Measuring sit bones--is my yoga mat defective?

I am having the worst time trying to measure my sit bones. I have tried the paper/yoga mat but my sit bones don't make a deep enough impression to measure. I even made my own butt-o-meter with a ziplock baggie, water and flour but it's still very unclear where my sitbones are. I can feel them with my fingers when I'm sitting but they won't make impressions on anything.

I've done the butt-o-meter at the shop but it's far away and inconvenient for me so I know my sit bones can be measured.

Does anyone have any other tips? :p

I'm trying out the old Jett model (with seams) in 130 which is my previous Specialized saddle size. There is no soft tissue pain but a lot of weight put on my sit bones, even with my most heavily padded shorts. The pain is not as bad as the Terry Butterfly I tried a while back (I had to stop riding after 20 minutes my sit bones hurt so badly).

Hmmm... I enlisted my boyfriend as an assistant and bent over while he measured. :o

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Originally Posted by liza

Hmmm... I enlisted my boyfriend as an assistant and bent over while he measured. :o

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Single woman here so no possibility of enlisting non-embarrassing help ;)

Here ya go.

Try a thicker mat, or folding the one you have in fourths. It's got to be able to compress enough to leave dents in the paper.

Set it on a hard surface - a flat stepstool, a hard chair, or an uncarpeted stair.

Before you take the impression, sit on the stool or whatever surface you plan to use without the mat, and wiggle your spine and pelvis around until you can feel your sitbones pressing against the surface. Then use that body knowledge to stick your sitbones out when you do take the impression.

HTH.

For a do it at home job, I had the best luck sitting on a counter stool with paper--it was about the right height to get a good impression.

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Originally Posted by Zen

Here ya go.

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Thanks for the thread link but I've already done a search for "sit bone measurement", etc and browsed all the threads :p

I think I might be doing something wrong? :p

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Originally Posted by OakLeaf

Try a thicker mat, or folding the one you have in fourths. It's got to be able to compress enough to leave dents in the paper.

Set it on a hard surface - a flat stepstool, a hard chair, or an uncarpeted stair.

Before you take the impression, sit on the stool or whatever surface you plan to use without the mat, and wiggle your spine and pelvis around until you can feel your sitbones pressing against the surface. Then use that body knowledge to stick your sitbones out when you do take the impression.

HTH.

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Oakleaf--I tried sitting my homemade butt-o-meter on the yoga mat (which was on a hard surface) and on the hard surface alone. I will try folding my yoga mat, though :)

Unfortunately, I do not have a stepstool :( The chair I use at home is a ball chair ;)

Trying to ride on this Jett saddle is killing my sit bones :p

Ok, what about putting paper on top of the potty lid and giving it a whirl? One TE'er used Playdoh to get an impression.

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Originally Posted by Ana

Trying to ride on this Jett saddle is killing my sit bones :p

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There is no soft tissue pain but a lot of weight put on my sit bones, even with my most heavily padded shorts.

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yeah but(t)....


that's where your weight is supposed to be. So the width will be alright, maybe wrong thickness of padding (watch out, more padding does not necessarily = more comfort); and maybe you just need to give your sitbones time to HTFU?

If all else fails, there are always SMP saddles. They cradle your entire pelvic bone ridge (don't know the exact anatomical term) from sit bones forward. I was just musing about mine and I find they give comfort because they offer more than one good angle to sit.

Hi Ana... OK, first of all, ditch that ball chair to sit on for the measurement.

I don't know if you saw any of my blab about sitz bones, saddle pain, bike fit, my wretched seat post design, etc. in your search but I am still looking for my saddle.

Part of my issue, well I hope it corrects 90th percentile of issues, is my bike doesn't fit. Have you had a "good" fit? And by "good" I don't mean one of those idiotic places that tells you "oh, looky honey, you can clear the top tube, it's a girly bike--you are a girly-yes?, then it fits--hooray". *pauses to vomit seething bile* (this was IME pre-days of finding TE of course;))

Is the saddle put on *level*? Like with an actual tool that shows such. My stupid one bolt tounge-n-groove seat post would tend to shift one groove either way after I rode (even with really ratching it down) and un-leveled many saddles. It wasn't just my hand strength as a women either...

There is a thread I have in bike maint. about it. A couple peeps said even their lbs mechanics had an ill word for that design. That is on my list of bike hates for future buying.

I drove a ways to the Specialized dealer to get their sitz bones tests. Next closest town over from Mayberry got the Bontrager seat. I sat on that too. I used Play-dough with plastic wrap on the top and bottom. I also used a Pillsbury ready made pie crust dough rolled out between plastic wrap and waxed paper.

The bare hard top of a toliet seat is a good tip (take off the funky fuzzy lid cover of course if you own one). I did have a small step stool. If you have steps and they are carpeted, you can put something hard over the carpet. A bigger cutting board... metal cookie sheet, etc.

The cement stoop step to my fronch porch worked well. The tip you got about sitting on it just for feel first is good. Then set up your measurement mold stuff.

Also, if there is a way to wedge your hands underneath what you seating on and sorta pull your weight down, then hold, it helps to make the impression. Sit there holding the place until it starts to almost hurt (sorta like the saddle pain). Then, measure.

Lastly, if you use my pressue pulling technique to deepen your sitz bone dents... remember the soft glute tissue will spread out more... HOWEVER, the highest point of the sitz bone tip meausrement should remain unchanged. It doesn't matter how much the tissue mushes out, or there is of it, the bone structure itself is constant.

Good Luck!:)

good tips all around, and I would add - have a pen ready. And maybe a helpful friend. As soon as you remove yourself from whatever you're sitting on, feel around and pinpoint the deepest part of the probably rather large indentations you've made, and mark them with a pen. When I did this with paper on a yoga mat the indentations would disappear within seconds and be impossible to mark off. I also repeated the measurements several times, and reckoned an average.

+1 on marking the paper, but I outlined the whole indentation as well as marking the deepest points. That gave me a record of the shape and slant of my sit bones as well as the distance between them.

Then I took the paper saddle shopping. Laying it over a saddle could tell me pretty quickly which saddles I shouldn't even bother trying.

And make sure you're putting enough weight on your butt. You didn't say what you're using for a hard surface, but if you're trying to sit on the floor with your legs extended, your legs will be taking a lot of your weight. A hard toilet seat is a good idea!

Be sure you put it on a raised surface (like a chair or bench), sit and lean forward. When you lean forward, your sit bones will poke through more to make the indentations more clear.

I think you have the right size, though. When the saddle is too wide, you will have chafing problems from the sides of the saddle or your hips may rock. When the saddle is too narrow, you will have more soft tissue pain and pressure on the pubis, because not enough of your weight is supported by your sit bones. Sit bone pain only, though, indicates that you probably have the right size. It can take time to break in the saddle (and your butt). I do agree that more padding isn't necessarily good, but often too much padding causes different problems than what you're experiencing.

You may want to play with the angle of the saddle to see if that makes a difference.

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Originally Posted by Miranda

Hi Ana... OK, first of all, ditch that ball chair to sit on for the measurement.

Good Luck!:)

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Oh no, I am not using my ball chair to measure my sit bones! I was just pointing out that I don't have a hard-surfaced chair. :p

Thank you for the tips!

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Originally Posted by lph

I also repeated the measurements several times, and reckoned an average.

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You sound like a scientist--I can appreciate that ;) :D

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Originally Posted by aicabsolut

Be sure you put it on a raised surface (like a chair or bench), sit and lean forward. When you lean forward, your sit bones will poke through more to make the indentations more clear.

I think you have the right size, though. When the saddle is too wide, you will have chafing problems from the sides of the saddle or your hips may rock. When the saddle is too narrow, you will have more soft tissue pain and pressure on the pubis, because not enough of your weight is supported by your sit bones. Sit bone pain only, though, indicates that you probably have the right size. It can take time to break in the saddle (and your butt). I do agree that more padding isn't necessarily good, but often too much padding causes different problems than what you're experiencing.

You may want to play with the angle of the saddle to see if that makes a difference.

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I'll try the leaning forward thing :) Yeah, I think I have the right size but the pain is so different from my previous saddle :p I am going to give it a chance and try to break it in, though :)

I am also playing with the saddle tilt a bit. I am trying to figure out what that "butt support" thing is all about. I am just not sure whether I have it because my sensations of the saddle are overwhelmingly of the pain in my sitbones. I have a 2-bolt system so it's pretty good. I usually put a book on top of the saddle and see if it's level (although I don't actually own a level so it's not that exact).

I was thinking the same thing as AB and Alpinerabbit - you sit bones are what you want in contact with the saddle, so pressure on them is normal and even desirable - but severe pain after 20 min doesn't sound right either.... Butt break in usually feels more like really tender when you first sit back on the saddle the day after a long ride then goes away after a few minutes back on the bike. (And eventually stops happening altogether)

I'm wondering if the saddle is just a little too narrow and your sit bones, while still in contact with the saddle and protecting your soft tissue, are trying to slide off of the edges?