Wookiebiker wrote:
Years of experience riding different bikes has proven to show ... for me, a zero degree post is the only "Realistic" option. The Specialized Romin saddle has a maximum adjustable of approximately 7.5cm of available rail (not including the amount taken up by the post).
A Thompson post is 4cm wide ... thus reducing the adjustment to 3.5cm of "Maximum" rail adjustment. If your clamp is half that width, I would have to wonder how that would effect the structural aspect of the saddle rails.
My saddle has just under 2cm (1.8 to be exact) of space behind the rails for forward adjustment (or a laid back post) and 1.5cm of post in front for forward adjustment.
With that said, it's not recommended to use the "Maximum rail extension of a saddle due to the stress put on the rails, it can also have an effect on the ride quality of the saddle since you are no longer getting as much damping from the rails since you are near the more vertical portion of the rails ... thus effecting ride quality.
Realistically you should be leaving at least .5cm of rail in front or behind the clamp mechanism.
Your post dimensions have 5cm of separation from rear position to the front ... most saddles are going to have 2.5cm of "Usable" adjustment ... if you are using a 1cm shorter clamp mechanism that moved to 3.5cm of usable adjustment ... if you are using 2cm wide clamp (again, I'd be worried about structural effects on the rails, especially for bigger riders like my self ... 190+ pounds in shape) that would give 4.5cm of adjustment ... still not enough rail adjustment to fit everybody as you suggest.
Basically, I don't need to see the bike to make a judgement as to whether it fit's or not ... without a zero degree post ... it won't. Experience and the math tells me so.
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The Foil is not a comparable bike to the AR and has the ability to be set up with a round post so you can run your beloved Thomson.
Ummm .... have you looked at the Foil? It has a "Propriety" seat post ... it's far from round, triangular would be a much better assessment of it's shape. It's an Aero bike and one of the top models ... hence the need for an aero seat post, not a round one.
Not knowing what your competition is doing makes me wonder a lot about whether you are just trying to sell a bike and if you actually know what you are talking about.
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Speaking of zero offset, have you seen the Velonews study on seatpost compliance and vibration absorption on different models and designs?
Yup ... seen it ... yet, running a wide rim (23 mm) and lowering your tire pressure by 5 psi or so will make a much bigger difference in ride quality. As it is, I'm just fine with the ride of my CAAD10 and Thompson zero degree post ... I just want to switch to an aero road bike down the road.
The reality is not every bike is going to fit everybody and trying to state that one will is, what I would consider, false advertisement ... hence the differences in geometries from manufacturer to manufacturer and why one bike will fit better than another. If you are a pro with long legs, long femurs, long arms and a short torso ... the number of bikes are going to be huge.
If however, you have short legs, short femurs, long arms and long torso ... that number drops substantially.
It's OK if your bike doesn't actually fit everybody ... not every bike will ... it's a beautiful bike that I'd love to own (if it had a zero degree post option) ... but as it stands, it won't fit. Such is life ... that's why there are other options out there.
I'm not sure how you can be certain you need a zero offset seatpost regardless of seat angle. I don't doubt your previous experience but I also doubt you've had much experience with the new AR. The UPPER clamp is very narrow, but the lower clamp of the seatpost which takes the bulk of the load when supporting the saddle rails is much wider and similar to the Thomson you have. You needn't be concerned with the integrity of the saddle rails using the AR seatpost clamp.
Of course I'm familiar with the Scott. I've spent time with the bike when it was first launched and we have a couple frames here at our R&D center. I have a few friends that race professionally on the road with it. Scott makes a seatpost clamp and shim arrangement that allows a round seatpost to be used for the bike. I think I spend a fair amount of time studying the competition but I'll admit I don't know every nuance of every brand. If you put torsional stiffness and low weight ahead of aerodynamics and comfort when considering your next bike purchase, the Foil is worthy of consideration. If running wider rims and tires and reducing tire pressure 5psi can help with comfort, can you point to a study that indicates how much it helps? Is it more than the seatpost compliance? Dropping tire pressure reduces the amplitude of the road imperfections but it also can hurt rolling resistance. With the AR, you can have both.
I'll assume you aren't interested in pursuing my offer to illustrate how the saddle position you prefer is possible to achieve on the new AR.
-SD
https://www.kickstarter.com/...bike-for-the-new-era
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