I have a friend who is borderline OCD. He’ll sometimes wash his hands dozens of times a day, doesn’t like sticky stuff, cats drive him to antihistamine hell and there is a place for everything, with everything in its place. This can be annoying, not only for those around him, but especially for himself. It’s not a great place to be.
The upside is his bikes are always meticulously maintained, fully Rule compliant, or they are in a state of tear-down having last week’s grease freshened up and each ball bearing individually polished. He’s gotten it under control quite admirably these days, and while a chip in the duco of his beautiful steel frame will still understandably piss him off, there’s not the slightest hint of sending it back to Italy to be re-sprayed by the 78 year old artisan who originally painted it, who inconveniently happened to retire in 1984. But you can rest assured the touch-up job he’ll do himself is of paintshop standard.
But I’ve never seen him muck around with his seatpost height. Not once it’s set, anyway.
This poses the question: did The Prophet have OCD? To this observer it seems so, if numerous viewings of Le Course En Tete and A Sunday in Hell are any reliable indicator. The guy was constantly fiddling with his seatpost height. His mechanic must’ve been ready to throw his hands in the air proclaiming “Merde, Eddy! I’ve measured it three times already! Why do you not trust me?”
It seemed to matter little to Eddy that poor Charly had adhered to the numbers scribbled on the lid of his toolbox, taken the slide rule and spirit level to every possible surface and angle, and used his impeccable line of sight to position the saddle just right, exactly where it was requested to be. “How’s that Eddy?” “Is perfect.” “Then why are you borrowing a spanner from RDV’s team car? Hmmm?”
If he wasn’t adjusting his saddle, he was adjusting his stem. If he wasn’t adjusting his stem, he was squirting water from his bidon onto his brakes. If he wasn’t doing that, he was simply laying down the law. The law of The Prophet.
Obsessive? Yes. Compulsive? For sure. Did it affect his ability to waste all comers? Not likely.
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This piece sits well with me but also makes me worry. Yesterday I adjusted my seat for the first time since I have had the bike (about three months). It felt weird at first and then after about eight to ten miles felt like normal whilst also propelling me up the slopes somewhat better than usual (I am not a climbing god).
It seems it was the right move to make, I only adjusted it upwards by 5mm but it felt like a huge amount whilst also seeming to benefit my riding greatly. 5mm to awesomeness, whoda thunk it?
I also had a couple of reversing mum moments yesterday but I can spot those post pregnancy numbskulls in their high-elevated baby sheds from a hundred yards.
All the more worth it as once I am clear of the initial 5miles through the outskirts of town I was out riding on the most deserted old farms tracks in the county. Some surfaces were strewn with the odd pot hole, shocking shakey surface whilst others were newly surfaced smoothly tarred beauties.
No cars, vans or otherwise to disturb the piece of the humming derailleur, just the occasional horse or walker enjoying the countryside on a crisp clear day, it was nirvana, the first above zero Celcius ride of the year.
I only did 50 miles (due to buddy with bad knee, serious lack of Rule 5) before diving into the pub for a jar or two of good ale (Badger Golden Champion), followed by a roast beef dinner cooked by my wonderful VMH.
I rode most of the way singing in my head to Matt Monro's On Day's Like These. A great day in the saddle.
Sounds like a great ride.
@SimonH
50 what?
That 5mm is crucial, - I stick a rim of electrical tape around my seatpost if I remove it so I can find that G-spot again, otherwise it's back to fiddling around, which you can't do in a group ride
Not sure how you do that whilst riding, as one imagines the seatpost will just slide down when you loosen it - then again the Prophet's seat post was probably scared of him, so knew where to move to next when he loosened the nut?
This was nice post ride yesterday
@SimonH i find getting saddle height right is easier after you've been riding for a bit as your legs are warmed up and stretched out etc. have you tried pushing your saddle back? that makes a huge difference to me, particularly for climbing.
@Dr C my cheap alloy post has distance markings on it that helps when making adjustments, if you ever replace your post its a useful feature to look for.
Any article about the Prophet is a good article and when the subject is on one of the most important relationships of rider to machine - genius.
To me seat height is about that sweet spot and over the years going back and forth between the road bike and fixed for winter riding has helped narrow it down. If the fixed seat is a few mm's off when spinning 100+ there is bounce but a tiny adjustment will get rid of it and one feels butter smooth. On the road bike there is a little more lee way, usually a tad higher for more power.
I was afraid I'd have to fiddle with seat height this weekend after putting new pedals on the bike, which supposedly have a lower stack height. Happily, I didn't have to, which was good because I spent all my time messing around with cleat position.
@Oli
It was a goody, like an early morning spring ride, still low sun and chilly to start but a great leg burner and nicely fast paced too.
@Dr C
Yeah, I know I should convert to km but I've always been used to imperial in distance, weight, height etc ...
Have been doing the electrical tape thing for a while too as I found the post slipped a bit when I got it, stopped putting carbon paste on it and it holds firm now. Need to push the saddle back a touch too and drop the stem 10mm to see how that feels. I started doing pilates a couple of months ago, to aid in back flexiness, and it seems to be working a treat, not quite up to Franks level of saddle to bar drop but certainly alot more lithe than I was before which makes the longer rides more comfy on my back. I'm still getting dialled in trying to find my sweet spot.
I'm going to build a second bike soon (steel frame, Campagnolo Chorus, self built wheels 32h three cross, V-brakes, maybe cantis) which will be used in part for light CX duties and also as a winter hack / pub / commuter. I will get a bike fit done by LBS when ordering the frame to see what they think I should be riding like.WOuld be interested to know how close it is to my No.1 setup.
I brought a new bike home over the weekend. Spent a bit of time obsessing over the seat. Was the height right? Was the fu@#er level? Are you sure it's level? Maybe the ground underneath isn't level. Check it again. Idiot, you just posted a photo of you bike on Facebook and the fu@#king saddle is obviously not level. Why is the nose of the saddle crushing my ballz or should I just HTFU?
I don't EVEN want to think about the stem right now.
@theChaz
You can always post the pic over at Slowtwitch. Then get a hundred helpful responses, mainly consisting of "your seat's too low".