Saddle choice for someone who naturally rotates forward

jonmack

I'm looking for a saddle which is suited for someone who naturally puts their weight onto the perineum area rather than the sit bones (for those who don't know, that's the area between the crown jewels and the... well, you get the idea). I've been using a Concor Light for the last 12 months or so and have experienced some discomfort with it. Despite having a Retül bike fit done about 6 weeks ago I still get discomfort after sometimes as little time as 15 minutes on the bike depending on where I find myself putting my weight. After a 3-4 hour ride I always have a lot of soreness in my sit bones, which lasts for 24-48 hours before subsiding. I have noticed when I ride on a easy pace (26-32k) group ride that I sit up regularly and put my weight on my sit bones, but on my faster solo rides (30-36k) I find myself rotating onto the perineum rather then putting the weight on my sit bones. Whichever position I end up in I get pain, so it's not as if one is better than the other.

It never gets so bad that I can't ride, but I'm sure there has to be a more comfortable saddle out there, going by the Fizik fit system I'm a "Chameleon" and so would be suited to an Antares, but then again I've seen people recommend any of the Fizik saddles to people suffering with the same issue as me so I'm not really sure what to think!

Is there anything I should be looking at specifically? I like the look of Prologo stuff and they seem to have a pretty good following in the peloton, but I'm not really opposed to anything as long as it does the job!

Thanks in advance.

giant_man

Don't go by the spine concept system from Fizik, it's rubbish imo. How can anyone go by now flexible you are to suggest a particular saddle, good grief ....

sungod

have you tried experimenting with angle/position of the saddle? maybe drop the nose a couple of mm

otherwise, sounds like a wider/flatter saddle might be worth a try

watch out for heavily padded saddles, they can actually increase pressure on your perineum because you sink into them

you can get saddles with central cutouts, i tried one once, but found it uncomfortable, but some people find them good

really it's a personal thing, so i wouldn't rely on anyone else's make/model suggestions

best would be to find a decent lbs that has a range of test saddles, fizik dealers have them for instance, then you can try for real, specialized bg dealers are also worth a try, i know some people swear by their saddles, but also others who swear at them

fwiw my most comfy saddle is a bare carbon one, no padding, quite flat/narrow, i only found out by chance, it's the last thing i expected

rdt

Are you trying to find a seat that doesn't result in any perineal pressure, even though you're rotated forward for long periods?

If so, I'd suggest considering a seat with a very major cut-out in that area or other novel design. The ISM Adamo "Breakaway" works superbly for me, though it costs a bundle. I have a major seat-to-bars height drop, but can ride all day with this seat in comfort and without issues.

http://www.ismseat.com/products_breakaway.htm

The Adamo seats seem popular with triathletes, but not so much with regular roadies - maybe the seats' designs look too wacky? But in my experience they work extremely well (I have a couple on different bikes).

I'd recommend trying a bunch of seats (including this), and seeing what works for you. Also ensure your bike fit is otherwise good.

jonmack

giant mancp wrote:

Don't go by the spine concept system from Fizik, it's rubbish imo. How can anyone go by now flexible you are to suggest a particular saddle, good grief ....

That has always puzzled me as guys I know who definitely aren't as flexible as pro riders call the Arione the comfiest seat they've ever sat on.

sungod wrote:

have you tried experimenting with angle/position of the saddle? maybe drop the nose a couple of mm

otherwise, sounds like a wider/flatter saddle might be worth a try

watch out for heavily padded saddles, they can actually increase pressure on your perineum because you sink into them

you can get saddles with central cutouts, i tried one once, but found it uncomfortable, but some people find them good

really it's a personal thing, so i wouldn't rely on anyone else's make/model suggestions

best would be to find a decent lbs that has a range of test saddles, fizik dealers have them for instance, then you can try for real, specialized bg dealers are also worth a try, i know some people swear by their saddles, but also others who swear at them

fwiw my most comfy saddle is a bare carbon one, no padding, quite flat/narrow, i only found out by chance, it's the last thing i expected

According to my Retül fit my saddle is currently at -4º, I don't think I'd really want to tilt it any lower than that or i'll start falling off!

My old boss loved his Specialized saddle with a cut out, then moved to an SLR and found it nowhere near as good.

I'm not sure if I have a LBS with a decent range of saddles, but I do have a number of decent bike shops around with a good range, Cadence in Bath are a fizik test centre and there's a specialized flagship store in Bristol which I could go to.

I've seen those around and they tend to vary in price from £££ to £££££, which model do you have?

rdt wrote:

Are you trying to find a seat that doesn't result in any perineal pressure, even though you're rotated forward for long periods?

If so, I'd suggest considering a seat with a very major cut-out in that area or other novel design. The ISM Adamo "Breakaway" works superbly for me, though it costs a bundle. I have a major seat-to-bars height drop, but can ride all day with this seat in comfort and without issues.

http://www.ismseat.com/products_breakaway.htm

The Adamo seats seem popular with triathletes, but not so much with regular roadies - maybe the seats' designs look too wacky? But in my experience they work extremely well (I have a couple on different bikes).

I'd recommend trying a bunch of seats (including this), and seeing what works for you. Also ensure your bike fit is otherwise good.

Ideally, yeah i'd like a saddle that results in no pain what so ever, but i'm not sure how plausible that is. The place I got my fit done (Bike Science in Bristol) stocks Adamo saddles, my saddle to bar drop is only 112mm but I have looked at the Adamo and Cobb ranges.

Thanks for the advice so far, very useful.

sungod

jonmack wrote:

<...>
I've seen those around and they tend to vary in price from £££ to £££££, which model do you have?
<...>

it's an ax phoenix, it was indeed £££, must be worse now the pound is weaker and vat higher - fwiw i went for it after lots of reading about/comparing saddles, it's a bit like an extreme arione, and the arione was the best i'd found previously

but there are umpteen cf saddles, i've heard some of the ones on ebay are ok, merek for instance, and some prices low enough to take a punt on

not for rough roads though!

on-yer-bike

Go to the Specialized shop and try a Romin and make sure you dont set it too low at the front. Because its quite high at the back its an easy mistake to make.

lfcquin

Like you, I tend to sit forward on the saddle. It can be so bad when I have been racing that going for a p1ss can sting and be painful for up to 12 hours afterwards.

The saddle I get on with the best is the Selle Italia Flite Gel Flow. Doesn't need to be a new one, in fact picking up 2nd hand ones off ebay works pretty well for me. No pain and no problems with emptying the bladder either.

Recent saddles I have tried that didn't work are Arione, Thoork (which ruined my theory that cut out saddles were what I needed), Maxgear, SLR and C2.

Saddles that have worked are Charge Spoon (I think this is because it is on my MTB, so I don't sit forward as much) and Specialized Tri-tip (wide) and of course, my default choice the Flite.

I'd agree with the comments that suggest you need to try a few, it took me a LONG time to find a saddle that worked, and then it was a fluke as I got given a Flite and took to it straight away

kingrollo

tricky one - I was gonna say bike fit. but it seems youve already done that.

Take a look at the saddle swap shop thread in classified.......could save you a few quid.

jonmack

Thanks for all the advice so far. I'll take a look at the Flite and the Romin, I'm gonna hit a few bike shops over the weekend and see if they can help me out too.

danowat

Adamo