Basic saddle question

Please try doing a search for 'bike fit', there are quite a few threads and posts that cover this.

If you purchased the bike from your LBS, you should go back to them and get them to help you with fitting and adjusting your saddle. If they have any sense if ethics, they won't charge you for this. If you didn't get it from your LBS, then go to them anyway, but be prepared to pay for their help.

Be careful about following someone's recommendation of a specific saddle. Everyone's backside is different, and what might be the perfect saddle for your friend may be entirely inappropriate for you. As a novice rider, you will need to try a number of saddles to find the best one. Once again, go to your LBS and ask if they have a trial period on their saddles. If not, go to another LBS. My local shop has a trial period where you can try out a saddle for two weeks. If you return it in like new condition, they will give you credit towards a different saddle with the same trial period. Usually one ride is all someone needs to figure out if a saddle is right for them.

Noeyedear said:

Sorry for this real novice question, but the thing that stops me from riding more than 50 -60 miles in one go is the pain in my backside. I've tried a few different saddles, from spongy to firm etc. I am now about to try a San Marco Arrowhead Aspide Gelaround on the advice of another cyclist.
What I can not decide about any saddle is the fitting position. What are the rule of thumb guidelines for setting up a saddle, also is there anyway of determining what causes the pain, like seat angle, distance fore and aft etc? I have been trying to find something bearable since I took up cycling over a year ago. When the pain kicks in it effects my back and inner thigh as well as the bits in contact with the saddle.

Cheers,
Kevin.

What gears do you use ?

If you're just into your second year of cycling, then saddle pain after 50-60 miles doesn't seem unusual to me. Your longer rides should get more comfortable as you continue to do them.

You may find relief by getting out of the saddle for perhaps 30 seconds every 15 minutes or so, starting at the beginning of the ride. Easy to do on climbs or on the flats if you shift into a big gear then stand up for a couple of strokes and coast. Good time to stretch out back and shoulders as well. Also, if possible try getting off the bike for a 5 min break stretch every hour or maybe at 20 mile intervals. Key is to start early with these stress relief measures and keep it up....don't wait until your butt is sore at mile 50 to start looking for relief.

As for setting up saddle position, it's not rocket science. Make small adjustments in fore/aft and tilt until you feel the wide part of the saddle and most of the weight on your sitzbones.

Noeyedear said:

I have been trying to find something bearable since I took up cycling over a year ago. When the pain kicks in it effects my back and inner thigh as well as the bits in contact with the saddle.

The rules of thumb are perfectly horizontal for flat saddles like the Specialized Toupe or Fizik Arione, slightly higher in the rear for scooped saddles like the San Marco Concor or Fizik Aliante, and horizontal to higher in front for Brooks.

Lower back pain is often caused by a saddle set too far forward. Upper back and shoulder pain, as well as finding yourself sitting on the nose of the saddle too long, indicates overextending due to a top tube-stem combination that is too long.

If the pain to your inner thigh is caused by chafing, make sure your saddle is aligned straight ahead. If both inner thighs are chafing, the saddle may be to wide or so far forward that your thighs are rubbing the part you're supposed to sit on.

Your backside pain might indicate a saddle set too high. If your legs are over-extended to complete the pedal stroke, you're more than likely driving the saddle into your bum. You could also be swaying your hips, which would cause even more friction.

i have a specialized toupe accomodating a specialized tarmac and the seat is slightly higher at the nose to keep me from falling off forward as i at first would slide all over the place. flat, no matter what the saddle, does not agree with me.

Thanks for the tips, I have tried searching the web and the few books I have without any success.I have not found anything that gives direct advice like you folks have just given me. I spent yesterday afternoon setting the seat up, I now think the handle bars could do with an inch rise, which I thought would be easy, it was easy 40 years ago! alas progress has made it somewhat more difficult.

Thanks again,

Kevin.

n crowley said:

What gears do you use ?

Ahh that's one of those technical questions you would like me to answer with ratios etc. I don't have a clue, even if I did know I would not know what it related to. It's a Dawes Horizon, most of the time in the upper end of the middle range if that helps. Down hill I will use the top range and on the short couple of hills around here I do use the bottom set especially on the 20% gradient.
I average about 13mph on a ride if that means anything usually with a rear pannier full of clothing, towel, locks, tools, puncture repair, water, food, etc.

Kevin.😄

roadhouse said:

i have a specialized toupe accomodating a specialized tarmac and the seat is slightly higher at the nose to keep me from falling off forward as i at first would slide all over the place. flat, no matter what the saddle, does not agree with me.

Rules of thumb are made to be broken.

Are you using cycling shorts? And if so, have you tried different brands?

In my relatively short cycling life, I have found there is a difference between brands, and the thickest chamois is not always the best for you. When I first started cycling in 2006, I bought a pair of the bottom of the line DeMarchi bibs, and to this day they are the most comfortable shorts I own. The chamois is very thin but the fit is perfect.

oldbobcat said:

The rules of thumb are perfectly horizontal for flat saddles like the Specialized Toupe or Fizik Arione, slightly higher in the rear for scooped saddles like the San Marco Concor or Fizik Aliante, and horizontal to higher in front for Brooks.

FWIW. This is probably a minor point, but I have to disagree with how you suggest a Brooks saddle should be set up even though I know that is also how Grant Petersen (Rivendell) suggest that Brooks saddles should be set up ...

Maybe I'm not enough of a masochist, but, IMO, a Brooks/-type saddle was designed to be set up with the rails parallel to the ground ... and, doing so places the rear of the saddle higher than the nose -- that's an orientation which is mimicked by the San Marco Concor saddle (my preferred "plastic" saddle, BTW).

Your pain is merely a symptom that something's amiss. (!duh!) The load (no pun intended) is not being spread evenly enough and specific areas of your anatomy are bearing the brunt of the pressure.

IMO, sounds like your saddle height needs to be lowered a few millimeters. Moving your saddle forward accomplishes this as well. This adjustment has consistently resolved my issues in the past. Small steps ( several millimeters) are best...

Will agree with a previous poster that chamois position in relation to your sit bones will make a difference as well - just not as much as saddle height or fore/aft adjustments.

good luck...

alfeng said:

Maybe I'm not enough of a masochist, but, IMO, a Brooks/-type saddle was designed to be set up with the rails parallel to the ground ... and, doing so places the rear of the saddle higher than the nose -- that's an orientation which is mimicked by the San Marco Concor saddle (my preferred "plastic" saddle, BTW).

By that guideline, nearly all saddles should be tipped down in front.

Now that you bring it up, I do recall Grant Petersen as the source of the "Brooks tilt" recommendation. I also recall a time, about 35 years ago, when I rode on a Brooks Pro, and I'd set that saddle with a slight upward tilt, too. Of course, that was when I unsuccessfully strove to resolve the various heights of my stem and saddle, just the way Grant Petersen likes it.

Riding with a lower, flatter back has compelled me to lower the front of my saddle a bit, but not to the extent of your advice. The Fizik Arione that I'm still "testing" is just about dead horizontal, and the scoop saddles I've been using (a Turbo, a Concor, and a Fizik Aliante) are set so a level resting on the nose pretty much bisects the cantle.

Noeyedear said:

Sorry for this real novice question, but the thing that stops me from riding more than 50 -60 miles in one go is the pain in my backside. I've tried a few different saddles, from spongy to firm etc. I am now about to try a San Marco Arrowhead Aspide Gelaround on the advice of another cyclist.
What I can not decide about any saddle is the fitting position. What are the rule of thumb guidelines for setting up a saddle, also is there anyway of determining what causes the pain, like seat angle, distance fore and aft etc? I have been trying to find something bearable since I took up cycling over a year ago. When the pain kicks in it effects my back and inner thigh as well as the bits in contact with the saddle.

Cheers,
Kevin.

If you don't have any objections to buying online rather than a local shop, take advantage of the "100% satisfaction guarantee" from Performance and Nashbar. I recently ordered 4 seats from Nashbar, tried them all . . . and promptly returned them all for a full refund! (3 of them had those idiotic cutouts, pressure relieving things, or whatever they are, that had to be the most uncomfortable things I've ever sat on in my life!! I could feel the freaking grooves poking into my "precious little things!"😉 I ended up getting a couple of "air ride" saddles that I had been using on my indoor trainer. (Even though its bigger and softer than most "real" cyclist would use -- it has an adjustable air cushion -- its the first seat I've had in 20 years riding that I could remotely call "comfortable."😉 I think Nashbar has a bigger selection, at least if you're looking for a larger size.

On that note, WTB and Fizik both have saddle demo programs--take a saddle out for a week and if it works, apply the security deposit to your purchase. Call around to see if any of your local shops are participating.

Just call around to local shops to see what shops will let you try and return saddles, no matter the manufacturer. If a shop won't allow you to try saddles as such, they're not worth your money.

Noeyedear said:

Sorry for this real novice question, but the thing that stops me from riding more than 50 -60 miles in one go is the pain in my backside. I've tried a few different saddles, from spongy to firm etc. I am now about to try a San Marco Arrowhead Aspide Gelaround on the advice of another cyclist.
What I can not decide about any saddle is the fitting position. What are the rule of thumb guidelines for setting up a saddle, also is there anyway of determining what causes the pain, like seat angle, distance fore and aft etc? I have been trying to find something bearable since I took up cycling over a year ago. When the pain kicks in it effects my back and inner thigh as well as the bits in contact with the saddle.

Cheers,
Kevin.

Fcuk rules of thumb. You don't sit on your thumb so therefore adhereing to a "rule of thumb" for a saddle is silly. :p

Put your saddle where the majority of your nether regions come into contact with the saddle. That's a simple way of saying "tilt it until its comfy". There should be a nice balance between having your sweaty bits behind your ballsack sitting on the nose of the saddle and your sit bones on the wider part. If you can't manage that then every saddle is going to rub you up the wrong way...

Unless you have your bars really, really low or so far away that even a 12ft gorilla would have trouble riding on the drops, figure that if you're sliding forwards all the time the the front of the saddle is too low. If you're not but the saddle is wrecking the ol' "wedding tackle" then tilt it down a bit until you find the balance between slippedy slidey and numb nuts. If you get to that point and it still aint comfy then your saddle is cr@p.

Now, if you're doing all this with a $9 pair of running shorts on I'm 'bout ready to give you some nether region greif with my steel toecap boots for not spending a kings randsom on an ace pair of bike shorts first!

Good shorts cost a lot for a reason - they're the best purchase you could ever make with regards to bike gear.

alfeng said:

FWIW. This is probably a minor point, but I have to disagree with how you suggest a Brooks saddle should be set up even though I know that is also how Grant Petersen (Rivendell) suggest that Brooks saddles should be set up ...

It's not a minor point. Grant may be 'hung' like a sparrow and the O.P. like Moby ****. It may be vice-versa... There may be many other factors going on due to slight anotomical differences that make one persons' well meaning recommendations completely unsuitable to you or I.

What happens if your name is **** (d1ck) and you want to post here. Do you get **** as your username?