seat problems

road novice

Have been riding now for a whole 2 months, enjoying the experience and gaining fitness.

One problem I have noticed is that I am cutting off the blood supply to my meat and two veg, find all is ok for about the first hour and then I am standing up to peddle a lot to get the flow around the numbed regions.

I have tried moving the seat backwards forwards and it did improve when I tilted the seat forwards but this didn't feel right to ride in this position.

My bike is a Secteur Elite and has a 143 rival seat fitted, I notice from looking at the spec for this bike that it says it should be a Gel Avatar seat ?

Would changing to the Gel Avatar seat make any difference or should I try the bigger size ?

Not much of a problem for evening rides but causing some problems with a longer weekend ride.

Any constructive advice would be welcome..........

Garz

Are you sitting too far back on the seat? I tend to find my seat bones are on the wider part but im not far from the end of the saddle so my bits can get fresh air.

road novice

Have tried moving backwards forwards, sitting about middle as far as I am aware but do move around a bit anyway. The seat is generally ok, no problems with the general comford or my seat bones ?

Onan

I've had numb nuts problems too. Very worrying stuff, getting in after a ride, and waiting for the life to come back into my shrivelled up tackle was enough to put me right off cycling.

I think it's a sit bones issue. Sit down on the edge of a hard coffee table, and you can feel that your weight is being supported by the bony bits at the back of your arse. Those are the parts that should be taking your weight on your saddle too.

On the saddle my bike came with (and on some other racy, narrow saddles I've sat on in shops), I never felt like these bits were being supported, and my weight was all being taken on the soft parts between my legs.

If this is the case for you, I would recommend trying wider saddles, or looking for one designed to take pressure off your perineum. I don't think much of the cut out ones though. Mine was useless, and if it's just as narrow, with the same profile, i don't see how the cut out can change where your weight is being carried.

I ended up with this:
http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/category-Sad ... do-926.htm

It's ugly and heavy, but it's cheap, and it works.

geoff_ss

At my age numb nuts are the least of my problems Everybody's different so it's difficult to advise on saddle choice but I've always got on well with Brookes leather saddles. I used to run mine in on my daily 13 mile each way commute so I didn't have chance to suffer.

With other saddles they're either right immediately or not but leather shapes itself to your behind - eventually.

Geoff

road novice

I know what you mean regarding the sit bones and the bones between your legs, I have been trying to transfer the weight to the bones that should be taking the weight but find that I am putting weight on the other areas to much maybe.

Was looking at some of the Gel Avatar seats today and the 155 did look as though the cut out bit in the middle was a little wider than the 143 ? If this is the case then I suppose your sit bones have got to take more of the weight as there is a bigger gap in the middle of the seat ?

Hope to get this sorted though as it is the only issue I have at the moment as I am getting into this cycling and really enjoying the rides I am doing.

road novice

Geoff, I am no youngster anymore but the blood supply is fine once I get off the bike after a few hours riding.

Bit old now to start getting concerned about those things, the wife is at the opposite end of the bed these days

huuregeil

Try a number of different saddles if you can (beg, borrow, steal, or ebay!). But it's also worth asking, what's your positioning on the bike like? If your handlebars are too low, you can end up rotating your hips forward too much and this puts pressure where you don't want it, rather than on your sit-bones.

softlad

saddle choice is trial and error sadly. Having said that, plenty of people (including me) seem very happy on the Charge Spoon saddle - and for around £20 it's got to be worth a shot. Very popular saddle, so selling it on will be easy if it doesn't suit...

crankycrank

You can also try tilting (as opposed to moving forward or rearward) the nose of your saddle up or down to help relieve pressure. But, I agree as others have mentioned, it could be any number of things such as improper ride position, saddle etc. Hopefully you'll find a solution before before your bank account or genitals break.

ride_whenever

saddle should normally be level for proper positioning, you should be sitting with your sit bones on the widest part, so move the saddle more forward to help get the wider part underneath you.

Obv. it needs to be wide enough to support your sit-bones, not go inbetween them and cut off all your blood supply

hopper1

This is quite common.
Changing saddles is going to become expensive, I know, I've had a few.
I doubt the Avatar will make much difference to you, it's just got more gel padding for your sit bones, and you don't have a problem with them.
Was your bike fitted to you when you bought it?
Try to get your seated position correct before you start buying saddles...

Saddle height:
Seated on your bike, cranks almost vertical, place your heel on the lowest pedal. Your leg should be almost, but not quite fully extended. This is a rough guide and will require more tweaking, depending on shoe type. If too high, you will put stress on your undercarriage and suffer the numbing.

Saddle for/aft:
Seated on the bike, with pedals horizontal (quarter to three). Drop a plumb line from the front of your leading knee. This line should drop down level with your pedal axle.

Reach:
Seated on the bike, with hands on the tops of your bars, can you see the front wheel hub?
If not, good.
If it's in front of your bars, you need to lengthen your stem ( I doubt this is the case).
If you can see the hub behind your bars, you're too stretched out, placing excess weight on your bits - Shorten your stem!
Make sure your saddle is level for these checks.
Not trying to teach you to suck eggs, but it's important to establish the fundamentals, before going any further.
Paul

keef66

The bike should have an Avatar gel saddle, the Rival is specced on the Secteur model £400 cheaper than yours. Take it back, get them to fit the right saddle, and make sure it's the right width for you.

road novice

Thanks for all the useful information.

Have moved the seat forwards a bit to make sure the sit bones are on the wider part of the seat. It is level.

Been out for half an hour tonight and was ok but will only tell at the weekend when I manage 2 or 3 hours depending on the weather etc.

The seat does feel quite narrow when I'm sitting on it but that may be just me not knowing what is correct, perhaps I've got a fat backside or something ?

Shall check on the seat with the supplier but did measure the heal to the pedal etc in the shop prior to buying and adjusted the front to suit. When riding the front wheel hub is hidden behind the bar as mentioned.

Anyway, again many thanks for the advice.

keef66

I'm no giant at 5'6" and 70kg, but my backside was too wide for the saddle that was supplied on my bike. In searching for a more comfy perch I started at the cheap end with a Charge Spoon (at the time was less than £20) and am still riding it a year later.

kfinlay

I've been having similar problems and have been tinkering with my existing saddle (Fizik Pave Sport) and seat post but I'm getting to the point of getting an inline seat post to bring my seat further forward as I still don't sit with my bones on the wider section - I keep edging forward and if I tilt the saddle up to compensate then I get numb plumbs and pins'n'needles down my leg and in my right foot.
Want to try everything before buying anything else as I feel there is no point buying another saddle if I'm going to edge forward on that one too as it will just cause the same pain - it only happens after around an hour of cycling.
So far tried putting the saddle as far forward as the post will allow and this means my knee is just ahead of the pedal axle of the leading pedal when at quarter to 3 position. Also tried dropping the saddle height slightly - about 5 mm so may try another 5 mm. If no joy I'll set to the best position then try adjusting the bars.
Any other things I can try?

dennisn

FWIW I think cutout saddles work fairly well in keeping the blood flowing. At least in my experiences with them. I also think the "sit bone" saddles are pretty good at numbness abatement.

geoff_ss

dennisn wrote:

FWIW I think cutout saddles work fairly well in keeping the blood flowing. At least in my experiences with them. I also think the "sit bone" saddles are pretty good at numbness abatement.

'Anatomical' saddles have been a feature of the cycling world for a 100 years or more. There's a hilarious section in Jerome K Jerome's "Three Men on the Bummel" (strongly recommended reading) on just that topic. I think one with separate pads was accused of nipping in a sensitive place.

It's a delicate topic. At least I think my wife/stoker is now happy with her well used Brookes on the back of the new tandem.

Geoff

doktorsteve

I have to agree with Onan about the Rido. it does a good job of keeping your weight off your perineum and spreading your weight around your sit bones. On the downside it tends to tip your weight forward slightly, but that may actually be a good thing, moving your weight over your pedals.

I have fought with a Charge Spoon and lost. Numb in 10 minutes.

I am also trying to get used to a Specialized Tri Tip gel saddle. It seems to have a very flat top which helps lift the perineal area above the centre of the saddle. Seems to take an hour before I start to get comfortable.
Never as soft as the Rido but there are more useful positions.

Lunar Tick

dennisn wrote:

FWIW I think cutout saddles work fairly well in keeping the blood flowing. At least in my experiences with them. I also think the "sit bone" saddles are pretty good at numbness abatement.

+1 I tried lots of saddles to solve severe discomfort in the groin area - the first cut-out saddle I tried sorted the problem completely

oscarbudgie

[/quote]

+1 I tried lots of saddles to solve severe discomfort in the groin area - the first cut-out saddle I tried sorted the problem completely[/quote]

+2 Spesh Toupe - closest thing to heaven. Did it for me after trying a few others beforehand - cured NNS straightway

Kneesaway

+1 For the SMP saddle. They are expensive but worth every penny.

http://www.smpsaddle.co.uk/

Follow the bike fitting link as there is some useful stuff there as well. When the numbness was getting down to my knees I knew I had to do something. A Selle Gel flow was better but the SMP is brilliant. You need a saddle with a hole in it, the bigger the better.

MikeWW

Just got a Spesh Toupe after using various saddles-bliss
First time riding the road bike that I've been really comfortable