Maybe some of you can help me out... Over some years of cycling (especially timetrialling) and now triathlon I've tried different seat angles, anything from 73 to 78 degrees. Obviously I know Dan Empfield's preference for steep angles, backed up by a few scientific papers. However, I have some difficulty with the explanation for the superiority of steeper angles, namely that they allow greater contribution of the hamstrings and gluteus muscles. Thing is, when I ride steep it feels extremely quad-centric, yet when I ride shallow I can bring in my glutes and calves much more - which seems the opposite of the above explanation (yet is consistent with cycling folklore, especially the idea of sitting back when climbing). Is my muscular feedback simply wrong? Or do other people find the opposite to me when changing seat angle?
This leads me to another question. Assuming one rotates one's position rotates around the BB when changing the seat angle, yet otherwise does not change, why should muscle recruitment change? Is it all to do with the degree of opening of the hip changing when seat angle is changed?
duncan
This leads me to another question. Assuming one rotates one's position rotates around the BB when changing the seat angle, yet otherwise does not change, why should muscle recruitment change? Is it all to do with the degree of opening of the hip changing when seat angle is changed?
duncan