Viewing 26 posts - 1 through 26 (of 26 total)
  • Saddle selection and stuff I didn't really know/penny dropped
  • hora
    Free Member

    After all these years, I was peripherally aware of sitbones and measurements but shrugged and thought its probably a fantatical roadie thing.

    I’ve chosen saddles on padding, then price with no other real concern. However pressure on your bits can lead to longterm damage but since I’ve gotten into road riding and rinsed through a few saddles I did alittle more reading on the widths and realised yes (eurika/bloody obvious) but it is key:

    Especially this bit:
    Percentile 5th 50th 95th
    Men 100mm 118mm 137mm
    Women 112mm 130mm 148mm – See more at: http://www.cervelo.com/en/engineering/ask-the-engineers/the-four-and-a-half-rules-of-road-saddles-.html#sthash.W71rmIGN.dpuf

    Really tall/big blokes are looking at sitbone/saddle widths of circa 150mm aren’t we? Get our saddle (OFF and onroad) and it’d be a formula we can apply straight off before we do the try/trial/fail formula.

    Del
    Full Member

    so you’ve decided there’s a correlation between height and/or weight to sit bone spacing?
    and also that bigger blokes should be riding saddles spaced for sit bones that suit only the 95th percentile of women?
    think you might need to go back and read the article again.
    if i were you i’d focus on the measurement bit. 😆

    hora
    Free Member

    Reading a few comments etc on google it seems the 6ft2 etc riders tend to be bigger boned as well/well broader framewise. Thats immaterial- the main crux of my post is for my mountain bike (and early road) I focused on buying a nice looking saddle rather than the basics.

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    njee20
    Free Member

    There’s no strong correlation between height/weight/sit bone width.

    If if were possible to do a ‘lookup’ to determine what saddle width folk require do you not think it would have happened…

    wwaswas
    Full Member

    I think you’re right hora – with saddles fit is everything.

    Quite early on I discovered that WTB saddles were ‘right’ for me and I’ve stuck with them ever since. They’re actually the part I buy least of as they just move from bike to bike as I build them up (and there’s clearly not much to go wrong on them).

    As above though, I’d be wary of going down the ‘I’m a big bloke I must have a big pelvis’ route.

    amedias
    Free Member

    I focused on buying a nice looking saddle rather than the basics

    Is the same penny likely to drop for any of your other buying decisions? 😉

    Saddle shape is massively important as well, not just their advertised width. It can take a long time to find what works for you but basic measurement* is a good place to start!

    *actual measurement, not, ‘I’m tall I must have wide sit bones’ assumption.

    GregMay
    Free Member

    *facepalm*

    Well good to see years of learning human anatomy is wasted by one simple mathematical idea.

    So how do you explain tall people with a widely spaced pelvis?

    *walks away shaking head*

    Northwind
    Full Member

    You’re not wrong that saddle sizing can be really important, but you seem to want to go from buying a potentially wrong sized saddle due to it looking pretty, to buying a probably wrong sized saddle due to basically guesswork. The point of measurement is measuring.

    hora
    Free Member

    wow. Again negativity rears its head. Why don’t you focus on the content of the link and post on that? but also this bit

    Percentile 5th 50th 95th
    Men 100mm 118mm 137mm

    instead of just disputing one line as a reason to post?

    wwaswas
    Full Member

    I think those percentiles aren’t height though, hora.

    It’s about the distribution of pelvic width in the population in terms of percentile v mm width not a correlation between your height as a percentile and the width of your sit bones in mm?

    [edit] a 95percentile height man will not necessarily have a 137mm sit bone width (although they may)

    bikebouy
    Free Member

    I’ve tried all sorts of saddles, back in the day I’d ride whatever came on the bike, then got used to them..
    One day I sat on an Antares, never looked back.. That’ll be best part of 10years I guess.

    ProLogo and Fiz do “try before you buy” saddles, best off going down that route if you can..

    I’d not ask MrsBouy to measure my sitbones and I’ve been married for 16 years now.. 😯

    hora
    Free Member

    I’d not ask MrsBouy to measure my sitbones

    Me neither.

    I think getting your measurements done puts you directly on the right path to the best saddle for you. Never gave it much thought before.

    dlr
    Full Member

    I had no idea that I had an inner p3n1s! The article is interesting though. For 5 years I have stuck with old Fizik Nisenes, found some NOS 2 years back but they are shot now. I did get a sit bone test at a Specialized store and bought a saddle but found it way to hard, perhaps I need to just use it for longer and man up although I do easily get painful sit bones

    amedias
    Free Member

    those percentiles aren’t height though, hora

    this ^

    You made a (false) link between height and sit bone width.
    The percentiles describe the distribution of sit bone widths for each gender over large populations, NOT linked to height.

    Which is why the important bit is to measure your sit bones and go from there, not make assumptions.

    I think getting your measurements done puts you directly on the right path to the best saddle for you. Never gave it much thought before.

    You’re spot on there though Hora, it puts you on the right path

    There’s a lot more to saddles than just width though, a fair bit of it discussed in that link and it is interesting reading, the important rule with saddles and bums though is that there are no rules! only guidelines which work reasonably well as starting points.

    hora
    Free Member

    Ok move on from height/width.

    I had no idea that I had an inner p3n1s

    I didn’t until recently when I read something on scar tissue building up over time in that area. It effects erections later on in life. Not a topic we like to think about really.

    Gary_M
    Free Member

    but since I’ve gotten into road riding

    But you’re worried about a 50 mile ride! Best not test out the theory on that ride.

    teamslug
    Free Member

    I’m 47 y.o , 6’2, weigh 11 stone and according to specialized needed a 143mm saddle. They are good but after 3 hours+ my sit bones were agony so I’m now on charge spoons. did mayhem solo with no ill effects and gave my missus a good seeing to when i got home!!!. Saddles and shorts are definitely suck it and see. some suit, some dont. Too much science and not enough riding

    bikebouy
    Free Member

    hora – Member
    I didn’t until recently when I read something on scar tissue building up over time in that area. It effects erections later on in life. Not a topic we like to think about really.

    Ohh I dunno, I think we ought to talk about it.

    As mentioned I’d ride anything back in the day when I used to race, before I took my break from riding that is. I used to suffer “Numb Nob” all the time, no matter how I set my saddle angle/height yadda yadda, right old pain it was. Riding anything over 2hrs and I’d be numb (bit of a ballache when racing), jiggling and wiggling helped but never got rid of it, I’d finish a race and it’d take about 30mins for the sensations to come back then I’d stand there with a hard on for about 20mins :lol:.
    I suffered errection problems, also lack of “sperm’dge output” for about 3 years. Went to the Docs about it and he said “stop riding” which of course I completely ignored. Turned out I became infertile for about 5 years, not a problem because I was single and celebate. Became no more of an issue when I met someone as we didn’t plan to have kids, became an issue when we tried later on though.

    Although I’m fine now, I still wonder if some folks suffer in silence and just crack on getting “Numb Nob” and doing now’t about it.

    I’d say if you are getting numb at all or are in pain, mild or otherwise, do something about it.

    hora
    Free Member

    Maybe you needed a different saddle than the specific model you bought? Did you buy the model specific to your hobby and type of riding?

    Maybe you are suffering scarring without realising it?

    Sizing is a starting point/platform- there are still style/padding and variations to your two wheel hobby?

    plus-one
    Full Member

    I’m lucky I guess I flit between an old turbomatic/ flite Trans am/ stripped slr/ cheap velo saddle all pretty good on arse comfort front 🙂

    Guess there all similar width/shape so maybe that is indeed the key ?

    However a fizik arione a few years ago was a weapon of torture and promptly sold !!!!

    bikebouy
    Free Member

    Supplied bike(s) Hora, Colnago Masters with some **** horrid synthetic saddle (no idea of the make, can’t remember) but the saddles were “well hard” and very slippy.
    We weren’t allowed to even change the bar tape for something less shiney and slippy, bloody stupid days… 😆

    hora
    Free Member

    I bought a secondhand one off of here after reading bikeradar. Jesus it hurt me 😆

    Northwind
    Full Member

    You know how you can sit on your hands to make them numb, so it feels like someone else doing it? Well, if you sit on the wrong saddle, it makes it numb, and it feels like you’re doing it to someone else.

    AlexSimon
    Full Member

    Northwind – Member

    You know how you can sit on your hands to make them numb, so it feels like someone else doing it? Well, if you sit on the wrong saddle, it makes it numb, and it feels like you’re doing it to someone else.
    Argh

    tonyd
    Full Member

    While in Colorado with work a few years ago I hired an S-Works Tarmac for a weekend, riding out of Boulder and up some of the canyon roads. By the time I was 10 miles up an 18 mile climb (about 30 miles into the ride) the ‘pro’ saddle was so uncomfortable I was in tears. Turns out I wasn’t as fit as I thought I was and at 10,000ft it was showing as I couldn’t spend enough time out of the saddle to stop the hurty.

    After that I no longer care what a saddle looks like, so long as it’s comfy.

    MrNice
    Free Member

    You know how you can sit on your hands to make them numb, so it feels like someone else doing it? Well, if you sit on the wrong saddle, it makes it numb, and it feels like you’re doing it to someone else.

    surely you mean “it feels like you’re doing it with someone else’s“?

Viewing 26 posts - 1 through 26 (of 26 total)

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