Contact points difference between MTN vs Road

[sevencyclist]

I have a Seven hardtail mountaing bike that fits well and is comfortable. I am setting up a roadbike with my friend's Pinarello frame while I wait for e-RICHIE's frame. I tried to set up the roadbike with my contact point from my mountainbike, but can't seem to get enough setback with the Brooks saddle. My questions are:

1. Should the contact points be the same for roadbike as MTB? (BB to saddle height, BB to plume drop of front of the saddle)

2. The reach from saddle rear to bar, should that length be longer or shorter for roadbike?

3. How about saddle drop? I assume the center of bar to top of saddle should be same for MTB and for roadbike, is that right?

4. Does anyone else have same problem in getting the Brooks Swift saddle to setback far enough? Would a B-17 be more generous with rails for setback? (B17 is more comfortable for me anyways)

Thanks.

[eddief]

Brooks are notorious for lack of setback and not sure if different models have different amounts.

Consider where your hands are generally when you ride a mountain bike and then where they are typically on a road bike. If you ride out on the mt bar extensions then I'd guess that would be approximately the same comfort zone as being on the tops of the hoods of your road machine. And that the position on the grips of the mt bars would be similar to riding on the straight part of your road bars back by the stem clamp.

One point of view.

[zank]

Here is a point of reference for reach. On my road and cross bikes, the reach from saddle tail to center of the bar is 81 cm. On my MTB, the reach is 85 cm.

For drop from top of saddle to center of the handlebar, my road and cross bikes each have 8 cm and my MTB has 6.5 cm (assuming 20 mm sag. static, the bike has 4.5 cm).

My saddle is in the same place relative to the BB on all of the bikes.

Hope that helps a little.

[sevencyclist]

Here is a point of reference for reach. On my road and cross bikes, the reach from saddle tail to center of the bar is 81 cm. On my MTB, the reach is 85 cm.

For drop from top of saddle to center of the handlebar, my road and cross bikes each have 8 cm and my MTB has 6.5 cm (assuming 20 mm sag. static, the bike has 4.5 cm).

My saddle is in the same place relative to the BB on all of the bikes.

Hope that helps a little.

Thanks Zank. This is very helpful. I had set up the reach for road to be same as MTB and found that the roadbike to be a little long in the reach. I guess I will need a shorter stem.

The drop is much bigger for the road, is that usual? That means you would be even lower on the hood or in the drops. I had thought that perhaps MTB bar would be similar to the hoods, but I guess that is wrong.

If the saddle relative to BB is the same, does that mean the design of the bikes should call for same exact seattube angles with the same post setback for all bikes? I guess so, since now I recall that most stock bikes, MTB or road, seem to have similar seattube angle of around 72-74.

[zank]

I like my bars a little higher on my MTB because of the singletrack we ride. I find it easier to bunny hop and manual over stuff with a slightly higher bar. It all depends on your riding style. I know a lot of guys running a lot less drop on the MTB. With riser bars, some of them have their bars level with their saddles. On the other hand, some of my racer pals are in the 7-9 cm range. There really aren't any rules of thumb for bar drop on a MTB.

All of my bikes have the same ST angle (73 degrees), Seat post (Ritchey WCS) and saddle (Flite Ti). The saddles are all clamped in the same place on the rails. This keeps everything the same.

[andy mac]

questions not an answers - doesn't it depend on the type of mtn. bike riding you do?

xc racing, bars lower.

dh - higher. (look at motorcross bikes)

general riding - probably more a middle height?

cheers,

a

[pdonk]

My mtb is set up about an inch longer than my road bike. (nose of saddle to centre of stem)

The drop on my MTB is more than my road bike.

Saddle height is about the same, the mtb is marginally lower.

I ride technical stuff, and my mtb bike(dekerf team sl) fits and rides like a dream. My road bike is a works and that is about it.

[zank]

yup, it really all depends on how you like to have things set up. I dig a middle of the road bar height, others like them higher or lower. It's a lot different than road. Andy, I would say your generalizations are pretty much dead on, with some exceptions. A buddy of mine is a semi-pro downhiller. His bars are a little lower than most of the DH guys, probably because he came from an XC background.

[csm]

wouldn't pedal choice and shoes factor in also? I try to have my mtb set up close to my road bike as far as the saddle/pedal relationship goes. I found that the saddle-bar relationship is a little different but I can't remember exactly how.
plus, my mountain bike is a full-suspension rig and that would throw a whole new set of variables in.

[sevencyclist]

I just visited a local bike shop to get a new stem to make myself fit for a roadbike that I am borrowing today. The fitter put my bike on the trainer and watched me spin. He pulled my seatpost higher and saddle slightly forward. He did that to make the plume line from my knee cap even with ball of my feet (center of pedal spindle) when my crank is at 3 o'clock.

He told me that I should be in different position for MTB vs Road, because the riding style are different. He said that for MTB, one should have more setback in relations to BB because that gives one more torque power for the steep climbs, and for road, one should be slightly more forward to have a smoother spin.

I was surprised that after the discussion from this thread above about how the saddle to BB relationship was supposed to be constant that I am now told this. I have to say that spinning did not feel too different yet, but I have not put on serious miles on the bike in this position. I am now wondering whether I should trust this fitter.

He did not try to sell me anything other than the new stem which is definitely required to raise my bar height. He specified the Nitto quill stem that was 11cm instead of 12cm currently on the borrowed bike. The Nitto stem will have a lot of height available to raise the bar. I will give it a try.