Anyone have an opinion on saddle tilt?

[yogabear]

Hi,

I was curious if anyone has experimented much with saddle tilt to alleviate the front/crotch pain issue? I prefer to have my saddle level not downward to avoid putting too much weight on my hands and wrists. Some people say to tilt it downward to avoid the pressure and others say to tilt it backward a bit. I am just interested in others' experiences with this. I am pretty comfortable now so I don't want to change things, but I am just trying to understand this suggestion that is often made in biking circles.

Thanks very much!

Sincerely,

Lisa

[JanT]

If you're comfortable, don't change a thing! Since I bought my road bike a couple months ago, I've had some issues with my tissues! When I got the saddle set to not rub the privates, the sit bones hurt. I finally decided to buy a new saddle. After reading quite a bit online (this forum, road bike review) and browsing bike stores online, I went to the LBS and bought a Serfas RX. After a few rides and lots of up/down tilts and forward/backward adjustments, I took it back to the LBS and changed to a men's Serfas saddle (the ddvado model). That, too, took a bit of back and forth, up and down, arranging and rearranging. Finally got it right, I think. When I look at it, the nose is definitely lower than the back, pointing down. It doesn't feel like I'm sliding forward when riding, and the sensitive areas seem to be OK. If it feels this good on a longer ride, maybe 25 miles or so, then I think I'll keep it as is. BTW my mountain bike and commuter both have seats almost perfectly level, and I am happy with them that way. It's probably a combination of the saddle and my riding form that determines the angle of the seat.

[caligurl]

being a newbie.. i'm going through this right now!

tried it pretty much level.. hurt...

tried it tilted down... i slid forward and hurt...

have it perfectly level now and i still seem to hury...

however i'm not sure if the hurt is still from the seat of residual from another position...

i have the stock dolce saddle on my elite bike.. so it has the slit and all...

pain is not good

[Biking Kitsune]

I'm not sure what brand my saddle is...
I know that if I tip it foreward, my arms hurt a little more but my butt's happy... maybe I need to raise the handlebars? eh, forward is the only way that works for me.

[caligurl]

Originally posted by Biking Kitsune
I'm not sure what brand my saddle is...
I know that if I tip it foreward, my arms hurt a little more but my butt's happy... maybe I need to raise the handlebars? eh, forward is the only way that works for me.

ya know.. to me it makes sense that that would work.. but what's the deal with asking me if i can see the hub? why does the hub have to be covered by the handlebars?

[pedalfaster]

"Level" works best for me.

p.s. the question about seeing the hub is just a general guideline to help bike-store clerks get close when it comes to fitting a rider on a bike. It's not a hard-and-fast rule.

For even more on female-specific bike fit check here.

[annie]

Slightly tipped down in front is what works for me. I would guess the front of my saddle is maybe 1-2 centimeters lower than the back. It's not much, but it works great. I have a Bontrager WSD saddle. No cut-out, just a soft spot in the middle of the saddle for the soft tissues......... It's been comfortable from the first time I sat on it.

The saddle issue is an important one. Keep trying till you find what works the best.

Oh- one more item. The tilt of your saddle will somewhat depend on what kind of bike you are riding. My down-in-front saddle is on my road bike. My MTB saddle is level. IF I had a hybrid, I would guess that it might be level or even tipped up a bit in front.

And yet one more item - Saddles don't just move up and down and tilt, they also move for and aft. Sometimes a slight adjustment in that direction is needed, too.

annie

[emily_in_nc]

I prefer my saddle absolutely level. I ride a Terry Butterfly saddle with leather cover and cutout and find it exceedingly comfy. I'll never change saddles again. I can ride a metric with no pain at all; anything longer and I start to get what I call "saddle fatique", where my crotch area just feels heavy and tired, but not raw and no sore sitbones, just tired of sitting on a saddle for so long. I use Chamois Butt'r just in the crease between inner thighs and crotch for rides > 20 miles.

I think for me the biggest thing that helped was just "toughening up" my saddle area by putting in the miles ~ I rode over 4000 miles last year and am up to over 2200 this year so far. I used to have lots more saddle problems when I rode less, but the more I ride, the fewer problems I have. It's nice to be able to hop on the bike now and never worry about my saddle. Of course, having a really good bike fit (fore/aft saddle possition, saddle height, handlebar height, correct stem length, etc.) is vital too. If one piece of the puzzle is off, other parts can suffer!

Emily

[skibum]

I had quite a few problems with pain in my private parts and tried all combinations of saddle tilt and forward/backward adjustments. I found that the downward tilt was the worst for me. In that position, it felt like I kept sliding forward on the saddle and riding more on the nose than on the seat.

The solution for me was a different saddle. When I bought my bike, the LBS encouraged me to get a women's saddle. After several comments from fellow riders that the saddle looked too wide for me, my BF loaned me one of his saddles just to try something narrower. Problem solved! Apparently, my sit bones weren't resting properly on the saddle so I'd end up too far forward on the saddle, resulting in the pressure on my private parts.

About 1000 miles later, I'm still happily riding on the borrowed saddle. I think my BF has just given up the idea of ever getting it back. It was a spare that he never used anyway and letting me keep it is a small price to pay to keep me from whining about soreness in my crotch.

[yogabear]

I agree with you on the part about WSD saddles being too wide for some of us. I did borrow one of my hubby's saddles and have discovered that I can sit more on my sit bones which has helped tremendously. I recently ordered a new version of his saddle I borrowed so I can break it in for my own body...which I know will not always be fun to break in. I am trying to figure out how to alleviate that last 10-15 percent remaining crotch soreness. I don't like my saddle tipped down either...ouch on the wrists!

I did order some new shorts with better chamois which will soon arrive and I am going to keep trying the chamois creme, but it so frustrating to still have that tiny amount of pain. I also agree with Emily that the more you ride, the better it gets. I wouldn't have said that before when I had a too big road bike, but now that I am starting to get more dialed in, I notice it's hard to sit on the bike if you skip riding on an occaisional day. Also, I agree that you have to have a good fit..I think I am about 90 percent there with my new road bike.

Also, thanks to Annie for the reminder about the fore/aft...I haven't experimented much with that yet on this new bike, but was on my list of to-do's (actually my hubby's honey-do list...LOL).

I always thought I was the only one with the crotch pain thing until I started asking around. One of my pet peeves is when bike shop boys or racer boys or anyone else really starts to talk about our girl butts needing toughing or how we need to ride on wider saddles due to our big, wide pelvises. Some people just don't get it that it's not always about the butt and some gals don't have wide pelvises. I feel like saying, "Duhhhh!" But, at least we can educate these people on women's special needs as cyclists.

I appreciate all of the feedback, suggestions and sharing of experiences very much here, so thank you!

Thanks,

Lisa

[pedalfaster]

Yogabear,

Thanks for starting these threads. Comfort is a huge isssue and we seem to have a lot of new riders on-board these days.

I agree completely about saddle width. It's a personal thing and not necessarily gender-specific.

New male riders get sore too BTW. They just don't want to admit it A woman having discomfort will walk into the shop and say "help!!!" but a guy will hem and haw, look at the saddle-display wall for 20 minutes and then say "well...I'm looking for a new saddle....."

Every spring I have to go through the "breaking in my butt" thing. By the middle of summer I can easily spend 6+ hours on the bike without even thinking about it

One tip: when you do find great shorts and or the "perfect" saddle..buy extras! It really sucks when manufacturers discontinue/change products and your hunt starts alllll over again.

[yogabear]

Pedalfaster,

Thanks for that tip about buying extras! I forgot about the tendency of manufacturers to quit making stuff! Not to sound too girly, but it's akin to when they stop making your favorite lipstick! (only it's much, much worse than that!).

Gracias,

Lisa