Appreciate this is hugely personal subject.
trying to get back onto indoor trainer and getting more numbness in feet / groin than ever before. After a break for 7 months or so.
not helped by a small nerve medical issue, but putting that aside for a mo.
has anyone got any feedback on the short nosed bike seats ? Designed for tri / racing crouch on the bike.
Think these might work, but would welcome anyone’s experience or if there’s a better approach / option?
bike fit not really an option at the moment.
A short nosed saddle might work, but don’t believe too much marketing hype, they only exist because UCI have a lower limit on distance from BB to saddle tip, and for more aero, pros were moving the saddle forward beyond it. Hence, lop the front off. In short, it’s probably more the overall shape and angles than the length.
Thanks thought it might be the case that’s it’s possibly marketing, the short nosed bike seats seats don’t look that much different to a regular seat tbh
A short nosed saddle might work, but don’t believe too much marketing hype, they only exist because UCI have a lower limit on distance from BB to saddle tip, and for more aero, pros were moving the saddle forward beyond it. Hence, lop the front off. In short, it’s probably more the overall shape and angles than the length.
I did wonder why short-nose became a thing, I've looked down when riding and even with my Power Arc I can still see a bit of the nose sticking out, so couldn't quite understand how extremely on the rivet you would have to be for the 25mm at the tip of the nose to get in the way!
For the OP, I think discomfort on the turbo is a common thing due to how static you are etc. I also find I need to tinker with saddle position when the bike is on the turbo vs. when off, usually tilting back slightly to take more weight off arms (they say this is due to the lack of wind resistance, I can't confirm or deny that though!).
Other things I've noticed is that, counterintuitively, tilting the saddle back slightly (but also sliding forward slightly) allows your hips to rotate back slightly and maybe unweights perineum. This is why I tend to run very flat saddles (e.g. Fizik Antares) because even a saddle with a kicked up tail tends to just push me forward. That said I think a very scooped saddle with a big cut-out can be comfortable (see Selle SMP as an extreme example) if your sit bones are 'cupped' by the curve, front and rear. This relies on a big cut-out though as there will be pressure forward of your sit bones. I can achieve a similar effect with a Specilized Power Arc, it's almost level across the tail and the nose which leaves a pronounced dip in the middle.
I tried an SQ Labs saddle which had a raised platform for the sitbone then immediately shelved away from the remainded of the nose of the saddle. It seemed to just make the front half of the saddle entirely redundant, but took ALL pressure off the perineum, was extremely comfortable until I spent any sort of time on it at whick point my arms and shoulders protested as the lack of pressure on the perineum just meant no support and thus more weight on arms! That's why triathletes have aero bars and arm rests I think.
Personally I'd look at either an Ergon SR All Road which has a big cut-out and slightly more padding (hence all-road) which might make it more comfortable on a turbo, OR the new Bontrager Aeolus which also has additional padding, a big cut-out and a short nose. Just watch the kicked up tail of the Aeolus as it will shift your weight forwards.
I had a specialized power of some variety indoors for a while. It seemed ok and then it wasn't and I got just as much numbness as a cheap oem saddle.
Personally I'd look at either an Ergon SR All Road which has a big cut-out and slightly more padding (hence all-road) which might make it more comfortable on a turbo, OR the new Bontrager Aeolus which also has additional padding, a big cut-out and a short nose. Just watch the kicked up tail of the Aeolus as it will shift your weight forwards.
Will take a look at these. They just look like the rear of the seat is kicked up.
I use ISM saddles on all my bikes and really like them. I converted over 10 years ago, before going in for a prostatectomy. They need to be setup exactly as per the instruction videos on their site, which are pretty clear. Also takes maybe 6-10 hrs of riding together your sit bones used to the different way of sitting.
I run Spesh Power Comp saddles on the road, mtb and indoor bike. First had it as OEM on the MTB i bought in 2020. I was running an old (2004) Sworks long nose on the old road bike which had seemed ok but realised not as comfy as the power. Built a new road bike in 2022 and put a power saddle on that and used it on the turbo in the winter as well.
when i got a dedicated frame for the indoor trainer last winter i used the old Sworks saddle, and was getting very uncomfortable on the trainer, lots of numbness. So swapped to a power saddle on that and i no longer get any numbness. Makes those longer indoor sessions in the winter bearable. With the static riding position on the trainer i have had to work on saddle fore and aft position to get it comfortable for my knees, but not my gooch. Looking at the saddle just now, the center channel is quite pronounced.
That's the Ergon SR Allroad, I think that's pretty flat as saddles go to be honest, or at least almost as flat as a Fizik Antares which is my go-to. I would have recommended a Fizik Antares but they are reasonably hard, I don't LOVE mine on the turbo but most of my workouts and short and intense so it's not that big a problem. Wouldn't fancy 2 hours of Z2 on it though!
Other thing I forgot to mention is saddle width, I've always been on the cusp between ~145mm saddles and ~155mm saddles, so I experimented with going wider, logic being that the sit bones would be supported higher up the side-to-side curve of the saddle and thus lift the perineum up off the centre of the saddle a bit more. The logic seemed sound and I'm a lot comfier on the wider saddles.
Edit: Fizik Antares
Bontrager Aeolus, way more kicked up than I remember so I would be tilting this back a bit so the sitbones sit in the dip between the tail and the nose, but this needs much more precise fore and aft adjustment (likely moving saddle forward a bit so you're not sat on the upslope of the nose. Selle SMP/ Steve Hogg give excellent fitting instructions for these sorts of saddles).
When I had a bike fit a few months back the saddle went nose down (just a bit) to put the hips in the right place to pedal properly.
If the rest of your position is right you shouldn't be sliding forward because the action of pedalling is holding you in place.
What I didn't do was change the saddle, a San Marco jobby.
It wasn't until I went for a couple of weeks solid riding that I realised the saddle pressure was getting to the nerve, riding day after day. Got back from holiday and one of our Saturday lot is a urologist and was chatting to him about this. He wouldn't ride a saddle without a proper cutout. Me and one son now have Brooks C15s on our road bikes and other one has a Spesh. The C15 has a big cutout, I have no more discomfort. It took a bit of fiddling to get the position back in the right place as it's very flexible.
Short version I reckon you need a hole in your saddle and I'm not convinced by tilt back.
Bontrager Aeolus, way more kicked up than I remember so I would be tilting this back a bit so the sitbones sit in the dip between the tail and the nose, but this needs much more precise fore and aft adjustment (likely moving saddle forward a bit so you're not sat on the upslope of the nose. Selle SMP/ Steve Hogg give excellent fitting instructions for these sorts of saddles).
this is the one I was looking at that prompted my comment, it might be super comfy, it’s certainly different to seats I’ve been using.
When I had a bike fit a few months back the saddle went nose down (just a bit) to put the hips in the right place to pedal properly.
If the rest of your position is right you shouldn't be sliding forward because the action of pedalling is holding you in place.
What I didn't do was change the saddle, a San Marco jobby.
It wasn't until I went for a couple of weeks solid riding that I realised the saddle pressure was getting to the nerve, riding day after day. Got back from holiday and one of our Saturday lot is a urologist and was chatting to him about this. He wouldn't ride a saddle without a proper cutout. Me and one son now have Brooks C15s on our road bikes and other one has a Spesh. The C15 has a big cutout, I have no more discomfort. It took a bit of fiddling to get the position back in the right place as it's very flexible.
Short version I reckon you need a hole in your saddle and I'm not convinced by tilt back.
brooks ? Had a brooks seat on the Brompton for a decent while, was like being sat on a block of wood 🙂
happily try a Spesh one with a big cutout, like this https://www.sigmasports.com/item/Specialized/Sitero-Saddle/S25B?utm_source=google&utm_medium=base&co=GBR&cu=GBP&glCountry=GB&id=1309154&ds_eid=3823279037&ds_e=GOOGLE&ds_c=&ds_cid=22496943794&ds_ag=&ds_agid=&ds_k=&ds_kid=&ds_kids=&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22496945933&gbraid=0AAAAADpReTj-bZMOtkSla3aDtFMJqNSXX&gclid=Cj0KCQjwmYzIBhC6ARIsAHA3IkTw8ScGNEI2UavPefKHiNPQ1bA7gESCL2NE-BvlYQ2s8kbGrxU_IScaAqq8EALw_wcB
I've had a lot of success moving from traditional saddles to a specialized power on all my bikes. I'm not convinced it's the short nose of it though - my new roadie came with a Selle Italia SLR which to my untrained eye looks to be the same shape as the power. It was reasonably comfy but when I swapped it over for a power I could feel my whole position change for the better. Couldn't really figure out why - I guess it just fits my pelvis somehow.
The point of this anectode is that you're right in the OP, it is really personal.
brooks ? Had a brooks seat on the Brompton for a decent while, was like being sat on a block of wood 🙂
Leather ones are the B range. Personally I wouldn't choose them either because of the "block of wood" thing and breaking in period. I'm assuming it was a leather/B you had.
The C range (Cambium) is a completely different saddle. It has a natural rubber top. The base is very flexible. It needs no breaking in or special maintenance. It's nothing like sitting on a B at all and it's probably the single most flexible saddle I've ever sat on (and there have been a few).
I wouldn't have even considered a Brooks until someone showed me it and the difference to the old school ones.
Proper Jekyll and Hyde contrast between them.
I've had a lot of success moving from traditional saddles to a specialized power on all my bikes. I'm not convinced it's the short nose of it though - my new roadie came with a Selle Italia SLR which to my untrained eye looks to be the same shape as the power. It was reasonably comfy but when I swapped it over for a power I could feel my whole position change for the better. Couldn't really figure out why - I guess it just fits my pelvis somehow.
The point of this anectode is that you're right in the OP, it is really personal.
so the Spesh power is one of these ?
and the brooks one is this? The brooks C15s seems to be out of stock, or maybe not available.
https://www.brooksengland.com/en_uk/c17-carved.html
I use ISM saddles on all my bikes and really like them. I converted over 10 years ago, before going in for a prostatectomy. They need to be setup exactly as per the instruction videos on their site, which are pretty clear. Also takes maybe 6-10 hrs of riding together your sit bones used to the different way of sitting.
had a look at these last night online. They look quite different, what’s the deal with these that makes them a better option than the others mentioned? Curious
as I plan on buying 2-3 to trial to find a solution. As I’ve got to be able to use the wattbike without pain, otherwise even that is out for a good while, whilst the nerve repairs and that’s already going to be a bloody long time,if it even does.
I would have said that width is more important than length. Are you actually sitting on your sit bones? Are you being pushed forwards onto soft tissues because the saddle is too wide? Are the wings of the saddle digging into the back of your thighs? I had these problems until I tried a 130mm wide saddle - massive improvement over 140mm+. You can buy a Spec Power saddle in 130mm if you want to try narrow and short. Shorter saddles are going to benefit people with short torsos/long legs who find their hips pushed too far back due to saddle height needed for their longer legs. That then makes reaching the bars even harder with their shorter torso, so they end up with a bit of a double whammy.
Walowiz, That Spesh power comp from sigma is the one I'm using on my bikes. I'm running the 143mm one, but other widths are available. I inadvertently bought a wider one with the bike build and it didn't work, so as someone said width is important too.
And that price is great value at the moment.
brooks ? Had a brooks seat on the Brompton for a decent while, was like being sat on a block of wood 🙂
Leather ones are the B range. Personally I wouldn't choose them either because of the "block of wood" thing and breaking in period. I'm assuming it was a leather/B you had.
The C range (Cambium) is a completely different saddle. It has a natural rubber top. The base is very flexible. It needs no breaking in or special maintenance. It's nothing like sitting on a B at all and it's probably the single most flexible saddle I've ever sat on (and there have been a few).
I wouldn't have even considered a Brooks until someone showed me it and the difference to the old school ones.
Proper Jekyll and Hyde contrast between them.
ah yes, mine was the classic leather one, hard wearing but stupidly uncomfortable. Properly put me off brooks saddles.
The more uniform support of a Selle SMP saddle (Extra in my case) really helped on 45-120min turbo sessions.
Most find an ~11mm drop between the peaks works for them.
Thanks for all the suggestions
I’ve ordered a Spesh power comp seat in 143mm width
one of these from a recommendation from the physio https://www.sigmasports.com/item/Bontrager/Aeolus-Elite-Saddle/MCTR?id=1043065 but in 155mm width
and if I can ever figure out the ism catalog, I’ll try one of those, I’m thinking of this https://www.sigmasports.com/item/ISM/PR-30-Saddle/K8NC#reviews as it’s a different proposition to the two above, so gives me a good set to try.
but I’m not really sure which of the ISM range is the one to try.
i should have led with the current seat on the wattbike is a Selle Italia Sport Gel Flow Sport. The seats on the mtbs are spoon charge, but they may need to be replaced when back out mtb.
but I’m not really sure which of the ISM range is the one to try.
I use the PL1 on road, gravel and Wattbike. It gives a few more options to move around
https://shop-uk.ismseat.com/collections/performance-saddles/products/pl-1-0
^^ I also have a good condition MTB one, the PM2, that is surplus and I’d be happy to pass on for £35
Good luck, hope you find the one that helps you back on the trainer
^^ I also have a good condition MTB one, the PM2, that is surplus and I’d be happy to pass on for £35
Thanks @iainc- might just take you up on that, will use that to see if their saddles make a difference on the wattbike, before spending any more.
I’ll PM you, but I’m not sure that functionality works at the moment?