Thanks for your replies, I’m not sure how to quote individual suggestions so i’'ll just adress them on by one. I’ll adress the saddle and crank comment first.
Saddle: @Ede71
On my tt bike i run the flat Pro Aerofuel TT saddle. On the roadbike ive ran over 15 saddles in the past five years i think. I now have the Sella Italia Flite which is also flat and short which i like. I also try to get the synchros belcarra cutout saddle, which looks like the aerofuel, short, very wide nose and for endurance purposes a kickup the end for back support
I tried running the aerofuel on my roadbike, but in not all out efforts its not supportive.
I’d say the flite saddle is a good one for me though after trying everything the past five years.
Cranks: @Power13
I always used 175mm cranks on all my bikes, but recently decided to try shorter ones. I tried 170mm and 165’s. On the roadbike the 170 felt better than the 175’s. The 165 didnt give me additional relieve on feeling plus that in the races and criteriums i ride, PLUS my personal slightly lower rpm preference (when I’m on the maxmax ill ride in between 85and95 rpm) I feel like the 165’s are too heavy on my muscles by the extra force i need. From 175 to 170’s my cadance rised a little, 165’s didnt rise further so by same rpm torque is higher so it didnt work for me)
However i tried the 165 on my TT bike which I really liked, but i was also almost completely painfree with the 175’s, the 165 just feels a little better . So for now the setup is:
Roadbike 170mm
TT bike 165mm
I saw @Calle making a comment about hip impingement:
In hospital they ruled out vascular problems, but kept suspicious after finding somewhat poor blood circulation to my legs. After four years, the only thing they found is that on an MRI, my Psoas and Piriformis were overdeveloped, not ruling out some sort of impingement of the sciatic nerve or maybe in high effort the artery. Since january I’m twice a week at the physio working on hip mobilisation. Relatively weak hip flexors and hamstrings and the glute medius being overloaded constantly.
But on my TT bike i do feel almost without suffocating/burning thighs and on my roadbike i have it a lot. Indicating to me that there is an angle or somehting in the saddle position triggering poor bloodcirculation and completely blocked thighs.
Setback Saddle height
I find it interesting everybody says i should move forward my saddle over raising the saddle. The problem is the following. I have a team bike which doesn’t have zero setback posts. Bikefitters recommend me a 85mm setback and the most far forward position with this post is 80mm. I’m trying to get a post which is adjusted by a carbon repairshop being more forward so i’d be able to try more forward positions.
What i felt at 80mm setback was that it felt initially easier, but in endurance rides i’d feel more exhaustion in my thighs than regular. (not the burning feeling but normal exhaustion)
Higher saddle height feels great. I’m able to pedal in the anaerobic zones way more controlled and composed. But after a little while my back would start to hurt so much and after and hour i feel kinda blocked.
I tried 15mm height change in a training a few times @2min 500w:
Low saddle. after a minute my legs started to block and i could complete the interval by standing and going all out and uncontrolled
High saddle: I did the two minutes seated without a blocked feeling
It’s hard to put these two together. Saddle higher yields low back problems. And i suspect being more forward more thigh exhaustion. I havent tested it enough but it was my initial feeling. Also it was only 5mm more forward. I hope the saddle post story works out so i can try a more extreme setup and can evaluate from there. (85mm sb on roadbike, 55mm on the tt bike, I would like to try 60mm on my roadbike for example)
And @Brennus, UCI restricts riders going forward more than 50mm behind the BB for roadbikes as well as TTbikes, so in my case it’s not a limiting factor