Saddle issue

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I bought a second hand Fizik Arione saddle in 2014 to replace my stock one on my Giant Defy and felt it was quite comfortable.A year later i sold my bike and bought another Defy but carbon.
Before i sold the bike i took off the Fizik saddle and put the Giant saddle back on.The plan was to put the Fizik back on the new bike but i never got around to it.
When i eventually got round to putting it on i found i had two problems.One: even though i have tightened it upas possible and greased all the rails ii's making a horrible creaking sound.Two:The saddle now feels very uncomfortable and after about twenty miles i need to stand up as it's giving me a pain in the backside literally!
i'm wondering if all that time(six years) it was kept in a drawer has made the material harden up?
 
Might be you ? What was comfy six years ago might not be now ?
 

si_c

Guru
Location
Wirral
I would guess this.
I had a saddle once that nearly tore me in half, did a bit of adjusting on a very painful ride but still terrible.

After a bit of adjusting it then became one of my most comfortable.
Same, i've got identical saddles on two bikes, one tilts slightly forward the other is dead flat, one is super comfortable, one is not. I'm too lazy to fix it though:laugh:
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Ariones had a tendency to crack along the 'Wingflex' area. I broke two and I know other people whose saddles suffered the same fate. You would probably have spotted it if it had happened to yours, but it would be worth checking...

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The saddles i've ridden probably 30k on (both saddles are the same type and approx age) have this year become for no apparent reason very uncomfortable and i mean i've on some rides been sat on them for over 8hrs without any issues and now i can feel things going numb after a 90min ride, all very weird. So maybe it's you that's changed rather than the saddle ? For me i'm guessing i'm less flexible as i've got older ?

I did a sit bone measurement and plugged it into the Fizik site where it made some suggestions (in my case with sit bones at 115mm the recommendation was a Vento Argo R5) I can only say it's like riding on air vs my old faithfuls (Selle Italia Catopuma).

I decided top take a punt on this route as i figured in the worse case i could sell the saddle and loose £20, worth a try.
 
Location
London
I've always had my seats dead level so i will give adjusting the angle a go @si_c :okay:.
I will also check the saddle as @ColinJ suggested for cracks and see if i can get a sit bone measurement. @Ridgeway :okay:
Dead level is generally best I think.
I'd be wary of trying to correct problems with tilts.
Pretty sure I sorted my issue/preserved my manly powers with fore and aft movements.
 
OP
OP
The Central Scrutinizer
Location
Essex
Well i took the saddle off and looked for any damage but couldn't see anything.
While i had the saddle off i thought blow it and put back the giant stock saddle on.Did a forty mile ride and it felt much more comfortable.
Job done then.....err no!
Still the same old creak which seems to be worse when you are ascending.
I can't tighten the seat bolt up to it's tightest as i haven't got an allen key which will fit tight.I suspect i need a 4.5mm one which you don't usually get with sets so i've ordered one.If that doesn't get rid of the creak then i might have to start looking at the seatpost.
A can of worms come to mind?:rolleyes:
 

vickster

Legendary Member
Have you checked the frame around the seatpost / under the clamp for damage, just it case? Maybe need a new seatpost clamp otherwise
 

rivers

How far can I go?
Location
Bristol
I had this happen with my go to saddle recently. I've been using a Selle Italia Diva for years on two of my bikes. I recently replaced the diva for a fizik vento argo on my Sublime (I have the tempo argo on my TT bike. Both brilliant saddles). When I finally picked up my new gravel bike, I popped the diva on it. And now it's no longer comfortable and left me with a saddle sore in a "fun" spot. I've given the diva to my wife who seems to love it, and I'm currently on the look out for either a tempo or vento argo, although currently looking at the terra argo. They are all part of the same short nose saddle range, just have slightly different padding. They both seem to work very well for me.
 
OP
OP
The Central Scrutinizer
Location
Essex
The other day i did two things to try and stop this awful creaking sound.
Firstly i actually found out that the allen key for the saddle bolt was 5mm and made that super tight.
Secondly i had read that sometimes the noise is coming from the QR skewers and on checking them found the rear wheel QR to be a bit loose.I greased both skewers and then tightened them up so the QR left an impression on my palm.
Went out for a ride this morning and all i could hear was the whirring of my chain.
I know this is stupid but i felt as happy as Larry.^_^
 

cyberknight

As long as I breathe, I attack.
I used to ride a similar shaped saddle for years with no issues,then I started to get saddle sores so I ended up changing saddle shape and now my saddle has dropped 5 mm too
 
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