Wow what a difference

[Philk]

Swapped my seat stem from the standard aluminium item to a dampened carbon stem, I also lowered the seat height by 5mm.
http://www.mikevaughancycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b0s84p2178

so went out for a 15 mile ride today, no more sore legs and bottom, in fact could have done another 15 miles no problem.

that was £70 well spent in my opinion.

also invested in a Bontrager node 2, as i tend to be data driven
I was estimating my cadence was between 50-60 rpm it is actually 70-80 rpm, maxing at 105 rpm.
also my Heart rate was maxing out at 180 Bpm so I will aim to work at around 70-80% of that.

The only negative is my average is still around 12mph

 

[cyberknight]

sweet !

I am still struggling to get a comfy seat , not sure if it is bike set up or what ,anything i try is just uncomfortable to sit on .

 

[numbnuts]

After spending £79 I would feel a difference too .........a lighter wallet

 

[Moodyman]

PhilK - glad you found a comfortable position, but are you sure this was not achieved by a better saddle position?

I ride 24 miles everyday. It took me about 8 weeks to get the basic Bontrager saddle postion right on my commuter. During this time, I was constantly adjusting the saddle height & position on the rails - often by a mere millimetre here and there.

Now I can ride all day on it. As Sheldon Brown concluded - even a cheap saddle can be very comfortable if the position is right.

 

[amaferanga]

I doubt a carbon seat post would make that much difference. As Moodyman suggests, probably because you altered your seat position slightly when you swapped seat posts.

 

[croyde]

I'll second or third the seat position. I was having all sorts of problems until I lowered my seat slightly.

 

[Philk]

Agreed, that it is more than likely the seat position.
My leg pain has disappeared completely and i sit far more comfortably on the seat.
But there is definatley a bit of springyness to the seat post, which may be helping a little, and with the amount of pain i was getting before, every little helps.

 

[StuartG]

The myth about Brooks saddles is that you need to break them in. The fact is they break in your bum to their shape. When that's done it is all sweetness and light.

So if your saddle & bum are already in harmony that's great news. It is the real trick to distance cycling.

Don't worry about 12mph. It is a good speed for distance. Push that envelope. When you can do 100 km or 100 miles in comfort @ 12 mph then you can try upping the speed. For me chatting keeps me going - and you can't do that at a speed that makes you breathless.

 

[Randochap]

The myth about Brooks saddles is that you need to break them in. The fact is they break in your bum to their shape. When that's done it is all sweetness and light.

So if your saddle & bum are already in harmony that's great news. It is the real trick to distance cycling.

Agreed and agreed. I've never found there was much to breaking in a Brooks. My B17 was comfy right out of the box.

Overall balance on the bike, between all contact points is key.

As a randonneur, I obsess over this position, which can change according to season, flexibility ... and weight change!

 

[jimboalee]

I have a Fizik Arione on my SWorks. Can ride it all day.
I have a cutaway Brooks Pro on my old Pug. Ride it all day.

I have a B17 Narrow on my Dawes. This saddle was originally new on an old Pug Carbolite 20 years ago. Then it was moved to a 531 tourer 15 years ago. Then it moved to my Dawes 3 years ago. I did 200km Randos on the Pug Carbolite while 'running in' that saddle.

I bought a Land Rover MTB 'Tahora'. It has a 'bog standard' cheapo Land Rover liveried saddle that is not up to much but I took the bike out on a DIY 100 in it's first week of use ( a reliability run ). Saddle was fine.

All the bikes came with a 'functional' seatpost.
Luckily, I have myself properly measured and do the sums.

The amount of flexibility in the rear tyre is magnitudes more than any 'give' in the seatpost elbow.....