Seat nose angle

white91

I recently angled my seat down quite alot, this means that my arse sits on the wider part, which is more comfy.

None of my friends seats angle down, am I on the wrong seat?

StageWinner

Have you tried keeping it flat and moving it forward a bit? Angling it down isn't really the best way to go - you'll just end up pushing back on it all the time instead of sitting on top of it.

white91

Its as far forward as it can go, but having it flat means it is very painful after 10-15 miles

StageWinner

Traditional advice would include trying a different saddle, shorter stem, less layback on the seat post (if possible).

Or if you're comfortable, ride it nose down. It may not be the most efficient way to go, but if it works....

BillyMansell

It could be the saddle but without in profile pictures of your bike and you on it it's hard to say what the issue is here but also consider that it might not be the saddle per se but more to do with your riding position or possibly even be a physical issue.

Saddles are designed to be generally flat with personal tweaking of the pitch angle to support the body's weight across its surface to relieve pressure points. If you were getting pressure on the front of the pelvis then it could be because your saddle's too high and/or the bars are too low or far forward of your seat position. By dropping the nose to shift the weight to the back you may be ignoring these other positional issues and may lead to pressure points and saddle sores over time.

keef66

If you're comfortable on the bike with the saddle at some crazy angle who cares?

If mine's angled down I'm constantly sliding forwards so

a) too much weight's on my hands / arms / shoulders, and
b) I end up sitting on the narrower part of the saddle which isn't so comfy.

Commensurate with my advancing years I have just fitted a Brooks B17 Special to my otherwise pretty light weight bike, and I'm fine tuning saddle height / tilt. Having polished it lavishly with Proofide, I find a little nose-up is needed to prevent me sliding off the thing completely when braking or descending. This also puts my sit-bones where they should be on the lovely wide bit at the back.

It might look a little incongruous on a light alloy bike, but my god it's comfortable!

white91

Thanks for the input guys, I have a 20mm layback post and 100mm stem so I have a little to play with.

I tried a Selle Italia Max Flite, and it felt really nice, so I might try one of those.

I have only been riding 3 weeks so I am still finding the best position, done 180 miles so far, with more planned over the bank holiday.

Berk Bonebonce

white91 wrote:

I have only been riding 3 weeks .

I think this sadlle pointing down thing can seem intuative to newcomers to cycling. But a level saddle is accepted practice. Any newcomer to road cycling can expect a few aches and pains no matter how well his/her bike is set up.

white91

Maybe a change of saddle will enable me to set it level.

I have been riding mtb for about 10 years, and never had a saddle problem, then again my WTB saddle on the mtb is like an armchair!

onbike 1939

white91 wrote:

Thanks for the input guys, I have a 20mm layback post and 100mm stem so I have a little to play with.

I tried a Selle Italia Max Flite, and it felt really nice, so I might try one of those.

I have only been riding 3 weeks so I am still finding the best position, done 180 miles so far, with more planned over the bank holiday.

Sounds to me as if there is too great a distance between the saddle and the bars. If you have a 20mm layback post and a 100mm stem and are unable to sit on the broadest part of the saddle, then that would be the cause. I would guess that this is causing you some stiffness in the neck and shoulder region. The easiest option would be to bring the saddle forward and if this is not possible then use a shorter stem.

dieselgeezer

I've had some major issues with saddles but then found that tilting the nose down by 5 to 10mm made most saddles comfy.It made you sit on your sit bones.

geoff_ss

Saddle angle is a personal thing.

Back in 1992 I fed a rider in the 24 hour. He had been persuaded to reset his saddle to be absolutely horizontal before the event from the angle he'd been using for years (pointing down, I think). Half way through the event we found him at the side of the road, allen key in his hand, cursing the coach who'd recommended the change and resetting to where he liked it.

Also, IIRC, well known hard riding AUK member Sheila Simpson has her saddle at a very peculiar angle last time I saw it and she rides very great distances at very respectable speeds.

OTOH I've noticed less experienced riders have saddles pointing down at the front because the saddle is set too high.

But as I said at the start it's a personal thing which, in the end, is up to the individual to discover for him/herself.

keef66

I think people have more difficulty with saddle comfort these days because of the tendency to have a large saddle to bar drop, which rotates the pelvis forwards and puts more pressure on soft tissues.

In the days of my youth saddle and bars were somewhere between level and a 2 inch drop.