Hard Saddle or Wrong Position

[Cris S]

Hello

Edit : That should have been - Hard Saddle or Wrong Position.

I have recently purchased a Raleigh 100 Road Bike 59cm frame.

I am 6 foot tall with a 33 inside leg.

The bike comes with San Marco saddle which has some give in it.

Now I have the handle bar stem as low as it can go, and the saddle is set so as when
I sit on the bike I can touch the floor with the toes of both feet on the floor, this equates
to have the heel of my foot on the pedal at the bottom of its stroke. With this setup the saddle
is at the same height as the handlebar stem, I have not tried moving it backward or forward.

Even just sitting on the saddle it feels hard, let alone peddling

Reasons :-

Is it a rubbish saddle ?
Have I got the saddle setup correctly ?
Is it because I have not ridden in quite sometime ?

Have not tried it with padded shorts though, we never used to wear padding years ago.

 

[corshamjim]

IMO a saddle simply shouldn't be uncomfortable. IME about 50% of saddles that I've had on new bikes have been awful - most notably the Bontrager on my Trek.

My bottom seems to like Brooks and Bioflex saddles so far, and I'm just about to try a Sportourer one to replace a Brooks which was very comfortable but I got fed up with the black rubbing off of the leather on to my light coloured trousers.

 

[aberal]

Your knee should be "slightly bent" with your heel flat on the pedal for the saddle height to be correct. Which sounds as though as that is what you have. Padded shorts make a huge difference and its worth investing in a pair of really decent ones - don't skimp on the price and buy cheapos. The more expensive ones have minimal seams and stitching and a decent amount of padding. But, don't give up on the saddle yet - firstly, if you are new to the bike it will take some time for your sit bones to realise that they are experiencing something new. A hard saddle is something you will get used to. But if it is still giving you discomfort in a few weeks time, try altering its position slightly, perhaps moving the nose down a notch.

 

[Norm]

The saddle to floor distance which you have measured there, Cris, is irrelevant, I'm afraid. The position should be set, as aberal says, with your knee slightly bent with the pedal at the bottom of its stroke.

Hard saddles when stationary also mean little when riding. The body weight goes through your sit-bones, if the saddle is the right width for them, then you should be good to go as the saddle has, as you say, some give in it. Lots of padding might feel nice in the shop or for the first 5 minutes but, once you get past an hour's cycling, it'll be torture.

My favourite saddle gets all sorts of winces when non-cyclists (yeah, I do know a few ) see it but I can ride it for 6 hours at a time without any bum soreness problem. My knees, thighs and calves are shot, but my bum is fine.

Do some miles on it. Start slowly and build up, it'll take your arse some time to get used to it but I'd recommend doing a couple of 60-minute days riding the one you've got before changing anything - even before getting padded shorts.

 

[cyberknight]

Saddle set back and saddle angle need to be sorted out before changing saddles.

For seat height i use the Lemond formula (.883 x inside leg = saddle to BB) which gives me the same as heel on pedal, i can tweak a few mm up or down from there.

For set back i start with the old KOPS be dropping a plumb line from the bottom of my knee bone (patella) , this should be close to the pedal axle when your leg is at 3 o`clock.
I personally have the knee maybe 1-2 cm in front of KOPS as i prefer to spin , if you like to push big gears slower then you can go further back.

Remember that the further back your saddle is on the rails the longer your effective saddle height is so you may need to reassess your saddle height after adjusting saddle setback.

To get your saddle level use a spirit level on the saddle, be aware of any curves the saddle may have as some do have higher backs and work from there,I find i slide slightly forward on the saddle so i have it slightly up at the front.

This is a good start point ..

http://www.jimlangle...nk/bikefit.html

 

[screenman]

I like the Bontranger idea, where as if you do not find them comfortable after a month they will give you your money back, of course you need to be measured and buy the correct size in the first place. On top of that cycling more and pedaling harder tends to makes saddles more comfortable over time.

 

[Cris S]

Hello

All advice taken on board, thank you all.

Think I may just need to lower the saddle a bit, and do some peddling to get my sitting bones/area
settled into the saddle.