]

What's an easy way to calculate saddle fore/aft with sag?

I usually use nylon straps to compress the suspension to sag front and rear and then use a plumb bob from the tip of the saddle down to the bottom bracket.

 

[RadBartTaylor]

What's an easy way to calculate saddle fore/aft with sag?

Let air out of your shock until it sits at desired / correct sag position. Forget plum bobs, just put the bikes rear wheel against a wall and measure from wall to BB and wall to saddle nose, subtract the two.

Take into consideration saddles that are shorter or longer also, e.g. Specialized "power" saddles are super short so throw off the measurement a bit, adjust calcs accordingly.