I didn't know fit had this much of an impact

[Fujichants]

My ride today sucked...and I think I know why. At least I hope that is the problem! After last week's crash into my bf, I think my saddle came loose. I only noticed today while I was riding as something was making an awful lot of noise and it was really annoying. BF finally checked it out and found out my saddle was loose. He fixed it. But I could not remember where it was before. So after I got back on the bike, I immediately felt a big change. My knees started hurting again (just the way they did before I got my bike fitting done). Then my upper thigh started hurting. Despite pedaling hard and putting in a lot of effort, I topped out at 16 mph. I was winded. Usually I can maintain that pace without much effort. My bike felt like it was 10 lbs heavier.

I think it is because I messed up my saddle position. Because these were the problems I was experiencing before I had my bike fitted. I was quite frustrated as BF kept telling me it can't make THAT big of a difference, and i'm just not fit and probably tired from yesterday's run (I wasn't, I think I know my body better).

So...am I just crazy, or can messing up the saddle's position and height really have that much of an impact on my riding? If not...then there is something seriously wrong with me!

[RoadRaven]

Hey there Fuji


You are not imagining things at all. seat position is important as it dictates where your hips will be, what line your legs will take, and how far you feet have to reach to the pedals.

Play around with the seat position, get your BF to help you and make tiny adjustments(like 1/2 centimetre to 1 cm at a time) then ride for a 100 metres or so and see how it feels and come back and make the next adjustment.

Hopefully you still have the seat height ok, but you will need to check the nose angle - women tend to have them tilted a little down - men have them a little up... but thats generally speaking - everyone's tush is different.

Also check the line of the seat - after much experimentation, I finally realised that I must have uneven hips, or maybe one leg is shorter than the other, because I do not have my seat running parallel to to top tube.

That is, if you stand over my saddle and look down on it, you will see it is angled ever so slightly to the left - it also makes it more comfy for my "girly bits" as well as my knee.

I thought I had my seat right, but it wasn't til I went for a two hour ride that I realised that maybe I needed to angle it to the left or right - I tried both and left worked.

Good luck and hope the adjusting doesn't take too many attempts.

[KnottedYet]

I've felt exactly like what you describe when my saddle was put too low after my zoom-zoom was getting fixed at the shop. Popped the saddle up about 1/2 cm (really! hardly much at all!) and suddenly the world was a better place.

[kie_fujo]

i totally agree as well. my saddle can be just a hair off and it will make a huge difference. of course, my bike is also too big so that doesn't help either!!!

[ny biker]

You are so not crazy. My saddle height got messed up a couple months ago and it took 4 or 5 rides before I was able to get it back to where it was comfortable.

There's a reason that Lance's nickname was "Mr. Millimeter."

If you can, it might be easiest to go back to the shop that did the earlier fitting for you and ask them to help.

[smilingcat]

Yes even an 1/8" can make a big difference on your speed, comfort/discomfort. If you decide to get a professional fit. mark the seat post next to the seat post clamp. So if it does come loose next time, you'll know where to set it. Carbon seat post is black so I use a red Sharpie permanent marker. Even then, its barely visible. People will not notice.
(I also draw a down arrow to the line I've drawn around so its easy to spot).


Nose up/down can make your ride really uncomfortable. So do play with the angle of the seat. I like mine pointed down a tad.

And seat forward/backward makes difference too. Again play around with the position.

BTW, were you riding PV drive West around 5:30pm ish on Thursday?? heading south bound and about 3/4 mile south of Malga Cove. I saw a person looking like your avatar.

And RR welcome back it's been a while. no??

smilingcat

[RoadRaven]

Then my upper thigh started hurting.

Just reread your post and this reminds me of a couple of months ago when I got a new saddle for my TT bike and thought I had angles and everything right. I based the angles etc on how the previous saddle had been (make a note of how you have your saddle when you get it right again, it can be very useful).

I hadn't had a chance to do a mock time trial and went out and rode a 20km race time trial on it.
About 1/4 of the way in my right thigh started aching, by the 10km turn around I was in serious discomfort, and I crossed the finish line in tears, the pain was so bad (but being me, there was no way I was going to pull out of the TT - my fave discipline).
Old saddle back on - no worries.

So yes, tell you BF saddles do make a HUGE difference in comfort, fit and overall pain or lack of it.