Saddle woes

[jeannierides]

Hi everyone. I'm new to this board, and a relative novice riding. I currently ride a Colnago road bike. I started having issues with my Selle' Italia saddle being uncomfortable, so I purchased a Fizik, which I think I'm going to love. My question is positioning. I always start off with the saddle level, but seem to have to keep repositioning it. When I start to ride, I can sit on the *right* place with my sit bones, but eventually slide down to the point that it's pressing painfully into my very sensitive areas. So, I readjust, take it back and the nose up a bit, and I'm sitting right on the nose. My dso is becoming quite frustrated with me and thinks I should just get used to it. I know some amount of discomfort is ok, but pain is not.
help!

[Technotart]

I was struggling with the same thing - decided to take the bike in to somebody who knew what they were doing and pay the 50 bucks for fit adjustments! Worked like a charm - I have everything marked now so that if anything gets out of line I can put it back.

No more saddle pressure, no more shoulder pain and no hot spot in the foot now

[Squirrel 2]

are you sure it's dead level? from what's happening, sounds like it's nose down. you should be able to lay a straight-edge from back to nose on the Fizik saddle, then put your levelling device on top of that. also, which model? if it's the Vitesse or the Aliante, when you sit on it, you should feel something like a cradling, or hammock effect, it is an anatomical design. you should feel like the sit-bones are supported, not pitched forward or back.

are you tightening the bolts that hold the saddle in position enough? maybe they loosen while you ride causing your position to change.

and what about your riding position? are you bent forward a lot? maybe you are stretched out too much & end up over-compensating during riding by scooching forward on your butt.

ask DSO for some help here. pain is not ok, & while discomfort from long rides might be, it shouldn't be happening because you can't find someplace to sit!

[jeannierides]

Thanks for your imput.

We just spent and hour and a half in the kitchen with the bike on the trainer. Made it level, moved it forward, moved it back, moved it up, moved it down. No matter which way we positioned the saddle, I still found the main pressure was on my pubic bones and not on my rear. I found myself pushing back on the saddle to the point I was almost off it to get some sort of relief.
I think the Fizik is going on ebay.

[Squirrel 2]

One more question before you chuck the saddle out on e-bay -- is the pubic bone pressure more pronounced on one side, or is it the same on both? You need to know this, because if you are having more pain on one side, you are sitting crooked on the saddle. If you don't fix this before you get another saddle you'll just end up going through the same thing all over again.

If you have pain on both sides and are sitting squarely centered, then look to design issues. The saddle might be too narrow for you with your pubic bones ending up on the area where the saddle tapers in towards the nose. Or the anatomical dip might be too severe for you with the nose coming up & kicking you in the pubic bones.

The more you know about what went wrong with this one, the more likely you are to eliminate the same type of problem. No guarantees on eliminating other problems, but at least you won't have the same ones all the time!

[jeannierides]

thanks. it's the same on both sides. the saddle is dead center.

[Dripps]

I was having comfort problems with my saddle and was convinced I need to get different post to let me move it back further since I wanted to sit further back on the saddle to be on the widest part and get rid of that black and blue feeling on my sit bones. After riding a while I had to keep moving back, almost off the back of my saddle, for relief. I couldn't get the saddle back far enough to stay there or I was sitting too much behind when saddle was designed for comfort but my body position wouldn't stay there....or so I thought. I went into my bike dealer to ask about different post---he asked me why---I explained and he asked me a few questions. Turns out he was right! I needed the saddle to be moved forward, not back. That way I could sit on the wider part without having to move myself back! Now it makes perfect sense. Just a thought - it worked for me. Also when recently measured for saddle on Specialized it turns out I measured for wider saddle (most woman do) and that really helped. Now I feel a sense of ahhhhh--that's better---no more black and blue feeling from pressure on sit bones after a long ride.

[wavedancer]

I have a Fizik Vitesse, and while I like the saddle overall, I too was pushing myself back and playing with the angle of the saddle. My sitz bones seemed to be in the right place, but my girly-bits were getting numb. I was considering getting a Terry saddle with a cut out, when my DSO Mr. Fixit offerred to do some reshaping of the foam under the cover on the saddle.

He pulled off the cover and took a dremel tool and some sand paper and formed a shallow groove in the foam. Then he pulled the cover back over and glued it down with contact cement. Voila! Just enough to take the pressue off! Now girly-bits and Mr Fixit are both happy

[Pedal Wench]

I used to have the Vitesse too. Loved it on short rides, but it killed me on longer rides. It's somewhat narrow, and it is very angled down on the sides. So, my sitbones were off the sides, and the middle of the saddle was pushing up on my girly-bits. I found a saddle that is wide enough for my sitbones, and now that's all that touches the saddle.

[mtbdarby]

Alright, I need to chime in here. I am DIEING with my saddle on my road bike. I ride a diamondback hybrid bike. I was riding with the original, too wide gel saddle which was fine under 10 miles. As I hit 30 miles it would literally "cut" my girlie parts - rub me raw in the front with cuts in the middle and toward the rear. OUCH! I switched to a Performance Forte saddle which I put on myself, and on a 20 mile ride had only 1 "cut" in the middle girlie section. I can relate to the sitting positions mentioned above so I'm guessing I need to call my LBS and get measured or something? Or at least as place to start before I send it back? I am not looking forward to calling my LBS to explain to the guys my delicate problem. Partially because they're gonna give me hell for not buyiing the saddle there in the first place (I gave them first crack at it - they just wanted to sell me an expensive saddle sans the fitting, finding the right one) I can not keep riding on the road like this. I don't have a problem on my mtb with my Specialized Dolce, but then again, I don't put on the same amount of miles and I'm not in the seat as much. My seat posts are different on my bikes so I don't want to have to keep switching seats - I want one for each bike. I just didn't want to have to spend $50+ for a seat....HELP!

[ChainsOflove]

Dont forget saddle height is affected too, when you switch the extra frontal pressure may mean its a bit too high now. The stack height might be diff.

[ChainsOflove]

I meant checking your fore/aft and your knee angle

[salsabike]

Hey there, I'm wondering what saddle you are talking about below, that's wide enough. Is it working for long distances? What is it? Thanks!

I used to have the Vitesse too. Loved it on short rides, but it killed me on longer rides. It's somewhat narrow, and it is very angled down on the sides. So, my sitbones were off the sides, and the middle of the saddle was pushing up on my girly-bits. I found a saddle that is wide enough for my sitbones, and now that's all that touches the saddle.

[Nanci]

I _still_ love the Vitesse. Put 375 miles on it a couple weeks ago! I didn't start to hurt (at the edges, where pantie elastic hits) until about 250 miles. I think the hair folicles there are the most vulnerable. Sit bones never hurt. What I love about the Vitesse- narrow long nose= no thigh rubbing AT ALL and many possible variations of positions. Flat and firm- I think if you don't sink in, the sit bones don't get hurt. I can also sit with "the bits" off to the side, since the nose is so narrow, if I feel like it, or with the sit bones braced against the front of the curved section, just at the edge, for something different.

I know by experience if something, (hurt knee, for example) is causing you to shift all over the saddle repeatedly, you can have major problems with friction. What I mean about changing positions on the Vitesse is like every hour or so, not every 30 seconds.

Nanci

[Robbin_G]

P. 5 of Zinn's Cycling Primer...

With the pedal in its 9 o'clock position (when looking at it from the same side), drop a string with a key tied to it from the knee. The key/string should barely graze the crank arm. He does note that wider sit bones might need to have the saddle moved forward a bit. But start there first.