Quote Originally Posted by Yen View Post
KNOTTEDYET: You mentioned something that I have read elsewhere and seems counter-intuitive at first. That is, that moving the saddle back a bit relieves pressure on the hands. It seems that moving it back would place more pressure on the hands because the rider would need the hands more to balance the further reach. Can you explain that?n
It's true.
Try this experiment to help you visualize it:
Get on your hands and knees on the floor. Notice how much weight is on your hands. Get a feel for where your center of gravity is.
Now, keeping your hands or knees in the exact same position on the floor, move your butt back a couple of inches, as though you were moving your "saddle" back but keeping your handlebar in the same spot. Notice how this takes weight off your hands and moves your center of gravity back over your legs and off your arms. What it does is make your legs support you more and takes some of that job away from your hands and arms (which shouldn't be supporting your weight anyway). This whole issue is one of the classic problems of 'some' women cyclists riding men's bikes with long top tubes.