Originally Posted by
Ryan from Ohio
Im a decent sized guy- 5'10" and 240 Lbs or so.
I had a 17" Trek 7100 and the saddle was ok- bike to small.
Now I have a 2010 Giant Cypress. The saddle is to wide (I think) and it cuts into my legs and makes them sore and sometimes numb. For instance if I go out and do 12 miles tonight then tomorrow I will be sore and can maybe do 4 miles tops.
I need a new saddle but dont know where to start.
To be very blunt my hind end is that of a thin man. I have no butt- just bone and muscle...
There has to be an optimum solution out there. I dont want to go on a $50 a seat hunt though... I hope to just buy one and be done!
First you need to make sure that the existing saddle is in the right place, on a saddle the sit bones need to be just in front of the widest part of the saddle, if the saddle is too far forward then your sit bones are right at the back or off the back, the saddle will appear too wide. If the saddle is too far back, then you will be sitting on the nose, and that isn't good for the soft tissues between and in front of the sit bones.
Note all adjustments should be made in small amounts, up or down, forward or back should be 1cm ~1/4 inch at a time, no more, tilt should be no more then 2 degrees at a time.
First make sure that your saddle is dead level. You need to find a patch of ground that is dead level, using a level, then level the saddle. Next you need to get the height adjusted. Most new riders and returning riders have their saddle too low. Try raising the saddle, if you need to rock your hips to pedal, it's too high, you need it just below the point where your rocking. One thing to note, seat tubes are on an angle, as you raise the saddle the saddle moves backward as well, so you need to adjust the height first. Once the height is adjusted, the next setting is forward and backward.
Now if you still have leg pain after riding, it's probably too far forward, so move it back a bit, and try again, you keep doing this until you get pressure on the soft tissues in front, then shift it forward one setting. If you can't move the saddle back far enough, then the saddle is either too wide or the bicycle is too small. This is the point you need the sit bones measured and see if it's the saddle. If you can get the height and position correct for the saddle, then you can play with the tilt, try nose up slightly, if that does not help, then try nose down slightly and see if that is better, if it's better try a little more, if it seems too much, then backtrack a little. Nirvana is when the saddle disappears.