Saddle woes

Roon

When I bought my bike last year I discovered the saddle was too narrow, thanks to the sponge seat thing that Specialized make to measure how wide your rear-end is. So I swapped the 143mm saddle for a 155mm and everything was hunky dory.

In the last year my calves and thighs have grown considerably and I've also noticed a change in the shape of my backside. My once very comfortable saddle now has me squirming all over. To be more precise, I find myself sliding forward towards the nose of the saddle. This would suggest I may need a narrower saddle but my sit bones won't have changed, so by rights I still need the wider saddle. I don't really know what to do other than spend fortunes on different saddles to try.

Any tips on how to resolve this?

dave_hill

Saddles are a very personal thing as you have found out!

However, don't despair. By it's nature, off-road cycling means that you do have to move about on the saddle a lot anyway. When you're climbing or pound the black-top, you tend to sit nearer the nose anyway to maintain traction and maximise your efficiency. When you're descending you need to move rearwards.

If you find that you are sliding forward naturally, the simple answer would be to try tipping the saddle slightly backwards (nose high) but don't do it so much that you start putting pressure on the crown jewels.

As you rightly point out, your pelvic arch won't have changed shape, but your glutes are probably taughter than they were before you started. If tipping the saddle back doesn't work, it may be that you have to go back to a narrower saddle.