Saddle setback and KOPS: how far forward or back should your saddle sit?

After height, the saddle's second adjustment is setback: how far forward or back it sits on its rails. Setback defines where your knee works relative to the pedal — and the most used reference for it is KOPS.

What KOPS means

KOPS (knee over pedal spindle) is the reference where, with the cranks horizontal (3 and 9 o'clock), the front of the forward knee sits vertically over the pedal axle. It's a time-tested starting point: it aligns the joint with the pedal's line of force.

How to check it at home

1. Bike on a trainer or supported, pedal and stop with the cranks horizontal.
2. Hang a plumb line (string + weight) from the front of the forward kneecap.
3. The string should fall close to the pedal axle — a few millimetres of tolerance is normal.
4. String well ahead of the axle: move the saddle back. Well behind: move it forward.

KOPS is a compass, not a law. Triathlon positions sit ahead of it by design, and modern literature treats it as an initial reference — refinement comes from comfort and from angles measured in motion.

The classic mistake: using setback to fix reach

If the bars feel far away, the temptation is to slide the saddle forward — but that misaligns the knee to 'win' 1 cm of reach. Reach is fixed at the cockpit (stem/spacers); setback serves the knee-pedal relationship. FitRide keeps the two recommendations separate for exactly this reason.