Help with seat, bottom pain.

prov431 said:

Hello all. I've tried to figure it out on my own, but I'm having no luck. I ride a 2006 Fuji Newest 1.0 and I love everything about the bike, except it's literally a PITA.
I've had the bike 'professionally fitted', which IMO, wasn't worth it because it wasn't close to being comfortable.
I've made many seat height and position adjustments, and finally decided to remove the stock seat and try a new seat. Yesterday I put on a Fizik Arione wing flex seat and then went for a ride.
I cut the ride short because I didn't have it adjusted right. When I got home I moved the seat forward in the rails some, then rode it again and it seemed better.
I guess what this all boils down to is, can someone offer me some solid guidelines for proper seat position? (namely fore, aft and tilt angle)
I'm pretty sure I've got my height where I want it based on leg extension...my legs always feel good, so no issues there. I'm actually concerned that I'm hurting myself....and that can't be a good thing. I'd also like to hear advice on moving around on the seat vrs. what type of terrain your on, and how it effects your power. Is there any web reading available on such topics? Thanks in advance for the replies.
BTW, I'm 6' 210 lbs. Advid weight lifter and I cycle for cardio.
-Dan
North Carolina

Hi Dan,

Sorry but there are no solid guideline because everone's posterior is different. What might be comfortable for one person may not be for the next guy. You are going to get a lot of conflicting advice in the replies to this thread so the best thing for you to do is use them for a starting point and then go from there. Note: what I am going to discuss here is the basic fit for a road bike.

First let's look at the saddle. You want a saddle that will be wide enough so that you are sitting on your ischial tuberosities, or "sit bones" in simple terms. You want your bones to support you, not the soft tissue in between. A lot of plush gel saddles will cause pain because you sink into them and they put pressure where there should be none. Therefore, a hard saddle with a little strategic padding directly under the ischials seems to work best for me.

Saddle height should be high enough so that your knee is just slightly bent when your foot is held level on the pedal center and the pedal is in the six o'clock position. If you rock from side to side when you ride, then the saddle is too high. You should also start out with a level saddle angle.

The next step is to position the saddle front to back. Have someone hold you up and rotate crankset backward until the right pedal is pointed forward. With your foot in the proper position, i.e ball of the foot over the pedal axle, (or clipped in if you use cleats) a vertical line passing through the center of the pedal axle should intersect your knee about 1/2" behind its front surface. Adjust the saddle so that this is the case while it still supports your ischials.

With the saddle correctly adjusted, your arms locked straight, and your hands on top of the brake hoods, your back and the bikes top tube should make a 45 degree or slight smaller angle. This is for a bike that has a horizontal top tube. (the Fuji top tube slopes a little so you'll have to take this into account.) Raise or lower the stem to acheive this angle.

Once again, with your arms held straight and on the brake hoods and your body at a 45 degree angle from horizontal, the angle between your body and arms at the shoulder should be between 90 and 100 degrees. If it is much above or below these values, you should replace your stem with a longer or shorter one to acheive this angle.

Now these fit instructions tell you to hold your arms locked straight for the fitting but do not ride with your arms locked straight. Always keep your elbows bent. Also as I said, these instructions will give you a good starting point and then you can tweak the fit from there. Your "professional fitting" was probably done by a teen working a summer job making minimum wage.

ONE VERY IMPORTANT THING TO KEEP IN MIND: if you adjust the saddle angle, be very careful if you decide to point the front up. You could end up injuring your penial nerves and ruin your sex life. If you feel any numbness in your groin while riding, get off of the bike immediately and check your saddle angle. Point the front down if you have to. I keep mine ever so slightly sloped down to the front. It only feels like your sliding out the first couple of times that you ride, then you get used to it

Man, that's just the type of response I was looking for. Thanks very much for the information. I am certainly going to keep adjusting it until I get it right. Good info on the tilt position too, I did't know that.
How about this question:
"I'd also like to hear advice on moving around on the seat vrs. what type of terrain you're on, and how it effects your power. Is there any web reading available on such topics?"
The reason I ask is because when I was shopping for a replacement seat, I read that one of the benefits the Fizik Arione had was that it was 'longer and allowed the rider to move fore and aft'...I believe it briefly mentioned the relationship between seating position and power.

prov431 said:

Man, that's just the type of response I was looking for. Thanks very much for the information. I am certainly going to keep adjusting it until I get it right. Good info on the tilt position too, I did't know that.
How about this question:
"I'd also like to hear advice on moving around on the seat vrs. what type of terrain you're on, and how it effects your power. Is there any web reading available on such topics?"
The reason I ask is because when I was shopping for a replacement seat, I read that one of the benefits the Fizik Arione had was that it was 'longer and allowed the rider to move fore and aft'...I believe it briefly mentioned the relationship between seating position and power.

The most powerful position is to be standing, but that also means the most energy used. Usually the position I have on the seat (foward or back) is a function of length of time riding and my personal need to shift the pressure points. If you want to generalize, usually in the flats or slight upgrades I ride forward on the saddle, and back in the downhill ride. Uphill riding is anywhere that is comfortable.

buckybux said:

The most powerful position is to be standing, but that also means the most energy used. Usually the position I have on the seat (foward or back) is a function of length of time riding and my personal need to shift the pressure points. If you want to generalize, usually in the flats or slight upgrades I ride forward on the saddle, and back in the downhill ride. Uphill riding is anywhere that is comfortable.

I find myself in the same positions, forward on inclines, and middle / back for flat or downhill.
From what I am reading, I think my main issue with proper comfort is going to be found in the seat tilt and fore/aft adjustments. I need to concentrate on getting one setting correct before adjusting another, if that's possible.
I believe I have a quality seat, from the reviews I've read.
Thanks again for the input.
-Dan

Does anyone have a picture or depiction of this:

"The next step is to position the saddle front to back. Have someone hold you up and rotate crankset backward until the right pedal is pointed forward. With your foot in the proper position, i.e ball of the foot over the pedal axle, (or clipped in if you use cleats) a vertical line passing through the center of the pedal axle should intersect your knee about 1/2" behind its front surface. Adjust the saddle so that this is the case while it still supports your ischials"

prov431 said:

Does anyone have a picture or depiction of this:

See the picture in section D:
coloradocyclist.combikefitOpen ↗

Scotty_Dog said:

See the picture in section D:
coloradocyclist.combikefitOpen ↗

Ahh, just what I needed. Thanks!

Hi Prov431 🙂

How long have you been riding ? If you are like me , one of the growing crowd of folks taking up cycling for recreational fitness and have only recently started then it would explain why your bum is sore.

Its probably a bit late to say this but once you have been fitted to the bike its best to stick with the settings for a while and let yourself get used to it and then do minor tweaks from that point.

Unfortunatly there is no way around a sore bum at the start, its something we all went through. The good news is that over time as you gain bike fitness this will deminish.

I started with a hybrid bike and bought a seriously comfortable saddle with large gel inserts and this was still uncomfortable, now 5 months later i ride a roadie with a very ridgid seat and have no issues untill i hit the +80klm mark when i need to do a bit of shifting in the seat.

Good luck with your efforts 🙂

I've mt. biked for 2 yrs, and only recently, the last 3 months, have been road riding. I'm doing 30 mile rides averaging 15 mph alone, which I think is pretty good so far, especially considering the terrain I am riding. (many long hills)
Indeed, the road riding is much tougher than mt. biking, which actually surprised me at first.
I'm pretty sure my fitness level is up to par, it's just an adjustment issue that I am overlooking.
I'm going to try and attach a pic.
http://[img]img513.imageshack.us134bp5.th.jpgOpen ↗[/img]

prov431 said:

I've mt. biked for 2 yrs, and only recently, the last 3 months, have been road riding. I'm doing 30 mile rides averaging 15 mph alone, which I think is pretty good so far, especially considering the terrain I am riding. (many long hills)
Indeed, the road riding is much tougher than mt. biking, which actually surprised me at first.
I'm pretty sure my fitness level is up to par, it's just an adjustment issue that I am overlooking.
I'm going to try and attach a pic.
http://[img]img513.imageshack.us134bp5.th.jpgOpen ↗[/img]

You've gotten some good tips on saddle set up. However, believe it will take more than 3 months to get reasonably comfortable on 30 mile road rides. Your "fitness" level really has nothing to do with it; it's just time in the saddle. Even veteran riders have to have break-in time when switching saddles, since every one hits differently.

I used an Arione for a couple of years and it worked pretty well until it broke down at 10K miles. But, set up is critical on that one due to the extra length of the tail. When first mounted, I was sitting too far forward, not on the widest part of the seat.

Lastly, with your size and weight, I'd consider the Arione to be a pretty "minimal" saddle. After all, it's a lightweight racing saddle without a lot of padding. What works for a 150 lb, 5-6" italian may not be so good for you. Some companies such as Specialized and Selle San Marco have started listing their models by rider's short size and weight which to me is a real advantage. One size certainly doesn't fit all.

Those are good points, and I certainly agree.
I figured it would take some miles on the new seat before I could make a final judgment on it. I am hoping I made the right choice with the Arione...I actually thought it would be much more supportive than the stock Fuji seat because of its width. (the one in the picture is the stock seat)
I have also realized that I was too far forward on the Arione, and have since made an adjustment. I hope to put some miles on it tomorrow and see how it feels.
I also have adjusted the tilt angle downward (from almost dead level) a few degrees to see if that gives me any relief.
Thanks again for all the replies, I appreciate it very much.
-Dan