Monday, June 20, 2011

Offset seat post or Zero offset seatpost

Whats up with the Offset seat posts??

Lately, I have seen many new bikes with a negative off set seat post. Every time I perform a bike fit I am always changing their seat post out to a zero offset seat post. I asked the Trek bicycle company however, their response was we will have the developer contact you. This has been about 6 months and no response.  Here is a great example below:
As you can see this Trek road bike has a 5 to 10mm offset seat post. The problem with this is your hips are way behind the crank axis and now you have turned your road bike into a recumbent bike. A bike setup like this will put your hips further behind the crank axis and will increase the effective top tube length, which tends to cause you to shorten your stem. The shorten stem can make your road bike too responsive.

If you see the Giant road bike has a zero offset seat post. This will allow you to put your hip in perfect position. Allowing you to use the STA (Seat Tube Angle) for optimal power.  All bikes are designed with the perfect Seat tube Angle which helps the rider produce the greatest amount of power. If your bike has a negative offset seat post this will change your 54cm bike with a 74 degree (Seat Tube Angle) to a 72 or 73. This will limit how much power you can put out at the pedals.

If you have a negative offset seat post you can get a Thompson, Easton, or Ritchey zero offset seat post and replace it. However, with the integrated seat posts you will have to contact the manufacture and request one. Please let us know if this article has helped you.

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