How do you ride your Saddle?

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

Quoted message said:

I've been riding mountain bikes for some time now but due to an injury I'm spending more time on
the street. After riding long trips (to me anyways 10-15 miles) I noticed I was really sore where
the chamoi meets the seat. So yesterday I decidied to do some experimenting. I rotated the front of
my saddle down 1 notch and took off for my 45 minute ride. What an amazing difference! For the
first time I was able to "sit" on my saddle and be comfortable. My fatigue dropped dramatically and
I was able to push harder. This brings me to my question.

How do you ride your saddle? Is there a formula for this or is it just to comfort?

Comfort! I tend to ride with the tip pointing up a teeny bit.
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Alex __O _-\<,_ (_)/ (_)

tencast said:

How do you ride your saddle? Is there a formula for this or is it just to comfort?

There is a little of both. Men sometimes get short-term relief by lowering the nose of the saddle
beyond what will be best in the long term. The too-low nose means they are constantly pushing back
with their arms to keep from sliding forward on the saddle. If they do slide forward, they sit on
the narrowest part of the saddle, causing more, and worse, butt pain.

If your current position is well down at the front, you could have trouble once you extend your
rides to 30+ miles. If it is nearly horizontal, it should be fine.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | The lottery is a tax on those who fail to understand _`\(,_ | mathematics. (_)/ (_) |

David D said:

I've been riding mountain bikes for some time now but due to an injury I'm spending more time on
the street. After riding long trips (to me anyways 10-15 miles) I noticed I was really sore where
the chamoi meets the seat. So yesterday I decidied to do some experimenting. I rotated the front
of my saddle down 1 notch and took off for my 45 minute ride. What an amazing difference! For the
first time I was able to "sit" on my saddle and be comfortable. My fatigue dropped dramatically
and I was able to push harder.

Not sure I follow this exactly. Were you "sore" as in skin irritation, "sit bone" pain, or
something else?

Quoted message said:

How do you ride your saddle? Is there a formula for this or is it just to comfort?

Road saddles are usually set within a degree or two of horizontal. Tilting them down can cause you
to constantly slide forward, and tilting them up can cause numbness. The better seat posts allow
more precise adjustment of tilt.

But other factors besides tilt can have an effect. Seat height, fore/aft adjustment, and handlebar
position all affect comfort.

Make sure your sit bones are resting on the wide part of the saddle, not straddling the narrow part.

Art Harris

About the whole "horizontal" thing... I have an older (6 years?) Velle Italia Flight Ti seat.. it
has a profile of the nose being straight and then the back flairing upwards by about an inch or so.
Does this mean that "horizontal" should see that the very back and the very nose of the seat both
sit at the same height? Or does it mean that the rails should sit perfectly level? Or does it mean
that the nose part lay horizontal while the back part still comes up nearly an inch?

The reason I ask is that I'm STILL trying to find the best saddle position. I hate the idea of the
possibility that I've been riding all this time and I could have the seat in a better position. So I
just wanted to clear up the horizontal thing. Obviously I should do whatever is more comfy.. but I
just need a baseline on what people consider horizontal when the seat itself isnt' perfectly
straight at the top.

Mike mikebeauchamp.commikebeauchamp.comOpen ↗

"Art Harris" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

David D said:

I've been riding mountain bikes for some time now but due to an injury I'm spending more time on
the street. After riding long trips (to me anyways 10-15 miles) I noticed I was really sore
where the chamoi meets the seat. So yesterday I decidied to do some experimenting. I rotated the
front of my saddle down 1 notch and took off for my 45 minute ride. What an amazing difference!
For the first time I was able to "sit" on my saddle and be comfortable. My fatigue dropped
dramatically and I was able to push harder.

Not sure I follow this exactly. Were you "sore" as in skin irritation, "sit bone" pain, or
something else?

Quoted message said:

How do you ride your saddle? Is there a formula for this or is it just to comfort?

Road saddles are usually set within a degree or two of horizontal. Tilting them down can cause you
to constantly slide forward, and tilting them up can cause numbness. The better seat posts allow
more precise adjustment of tilt.

But other factors besides tilt can have an effect. Seat height, fore/aft adjustment, and handlebar
position all affect comfort.

Make sure your sit bones are resting on the wide part of the saddle, not straddling the
narrow part.

Art Harris

Mike Beauchamp said:

About the whole "horizontal" thing... I have an older (6 years?) Velle Italia Flight Ti seat.. it
has a profile of the nose being straight and then the back flairing upwards by about an inch or
so. Does this mean that "horizontal" should see that the very back and the very nose of the seat
both sit at the same height? Or does it mean that the rails should sit perfectly level? Or does it
mean that the nose part lay horizontal while the back part still comes up nearly an inch?

Yes, some saddles are not flat from front to back. The Concor(?) for example, had a pronounced
rise at the back. If you place a straightedge or level on one of those, it should probably tilt
upwards somewhat.

I wouldn't go by the saddle rails in the case of the Flite. Probably your best bet is to experiment
to find the angle where you don't slide forward and don't feel excess pressure from the saddle nose.

Art Harris

Mike Beauchamp said:

About the whole "horizontal" thing... I have an older (6 years?) Velle Italia Flight Ti seat.. it
has a profile of the nose being straight and then the back flairing upwards by about an inch or so.
Does this mean that "horizontal" should see that the very back and the very nose of the seat both
sit at the same height? Or does it mean that the rails should sit perfectly level? Or does it mean
that the nose part lay horizontal while the back part still comes up nearly an inch?

The reason I ask is that I'm STILL trying to find the best saddle position. I hate the idea of the
possibility that I've been riding all this time and I could have the seat in a better position. So
I just wanted to clear up the horizontal thing. Obviously I should do whatever is more comfy.. but
I just need a baseline on what people consider horizontal when the seat itself isnt' perfectly
straight at the top.

I have Selle Italia Flite Ti saddles on five of my bikes. On all of them a spirit level placed nose
to tail shows the nose pointing up a bit. If the bubble was centered I'd consider the saddle to be
horizontal. Just my opinion.

jeverett3<AT>earthlink<DOT>net home.earthlink.net~jeverett3Open ↗

RE/

Quoted message said:

How do you ride your saddle? Is there a formula for this or is it just to comfort?

I think it's "to comfort".

I also think it's well worth spending some extra money for a two-bolt micro-adjustable post. One
notch on a regular post is a *lot* of adjustment. I find that sometimes a quarter turn on a
micro-adjustable post is perceptable.
-----------------------
PeteCresswell