When I purchased my first two mountain bikes the guys at the shop told me to tilt my seat slightly toward the rear so I “would slide back to the more comfortable part of the saddle and take weight off my hands”. Turns out, they were right, if you only ride retaliative flat terrain! If you have long, steep climbs that setup can lead to back pain and greatly restrict your power output, by tilting your hips backward making it nearly impossible to hinge forward. This causes you to use lower back instead of your strong gluteus maximus and hips to power your climb.
Modern mountain bike design has greatly evolved over the last few years, finally getting longer reach measurements so we can be stable and use a nice short stem and the headangles have gotten slacker making descending much less scary! Two things I have been preaching for years here (see this article on the most confidence inspiring mountain bike: http://betterride.net/blog/2016/confidence-inspiring-mountain-bike-fun/ ). Most companies are still missing the final ingredient which is a steeper seat tube angle so we aren’t sitting over the rear wheel! My bike has 74 degree seat tube angle, while forward thinking companies like the Canfield Brothers Toir has 77 degree seat tube angle, putting your more over the bottom bracket than the rear tire. This makes climbing much easier! (by keeping your weight more centered so low don’t have to hinge way forward when climbing to keep the front wheel from lifting and so it doesn’t feel like you are pedaling forward like on a recumbent!)
Have you tried tilting your seat slightly forward and down? Slid your seat forward on the rails? I would love to hear about your experiences or any questions you have! Please feel free to share this article with anyone you think would benefit from it.
Gene:
You have written in the past about lower back pain, an ailment that I have also suffered from at times. These videos, and others from the same source, have been life-changing. It is difficult to find a PT who isn’t inculcated into the old school, but if you do, you won’t regret it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlSQLUE4brQ&t=80s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YezBG_NdLgs&t=239s