Saddle position on XS frames

As I become a more experienced road and mountain rider, I find myself more
and more comfortable on smaller and smaller bikes. At 5'5" with a 29.5"
inseam, I have finally settled on a extra-small Giant TCR Aero. I love this
thing size-wise, but I've got one issue unsolved. The seatpost that came
with the bike had 15mm offset, and was too far back even with the saddle all
the way forward. I replaced it with a 0-mm offset Thomson, slid it all the
way forward on that, and now it feels just right.

I'm a bit concerned with the fact that my seating position is so far forward
on the bike before it gets comfortable, but with my height and inseam, does
it seem too far off the norm? I'd also like to get some more space for my
seat bag because it's all crammed up on the smallest bit of rails available.

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

Phil, Squid-in-Training wrote:
As I become a more experienced road and mountain rider, I find myself more
and more comfortable on smaller and smaller bikes. At 5'5" with a 29.5"
inseam, I have finally settled on a extra-small Giant TCR Aero. I love this
thing size-wise, but I've got one issue unsolved. The seatpost that came
with the bike had 15mm offset, and was too far back even with the saddle all
the way forward. I replaced it with a 0-mm offset Thomson, slid it all the
way forward on that, and now it feels just right.

I'm a bit concerned with the fact that my seating position is so far forward
on the bike before it gets comfortable, but with my height and inseam, does
it seem too far off the norm? I'd also like to get some more space for my
seat bag because it's all crammed up on the smallest bit of rails available.

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

Short femurs? KOPS, altho certainly not etched in stone, is a good
constant and a good place to start. If your saddle/seatpost result in
KOPS, then it's right. The only other problem with smaller frames is
that sometimes it's too hard to get the handlebars high enough,
particularly with carbon fork steerers, that limit the number of
spacers you can use.

Phil, Squid-in-Training wrote:

I'm a bit concerned with the fact that my seating position is so far forward
on the bike before it gets comfortable, but with my height and inseam, does
it seem too far off the norm?

Smaller frames on road bikes tend to have steeper seat tubes than the
larger frames; so you'd want to slide your saddle farther back rather
than forward (1 degree of angle is about 1 cm at the rails). Plus the
small frames have a shorter reach to the bars... which wouldn't tend to
make you want to move your seat forward either.

I'd first check to make sure that your seat height and tilt (level!)
are proper.

This looks like a decent calculator to check bike fit:

http://www.bsn.com/Cycling/ergobike.html

Ron Ruff wrote:
Phil, Squid-in-Training wrote:

I'm a bit concerned with the fact that my seating position is so far
forward on the bike before it gets comfortable, but with my height
and inseam, does it seem too far off the norm?

Smaller frames on road bikes tend to have steeper seat tubes than the
larger frames; so you'd want to slide your saddle farther back rather
than forward (1 degree of angle is about 1 cm at the rails). Plus the
small frames have a shorter reach to the bars... which wouldn't tend
to make you want to move your seat forward either.

That's the thing! I'm riding, not only an aero time-trial-style bike, but
an extra-small (48cm seat tube and 52cm top tube equivalent) frame at that!
It *still* feels like my saddle is too far back, and I'm not using aerobars
or anything like that. The Thomson has made it much more comfortable, but
still... I was hoping to get the clamp about halfway on the rails.

I'd first check to make sure that your seat height and tilt (level!)
are proper.

Yep - they're the right height and a little down from level... I have a WTB
Rocket V saddle that needs to be angled down slightly.

This looks like a decent calculator to check bike fit:

http://www.bsn.com/Cycling/ergobike.html

Hmm... I'll check that one out.

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training