Numbness

Greg said:

I just switched to a Specialized Robauix and after a couple rides am
experiencing some numbness. I had a Trek carbon fiber bike, and
never had a problem. I think the seat might be a little higher on
new bike (relative to the handlebars), but there seems to be a lot
of flexing of bike and seat post, and I wonder if that is causing
the problem. I have a nice Koobi saddle, never hurt before, I guess
I will try tilting seat down a little in front, and maybe lower seat
height a little. Any other thoughts?

Position is one of the two most important factors in perineal
numbness, the other being saddle fit. If this is a saddle that did
not cause problems on the other bike, then we can rule that out and
turn our attention to bike fit and position. If it's an identical
saddle, then it is not likely to be the problem. If it is a different
make or model, then it might be an issue.

Put your saddle at the same height and the same distance behind the
bottom bracket as on your other bike. Measure from the center of the
crank bolt to the top of the saddle along the angle of the seat tube.

Then adjust your stem to put your handlebars at the same reach and
relative height to the saddle as on your other bike. If you bought
the Roubaix new at a bike shop, they should have done this for you as
part of the purchase. You may need to swap out the stem to get the
bars inthe correct position.

Now ride it and let us know how it goes.

Unfortunately, the old bike (Trek) is in a different state. When I
bought the Robaix, they did set it up like the Trek, but for some
reason, when I returned from a month trip riding the Trek, and rode
the Robaix the seat tube slid down some, and I felt cramped. I started
raising the seat, and I think I probably raised it too far. I'm going
to lower it some and tip the saddle forward a tad (like the Trek had).
I am surprised at how little angle of tip can affect things down
there.

Tim McNamara said:

Greg said:

I just switched to a Specialized Robauix and after a couple rides am
experiencing some numbness. I had a Trek carbon fiber bike, and
never had a problem. I think the seat might be a little higher on
new bike (relative to the handlebars), but there seems to be a lot
of flexing of bike and seat post, and I wonder if that is causing
the problem. I have a nice Koobi saddle, never hurt before, I guess
I will try tilting seat down a little in front, and maybe lower seat
height a little. Any other thoughts?

Position is one of the two most important factors in perineal
numbness, the other being saddle fit. If this is a saddle that did
not cause problems on the other bike, then we can rule that out and
turn our attention to bike fit and position. If it's an identical
saddle, then it is not likely to be the problem. If it is a different
make or model, then it might be an issue.

Put your saddle at the same height and the same distance behind the
bottom bracket as on your other bike. Measure from the center of the
crank bolt to the top of the saddle along the angle of the seat tube.

Then adjust your stem to put your handlebars at the same reach and
relative height to the saddle as on your other bike. If you bought
the Roubaix new at a bike shop, they should have done this for you as
part of the purchase. You may need to swap out the stem to get the
bars inthe correct position.

Now ride it and let us know how it goes.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I just switched to a Specialized Robauix and after a couple rides am
experiencing some numbness. I had a Trek carbon fiber bike, and
never had a problem. I think the seat might be a little higher on
new bike (relative to the handlebars), but there seems to be a lot
of flexing of bike and seat post, and I wonder if that is causing
the problem. I have a nice Koobi saddle, never hurt before, I guess
I will try tilting seat down a little in front, and maybe lower seat
height a little. Any other thoughts?

I have the same two bikes you do. The bikes are so different, it's
really tough to get the position right. I did it by trial and error. But
it has to be a position problem, because both bikes are very forgiving on
road vibration. I couldn't do it with measuring, it's a good start, but I
had to make some changes, with a slightly shorter stem and more narrow bars
on the Roubaix before it was right. I like both bikes though, because they
feel so different.

Quoted message said:

I just switched to a Specialized Robauix and after a couple rides am
experiencing some numbness. I had a Trek carbon fiber bike, and never
had a problem. I think the seat might be a little higher on new bike
(relative to the handlebars), but there seems to be a lot of flexing
of bike and seat post, and I wonder if that is causing the problem. I
have a nice Koobi saddle, never hurt before, I guess I will try
tilting seat down a little in front, and maybe lower seat height a
little. Any other thoughts?

Obviously, the Trek was a much-better bike! Just kidding; don't think the
frame per-se has much to do with this. My guess is that you've got a greater
drop from the seat to the bars than you had before. Find where you need the
seat to be (you don't change seat height to reduce seat-to-bar drop!), then
change the stem as need be to get a bit more height.

Avoid tilting the seat down at the nose, if possible. Could be that it's not
level now but actually pointed up... in that case, get it level. The problem
with a nose-down position is that it pushes you forward, towards the bars,
so you end up pushing back on the bars the entire ride (in order to maintain
saddle position), which causes neck & shoulder pains.

Best of luck, and get back to us on what works and what doesn't-

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

Avoid tilting the seat down at the nose, if possible. Could be that it's not
level now but actually pointed up... in that case, get it level. The problem
with a nose-down position is that it pushes you forward, towards the bars,
so you end up pushing back on the bars the entire ride (in order to maintain
saddle position), which causes neck & shoulder pains.

Also puts more weight on hands and wrists, potentially causing
numbness and discomfort in those areas.

As I recall, on Selle Italia's old website, [I can't find it on the
new one] they recommended that you raise the nose of the saddle, if
you are having numbing problems.

None of these adjustments should be extreme, but if you start with a
level saddle, then a few degrees either way may be the answer.

Life is Good!
Jeff

Quoted message said:

Best of luck, and get back to us on what works and what doesn't-

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden]
says...

Quoted message said:

I just switched to a Specialized Robauix and after a couple rides am
experiencing some numbness. I had a Trek carbon fiber bike, and never
had a problem. I think the seat might be a little higher on new bike
(relative to the handlebars), but there seems to be a lot of flexing
of bike and seat post, and I wonder if that is causing the problem. I
have a nice Koobi saddle, never hurt before, I guess I will try
tilting seat down a little in front, and maybe lower seat height a
little. Any other thoughts?

If your prior bike fit fine and you still have it, try to get the set up of
your new bike as close as possible. It may take some time, but the results
will be worth it.
---------------
Alex