To much weight on the gooch?

There are generally two reasons riders slide forward and ride the saddle nose during hard efforts, either their hip angles are too tight or their saddles are too high or both.

- If your bars are set too low it can force an overly tight hip angle which can be o.k. when riding moderate paces but when you really go hard your power output will suffer or your breathing, HR and perceived exertion will skyrocket. So a lot of folks slide forward in their saddles in an unconscious effort that opens up their hip angle. If this is the case then either reposition your saddle further forward or raise your bars a bit. Hip angle is a combination of effective seat tube angle (actual seat tube angle, saddle fore aft position on the rails and where on the saddle you actually sit during hard efforts) and torso angle (angle between your hip joints and your shoulder blades). So either raise your bars to open up the torso angle or slide your seat forward on its rails or a combination of both.

- Even if hip angle while riding aggressively is within a normal range (greater than 90 degrees on a TT bike and typically closer to 100-110 degrees for a road bike ridden in the drops) your saddle could be a bit high. When you slide forward on your saddle you effectively shorten the saddle height, given your height every cm you slide forward is worth a bit more than a cm of effective saddle height. So you may be subconsciously compensating for a slightly high saddle by sliding forward during hard riding. If that's the case, then drop your saddle by small increments (e.g. half cm ) and see if things change when you ride hard.

There's some pretty good information and photos that demonstrate these concepts on this page: http://bikedynamics.co.uk/guidelines.htm

Bottom line, you seem to have a bike fit issue. It could be an overly aggressive bar height and reach, too much saddle setback, your saddle could be too high or the saddle tilt could be sub optimal but one way or another something isn't right and you shouldn't have to 'ride the rivet' every time you're going hard or suffer crotch discomfort during hard riding.

-Dave

Hi, thanks if anything my seat is lower then what it should be but thats due to back problems that I have - Muscle imbalance when going hard I ride like bradly wiggings so I've been told arms at 90 degrees flat back etc. My have a few spacers to raise the bars so when I'm sitting behind the wheel when racing I sit up a bit more to rest then when on the front I go all wiggings style but on the nose of the seat.

Bump

You still need a good bike fit, more so if you have special needs regarding imbalances.

I'll guarantee Wiggins and other pros fit quite well on their bikes and don't have excessive crotch discomfort when riding hard in the drops. You might think you're going 'all wiggins style' whatever that means but the key difference is he is efficient and well fitted to that position and has the strength and flexibility to race in that position.

Don't struggle to emulate a particular pro's position. Work on finding your own best and most efficient fit that let's you ride long and hard when necessary without undue discomfort.

It all comes back to a good fit and based on your posts I'd strongly advise finding a good bike fitter or coach to help you.

Good luck,
-Dave