Fore/aft position

[thekarens]

I did the test where I sat on the bike with the pedals at 3 and 9. Dropped the weight on the end of the string from my knee and it lands in front of the pedal spindle. My seat is all the way back. What else could I or should I be adjusting? The cost of a fitting isn't really an option at the moment. I'm not really having any problems, but would like to have the best/most comfortable ride possible. Don't know if it's important, but my bike is a MTB.

[indysteel]

The conventional wisdom says that your knee should be directly above or a little behind the pedal spindle. Of course, not everyone needs to adhere to that rule, but it's a good starting place. If you need more set back than your current seatpost and saddle allow, you'll need to get a seatpost with more offset (the degree to which the seat clamp is offset from perpendicular. You first need to figure out how much offset your current seatpost has and its diameter, and then go from there. Salsa offers some posts with a fair amount of offset. I've had good luck with AE Bike's selection, too (they're an online retailer).

[OakLeaf]

Offset might well be your issue, but check seat height first. If your saddle is too low, then your knees will be over-flexed at any given position. The general rule is that at the bottom of the pedal stroke, you should just be able to put your shod heel on the center of your pedal with your knee extended but not locked. If you've already done this and I missed it in another thread ... then offset is probably it, and sorry for the repeat :o

ETA - just reread your OP and saw where you're not having problems. My first rule is if it ain't broke, don't fix it. It can be enlightening to play around and experiment with fit just for greater comfort and power, but if you're on a tight budget, I don't think I'd necessarily shell out for a new seatpost just to see. If you have a local swapmeet or find something on TE for not too much money it could be worth a try, but other than that...

The other thing is cleat position. Are they directly under the ball of your foot?

[indysteel]

Good thought about seat height, Oak. I might be misguided in saying this, but fit on a mtb has additional dynamics to it because you don't just sit on the saddle miles on end like you do with a road bike. While I did some time and money tweaking the fit of my mtb, I didn't obsess about every millimeter like I have on my road bike. So, from the OP's perspective, I might just keep riding with the current set up and play any component changes by ear.

I looked up the OP's bike, and if I have the correct model, she already has 20 mm of offset with a 74 degree seat tube angle and a 31.6 diameter post.

[thekarens]

Originally I had some saddle pain on one side but shorts fixed that. I also put the seat all the way back because I was always trying to scoot back and falling off the seat. I think I'm going to raise it just a bit too to see how it feels.

Compared to most women I know that are my height I have long arms, long legs and a short torso.