Saddle rail markings

[amerikaner]

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but on the saddle rail markings are the "Max" markings indicating the max adjustment to the end of the clamp or the center of the clamp? I have one saddle that's mounted on a Thomson seatpost and based on the markings and the length of the clamp, I have just shy of a cm of available adjustment forward or back.

[Chrisyang]

I don't understand what you are saying.

[Nomadmax]

MAX marks are relevant to the front and rear edges of the lower cradle. IE, no part of the lower cradle should be past the MAX mark, fore or aft.

[Peter P.]

Originally Posted by Nomadmax

MAX marks are relevant to the front and rear edges of the lower cradle. IE, no part of the lower cradle should be past the MAX mark, fore or aft.

That's my rule, too.

[kvlin94]

Reviving this one for a sec
What if you are at the max but you think you still need more?
I guess my question is, does this mean the bike geometry is wrong, or should you try to compensate with a new saddle?
My saddle is maxed out at the aft position and I am thinking if I need to get a new saddle or simply the frame is a touch too big for me
Curious to hear peoples thoughts

[mpken]

How about changing to a seat post with 0 mm offset? That is if your current seat post has offset. That is one way to get the seat more towards the handlebars.

[Peter P.]

Originally Posted by kvlin94

Reviving this one for a sec
What if you are at the max but you think you still need more?
...Curious to hear peoples thoughts

You can compensate with a different width saddle.

You can switch from a zero setback to an X setback post or vice versa,
if the switch is in the direction you need to go.

Could be your cranks are too short, especially if you're a tall person.

I'd discount all other factors before thinking a custom frame is necessary.

[benb]

Keep in mind sometimes this is all meaningless and you shouldn't overthink it or worry about it too much. Steel & Alloy seat rails are just going to bend in a non-dangerous way if something is going to fail. Maybe be more careful if you're going full WW with carbon rails.

I've had some saddles, especially Selle Italia, where I didn't own a single bike that could have mounted that saddle and not had either the front or back part of the clamp beyond the Max on one side. The saddles basically had a maximum adjustable range that was so small it was narrower than the clamp!

Some bike stuff is just stupid. This is kind of in the same category as markings on handlebars to mount the hoods and the markings on the two sides of the bar are not aligned so the markings become useless. Or getting shoes with measurements for the cleats marked on the sole, and the manufacturing quality is so low the measurements are not the same on the two shoes. (And that's somehow OK on a pair of carbon soled shoes they want $200-300 for.)

I have a Zipp post and it has markings for the saddle angle on the lower clamp. But no markings on the seatpost to align against so the whole thing is pointless!

You can see it here:

https://www.sram.com/en/zipp/models/sp-sc-b2

The black ones show both sides of the marking here, the silver ones don't. I have a black one and it's missing one side. This post is also an example of one where the clamp is too wide to satisfy Selle Italia.