Private Parts Issue

[sgraham]

Yes my bike was fitted to me and yes my saddle has a long slit... It actually fits pretty well..I am beginning to think that aerobars should only be put on a Tri bike. I guess there is a difference in road bikes and Tri bikes, am I correct in this... Maybe I should just ride without the bars...It is definitely uncomfortable to ride with them on...Thanks for your comments...

[Cataboo]

You can use aero bars on a road bike without any pain - I've done it. Look at what angle your seat is at, you can drop the nose down slightly to try to alleviate things - but if you have too much of a tilt down, you're going to be sliding forward and putting more weight on your wrists (which doesn't quite matter if you're using aero bars)

I also agree if your hips are moving that much - your seat is probably too high. Or your seat is too wide, if it's too wide, your hips can rock - narrower saddles are recommended for aero positions than upright position (if you look at the charts on the specialized.com website, you can measure your sit bones and they'll give you a recommendation for what width saddle you need depending on whether you're riding aero or upright.)

You may need a different saddle if you want to ride comfortably in the aero position.

If you're having knee pain without raising your seat - maybe check your fit, your cleats may need to move backward or forward, your seat may need to move forward or back, etc.... but your hips shouldn't be rocking. Do you end up pointing your toes?

[Suechoccy]

Either saddle is too high or tribars are too far in front of you, either way leading to you rocking/rolling in the saddle as you strain to reach them.

Plus the aero position does put more pressure on the clit area because you're in a more pelvis-rolled-forward position.

Defo just change one thing at a time. Put saddle back where it was, see if that's better. Try out over several short rides.

I am an ISM Adamo saddle fan (see my other post). Expensive but if you can get a free trial first, worth it.

[SadieKate]

Yes my bike was fitted to me and yes my saddle has a long slit... It actually fits pretty well..I am beginning to think that aerobars should only be put on a Tri bike. I guess there is a difference in road bikes and Tri bikes, am I correct in this... Maybe I should just ride without the bars...It is definitely uncomfortable to ride with them on...Thanks for your comments...

Road and tri bikes have very different geometry.

If you had your bike fitted using drop bars and have now added aero bars, it is likely your fit is now completely off. You will probably need to move your saddle forward accomodating appropriately for saddle height. You may need to reverse the seat post to do this and you may decide you need a different saddle for the purpose. You can always set up a seatpost/saddle combo that you swap out as necessary so you don't screw up the saddle position when you add/remove the aero bars.

Using a road bike this way can mean a lot of weight on the front of a road bike, so be careful with the handling. This is one of the reasons for tri-specific bikes - to balance your weight properly in this extreme forward position.