how do you sit on your SMP glider (or other smp saddle)?

[djgafi]

hi girls
i'm new to this forum, and i've read some previous discussions on SMP saddles...

but, reason why i'm posting this is to understand how you sit on your SMP...

because: i have a Glider too, and have ridden about 800 km on it.
Yesterday i got a proper fitting and posture test... and the guy noticed that my sitbones are not on the saddle (sitting on the flat part) but just on the outside...
In his opinion this explains the the pressure/slight pain on the boney front part (the ischiatic bones) and discomfort when riding long distances because this area become the only place where the weight of the body gets concentrated to, and this ultimetly causes an improper posture on the bike and pedal stroke.

before yesterday i thought it was only a matter of getting used to to the Glider's discomfort, but yesterday it all changed for me, and now i'm trying to figure out if i really need to change the saddle with one just a bit wider in the back so that my sitbones would relieve pressure/weight from the central part/ischiatic bones, or continue the old way.

i see many girls using the glider, and everyone says that is a 'different' way of sitting on it... i wouldn't know better because i've always used smps (before i used to have a extra strike in plastic), and have ridden almost 2000 km on them.
so now at this point i'm confused.

if this matters, i'm a size 42 european, 1.73 tall, slim... but have never measured the distance of the iliac/sit bones when sitting.

maybe is not the saddle for me, maybe i just need to upgrade it to a wider model... but i just wanted to hear from you girls how you sit on it.

the guy's suggestion was to go for a wider and flat saddle in the back with a regular/narrower point.
According to him good substitutions would be: Selle Italia SLR gelflow, or Fizik Antares.

mmmm, i got so attached a that wide opening that the SMPs offer...so great and no one really has matched that.

anyway, would love to hear back for you SMP enthusiastic women!
thank you

[alpinerabbit]

Hi,

I think there are 2 variants.

In an upright position (top of the bars) I sit mostly on the ischial tuberosities themselves.
In the drops or the aero bars, I have most of my weight forward, on the bony ledge (think it's called the os ischium) around your soft bits.
During a ride, I will move around, and i think that's part of the power of the SMP - the cupped shape offers you lots of different angles to sit.

I've tried to show in the below pic (cave: I'm not quite sure about the anatomy but I think I got it right) where I place my sit bones (red dot) and the ledges (green dot). The sit bones are quite way back (at least that's how I think I sit on it).

I don't know if the guy confused you more than is good.
I rode about 2500 km on it last year. Including a 190 end of season with NO significant pain during or after the ride.



As always:
Pictures of you on your bike would help in the discussion.

[Andrea]

Just to complicate things, I'll add that with mine, I had it set so that weight was distributed across both of those areas that Alpinerabbit circled above. If you've got the nose tilted up a fair amount, the widest part of the saddle will be flat like a "normal" saddle, and the upwards curve will form a bit of a cradle for the other bones to rest against. It results in some odd soreness (like sitbone soreness, but in the other bones) when you first do it, but I found it to be the most comfortable position for me.

[alpinerabbit]

You are right of course. It's always somewhat distributed.

Also, note that the "horizontal" part of the saddle, in my case, is perhaps a bit forward of the green bubble. So you really get the cradle effect and don't be afraid of the front part arching up, it's not a problem.

[djgafi]

thanks girls for your input...

the way i had to set my saddle was with the nose lowered down a couple of millimiters lower than what it should be... because with a raised nose, it hurts even more... so for me that's not an option.

i find myself more in line with the way alpinerabbit described her riding, although in my case, the green dot i think is placed further down.

today, i called the SMP headquarters to understand better how one should be properly sat on the smp's....
apparently both bones (ischial and sit bones) should be resting on the saddle, meaning sitting on the 'flat' part.
then ofcourse one moves around the saddle a bit, but at least the sit bones shouldn't rest on the side/sloped back area.

and i think this is my problem, my sitbones in a sitting position are 130mm wide, when the glider is 136... they're basically not sitting on the flat part.
i'll test it out tomorrow again and see exactly what happens.
maybe upgrading to a wider smp saddle, positioning-pain-pedal stroke will be improved.

thanks a million for your feedback!!

[djgafi]

actually to answer alpinerabbit, i took a couple of pics on the saddle and pointed out where approx my bones sit on the saddle.

the back view shows where the sit bones touch, which is on the outer part of the saddle, right before the lateral edge.
obviously are placed further up on the saddle than what they appear in the image.

the side/later view, shows approx where they are on the saddle...
green dot is the ischial bone.

looking at the back view image, are your sit bones touching the saddle approx in the same way, or closer to the center axis of the saddle?

[alpinerabbit]

Hi

I think there as far our as yours. Are you in pain because of the saddle - soft tissue pain that is? then it's bad. If your wrench thinks you're too far out, but you feel fine, why worry.

ps I was gonna say I'm about your height and my sitbones are wider than yours (I think) - I measured 140 once but maybe i got it wrong.

[djgafi]

mmmm

today i trained on the elite roller, and i felt pretty much ok...
but i did only 45 min...

on the road i get a slight discomfort on the ischial bones, sit bones i never even feel them...
and the soft front part gets a bit squashed, so i have to move a bit during the ride, maybe pedaling up for a few strokes... and at times they get numb.

before the guy saw me, my thought was that i had to get used to the bones being a bit sore and that i had to just ride more on it.I gave myself few more KM on it to see what happened. But i was still wondering if the glider was the saddle for me...

the issue of my sit bones being a bit too wide occurred only when the ergonomist pointed it out.. but i was also pedaling on a different saddle, flat but too narrow and which was not obviously the one for me.
his suggestion was that if my sit bones are touching more on a flat part of the saddle, i can get a better support from and distribute weight across it, hence pressing less on the ischial part, and ultimately improving my pedal stroke. With the glider being pretty much rounded in shape from a back-side view, his point was that it may not be a perfect fit for my posture-bone size.

i know, i should just carry on using it and eventually try the lite 209 or the ones he suggested just to verify if what he said is right.

in the end this is something so personal that only trial and error can really give the best answers.

hope i didn't confuse you too
:-)

[djgafi]

hi girls

just wanted to add on my SMP experience...

the manufacturer was so kind to send me some test saddles to try out.

after a couple of them, like the composit and the stratos, i landed on the Lite 209, which i found more comfortable than all the rest, and certinly of my Glider.

i feel my sitbones being more centered on the saddle and less on the border/edges, and the comfort overall was good. Also my girly bits weren't too squashed out.

In addition, i tried placing the saddle like Andrea suggested, with the nose tilted more upwards, and while on the Glider it was impossible to ride on it that way, on the Lite 209 it was good!!
I rode about 40k on it and it was a pretty pain-free ride.

I have yet to try the Avant, the wider saddle SMP has, but i think i'll end up with the Lite.

Anyway, thank you girls for your precious suggestions.

ps. prior to testing the Lite 209, i also wanted to test other brands-models... One was the Selle Italia SLR GelFlow, which was a bit too narrow and the central hole was too small, and the Fizik Antares, which being hole-free was a real pain to get adjusted to.
I think overall SMP is a good saddle for us women, it just takes some time to find out the right width.

Hope this helps for future riders interested in these saddles