To all members, if you know your sitbone width, please post your sitbones width along with your saddle width. For example; sitbones = 110mm, saddle (brand) = 130mm. I did a search and find alot of saddle width mentions here but no sitbones width mention anywhere. Can someone please explane how do they measure a saddle width? For example; 130mm saddle width, is that measure outside face to outside face? If that is the case, you only have 10mm on each side, than it is too narrow. Thanks!
Sitbones Width & your saddle width
btc
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Thanks for the replies. I realize this is a personal issue on a lot of levels, and, well, I will keep trying different changes, one at a time. I don't think I ride enough to qualify for a "third ball syndrome", but you never know.
And back to sitbone width: I agree on the Specialized measuring "instrument": I'm having some trouble finding the relevance of the measurement taken (sitting upright) to the actual riding position – and the idea of a "sitbone" with a fixed measurement seems also a tad off. But I'm sure hip-, pubic- and sitbones come in all sorts and fashions, and that experimenting with different saddles and positions is the only way out of (some of) the discomfort. Time to try a new saddle?:thumbsup:
Yeah, I know. It's like all riding discomfort-related discussions are sublimated into equipment-related chitchat (which I'm also very much into). That could possibly also explain the actual amount of the latter.Andrea138 said:
And back to sitbone width: I agree on the Specialized measuring "instrument": I'm having some trouble finding the relevance of the measurement taken (sitting upright) to the actual riding position – and the idea of a "sitbone" with a fixed measurement seems also a tad off. But I'm sure hip-, pubic- and sitbones come in all sorts and fashions, and that experimenting with different saddles and positions is the only way out of (some of) the discomfort. Time to try a new saddle?:thumbsup:
Sorry to bump this, but I was curious - I was measured at 143mm on a specialized measuring tool. Currently testing out a 143 Specialized power saddle. Hopefully I will know after a week how it works for me, but on paper doesn't it make more sense to get the 155? Unfortunately the 155 is not available to demo at the LBS.
I ride in a fairly aggressive position. Not constantly in the drops but leaned forward and arms bent a lot. Interested in the common thinking here as I have not really demoed saddles until now.
I ride in a fairly aggressive position. Not constantly in the drops but leaned forward and arms bent a lot. Interested in the common thinking here as I have not really demoed saddles until now.
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You measured 143...why would it make more sense 'on paper'...whatever that means...to ride a 155?
Did you not read this thread? Many posters here insinuated that if you were 143 that 155 was a better fit. That's all I meant. Is there a reason for snark here? It's a thread about a bike seat.
The 2nd post literally says "You want the saddle width to be a little wider than your sitbone width (by ~10mm)"
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The 2nd post...from 10 years ago?
Yeah. Is that a problem, or does cycling knowledge expire after a certain time?
Anyway, thanks for the input. You could have just shared an answer and moved on, but I guess you are having a rough day and want to be a tool instead.
I'm guessing that instead of giving you your sitbone width they just gave you your saddle width. If your sit bones were 143 you'd be way outside the bell curve - especially if you're a dude - and you'd need a much wider saddle than a 155.
This makes a lot of sense. I finally got my hands on a 155mm Specialized Power saddle and I do like it a little more, but who knows. This stuff takes some time to figure out.
I am hoping that my size is indeed 143. I have a 145 selle Italia SLR coming to demo soon.
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Yes. Just checked. Your sit bones are closer to half the width of the saddle.
The two smudges where the sit bones fit on the saddles I'm riding are 75 mm apart. The old Selle Italia Turbo is 140 mm wide and is rounder. It fits a bit better on the middle part of the sit bone that Wim mentioned above, and is actually more comfortable than the flatter 150 mm Selle Royale Regal :ihih: on the commuter. On short rides the wider saddle is more comfortable. But on the longer rides I start to feel pressure on the two points of the sit bones where they rest on the saddle, and leaning forward, the perineum rests hard on the middle section, even though its flat.
Above saddles also aren't cut out in the middle. Tried one with cut outs once. The flanges on either side of the cut out became two little horns butting into the perineum.
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Here is a shoutout for "rounded-when-viewed-from-rear, hard-hard-HARD, level-viewed-from-side" saddles. My bumm: sit bones width 110mm in mid-sitting position on bike (not in drops, but not sitting up either). In the mid-to-late 80s to early 90s, I rode exclusively on rounded saddles. Was too young (we all were, lol) and the industry was still too "technlogically" young (in terms of seat details, and alot else) to know any different. Never had a problem then, but I also realize a lot of that had to do with the fact, when you're young, plus you want to go fast, you'll force your body to put up with anything.
Well, technology started arriving in all sorts of places concerning the bike-----like seats. Starting in the late 90s through the 2000s and continued up to now, there's been nothing less than a Cambrain-like explosion in what manufacturers offer in terms of seats. Width, length, shape, profile, etc, etc.
Somehow in all the madness, I got scooped up with this excitement. Figured I needed to go "flat" and/or "mid-flat" shaped saddles, as I was starting to sit up more on the tops of the bars. Getting older, it's an invariable law of cycling: you spend less time in the drops.
Well, rode like this through the 2000s, trying different seats (135-150mm width, flat-shaped both from side and viewed from rear, even tried cutouts). As the years rolled by at the 2010s hit, I couldn't figure out why I was so darn uncomfortable on the bike. I just chalked it up to old age, and something else a dedicated cyclist has to put up with.
Then last fall was talking with a bunch of locals, conversation turned to seats, and one old codger (uhmmm, well, he's not old, younger than me actually, but still in my mind & eye I am younger, lol) was talking about his sitting discomfort & then one day he dug out one of his old saddles from the early 90s. It was very firm to hard, no cutout, and seriously rounded. He stuck it on, and next thing he knew, as the each ride passed & the weeks passed, his riding comfort increased dramatically.
Well, I thought, damn, maybe this old codger is on to something. So, I went and look at the mind-numbing offering of seats today, and suddenly the Fizik Volta caught my eye. I even asked around in the large clubs I ride with here (in Belgium), and a few piped up and said things like: Good heavens that seat is hard, or man it felt like riding on a tennisball, and all sorts of things. Well, the more I heard things like this, the more intrigued I became.
End of story: ordered one. And as the stars rise at night and the sun blazes in the morning, my riding comfort increased incredibly, to where I now can go for either short 1-2 hr rides or even 4-5 hour long rides, and I never once think about my aching back, or pain shooting damn my one hamstrings, or all sorts of things related to the seat.
That firm to hard, very rounded, super level (when viewed from the side), which described a wide swath of seats from the 80s and 90s, was perfect for my body.
All this new fangled, technology-inspired stuff from seat manufactuers: a lot of it is a load of crap, imho, especially the science & data that supposedly backs it up. For example, I am witnessing a lot of people getting back off of seats that have the slit or open in the middles of them. Little did they realize, they've been grinding the edges of their sit bones across the inner edges of these openings, actually making things worse overall. All they needed to pay attention to was better seat height management (being level and such). They never needed a slit or opening. This same thing is true of seat "flatness". I notice more people *****ing about their riding pain, and lo & behold, they are on "semi-flat" to seriously "flat" seats.
Just trying to share so people realize you've got to go across the whole spectrum of seats...and also realize simple things like immediate comfort in a road seat usually means you are going to be hurting like he!! down there once an hour or more has passed.
I don't agree with this at all. If it hurts that bad after an hour something is off. Whether it's the saddle, the way the saddle is set up, the shorts, general bike fit, rider morphology and/or lack of fitness and core strength, etc...is all debatable and highly individual.
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Woody, will you read what i wrote and what you wrote...please..again. You're doing nothing but confirming what I wrote. Also, most of all, I was referring to a brand new seat and immediate comfort. Because if it is plush (aka, too much padding and/or hammock-ness), then troubles abound after an hour into it. A too plush seat ends up 99.9999% of the time causing pressure area discomfort---especially about an hour or more into the ride. Again, this is on a brand new seat. I thought that is was what this thread was about---sit-bone width and trying new saddles. We are not talking about a saddle well broken in---especially not my rounded Brooks Cambium saddles on my cruisers. And saddles like Brooks, Rivets, Giles B, SI Storica, Spa, etc, usually (again, 99.9999% of the time) take a little while, lol, to bust them in where they feel fantastic whether it is the moment you get on them or it is 6 hours later.
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Yep, saddles with too much padding can rub raw under the butt on a long ride. The "racer's" saddles have minimal padding, like the Selle Royal Regal and Selle Italia Turbo. I have a Turbo in a box ready to go when the old one finally get worn out on the sides. LeMond and Hinault used it. The only one with a more comfortable cred was the Brooks and it required softening to conform to the butt, like maybe a few thousand miles. Then riders refused to give them up. The Brooks is still in production. Selle Italia resurrected the Turbo a few years ago. That says it all for me.
I stopped looking for saddles after Selle Italia brought out the "Turbo S." It had thin padding under leather, same as the old Turbo, and got good reports in the early '90s. One of the top sellers when I worked in a shop 10 years ago, forgot the name, was a long, narrow 140 mm saddle, with the same round shape as the Turbo, only with the all of a sudden "required" cut out. Seems like a urologist prescribed cut outs after treating cycling patients with erectile disfunction from damaged perineal tissue. Manufacturers seeking to avoid lawsuits and hold onto market share nervously went along with the doctor's prescription and here we are!
Sitting on anything for 5 hours is uncomfortable if you can't easily slide around on it and still get support distributed over the widest contact area possible. Those wimpy ridges don't do it.
I was just disagreeing with what you wrote (what I highlighted in BOLD) about a saddle causing pain after an hour or so...that's it. If you meant something else I misread/understood...Everything else you wrote about finding what works for you I have no issues. Congrats on finding what works!
Ok, ok, we'll get off your lawn already
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No crazier than the few million others riding the same saddles.
There are also different cut out flanges, some with sharper edges than others, varying degrees of padding, softness, shock absorption, sizes of cut outs, and saddle widths that all make a difference.
Have to assume the manufacturers are interested in making designs that work, and they in turn specialize in certain riding styles, such as racing, or touring, or trolling down the boardwalk. Good you found one that works!
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