Fifty Plus (50+) - Saddle sizing device....

Stopped by my LBS and was asking about how to size a new saddle. The owner pulled out a Bontrager saddle sizing device that I didn't know existed. Sit on this thing and it shows your sitzbones impression and, using some sort of sliding scale thing, tells you the width of the saddle that fits you. Very cool. Mine measured at 115 which translated to a 146 saddle according to Bontrager. Now to go measure my current saddle.

Interesting Bruce! The replacement Brooks being put on my Raleigh is narrower than the stock one. After doing some reading on the subject I tried the suggested "sit on some aluminum foil" method without success. (Maybe I'm not bony enough?)

I'll need to ask at Goodale's if they have one. If not I'll ask my poor dear one to take a measurement for me. Oh, what people will do for love. :D

-don

.....I tried the suggested "sit on some aluminum foil" method without success.

Didn't work for me either...

Specialized dealers have one too--the assometer.

And wekeepyoucycling.com has a kit they'll sell you. I used corrugated cardboard.

Interesting Bruce! The replacement Brooks being put on my Raleigh is narrower than the stock one. After doing some reading on the subject I tried the suggested "sit on some aluminum foil" method without success. (Maybe I'm not bony enough?)
-don

I had the same result. It just didn't work for me either.

As a pretty old guy, in fact one of the older ones here, I find myself reflecting on the changes between the world of today and the one I was in as a boy. In the mid 1940's and 1950's there were still a few farmers using horses in their fields. Mowing machines and other farm implements has cast iron seats. Having sat on such an implement for hours, I can say that width certainly enters into comfort. Of course, the position on a bike is quite different from sitting up on a mower. Nevertheless, I believe adequate width is an important part of comfort by spreading the load out. The problem I see is that many saddles maintain too much width just forward of the widest part of the saddle and that causes pressure in the wrong place when bent over in the cycling position. I suspect saddles such as the Selle Italia Mono Link may well fit a greater number of people. For myself I prefer more width under the sit bones before tapering way down. http://www.selleitalia.com/

As a pretty old guy, in fact one of the older ones here, I find myself reflecting on the changes between the world of today and the one I was in as a boy. In the mid 1940's and 1950's there were still a few farmers using horses in their fields. Mowing machines and other farm implements has cast iron seats. Having sat on such an implement for hours, I can say that width certainly enters into comfort. Of course, the position on a bike is quite different from sitting up on a mower. Nevertheless, I believe adequate width is an important part of comfort by spreading the load out. The problem I see is that many saddles maintain too much width just forward of the widest part of the saddle and that causes pressure in the wrong place when bent over in the cycling position. I suspect saddles such as the Selle Italia Mono Link may well fit a greater number of people. For myself I prefer more width under the sit bones before tapering way down. http://www.selleitalia.com/

Hey, they invented a saddle with a narrow nose. What will they think of next?

Interesting Bruce! The replacement Brooks being put on my Raleigh is narrower than the stock one. After doing some reading on the subject I tried the suggested "sit on some aluminum foil" method without success. (Maybe I'm not bony enough?)

I'll need to ask at Goodale's if they have one. If not I'll ask my poor dear one to take a measurement for me. Oh, what people will do for love. :D

-donGet her to take a pottery class and then you can use some of her pottery clay to do a measurement.

Interesting Bruce! The replacement Brooks being put on my Raleigh is narrower than the stock one. After doing some reading on the subject I tried the suggested "sit on some aluminum foil" method without success. (Maybe I'm not bony enough?)

I'll need to ask at Goodale's if they have one. If not I'll ask my poor dear one to take a measurement for me. Oh, what people will do for love. :D

-don

Hey! Are you stalking me? :)

I saw one of these at Trek WS night a few years ago. The rep. indicated that many people judge the size of their sitz bones by the size of their of their derriere, butt one might have a large derriere and small sitz bones, or vice-versa. The "assometer" kind of looked like one of those magic slates:

http://www.underdogcollector.com/underdogMagicSlate.jpg

I'll need to ask at Goodale's if they have one. If not I'll ask my poor dear one to take a measurement for me. Oh, what people will do for love. :D
-don
Measuring another person's ischial tuberosity width is against the law in several Southern states.:D
Shouldn't be a problem in New England.

Yah what you said, but does it take into account the hair.

very funny thread

Hey! Are you stalking me? :)

Hah! No, but I did take your advice on the benefits of this forum. :D

Last Saturday I was Goodale's cycles again, this time to pick up my bike - a 1969 Raleigh Sprite - which had been undergoing service. In fact little was found that needed to be done to the bike -- basically just some lubrication -- but I had had a new Brooks saddle installed to replace the badly neglected original model. The one I had them put on had been given me by an admirer of the bike I'd met at the dealer - it was a narrower "Brooks Professional" model. (see pic below) Remembering the advice here I asked if they had an "assometer" (to my wife's delightful blush) and when they said "yes" had them take my measurement.

Turns out the narrow seat fits me beautifully. And that was much to my surprised because I by no means have a small butt, at least soft-tissue wise. The Assonmeter's assurance was born out by this weekends rides. Once I adjusted to the hardness there was no butt pain at all. Nor any chafing of my over ample thighs either.

More riding will make this better yet, as both my derriere and the saddle break into one another. And as I continue to trim down -- something that active biking should certainly help occur

-don




http://i988.photobucket.com/albums/af5/Don_Sucher/Raleigh-BrooksProfessionalSaddle.jpg

The "assometer" kind of looked like one of those magic slates:

http://www.underdogcollector.com/underdogMagicSlate.jpg

Damn! I didn't think to ask for the Underdog model!

But the principle was similar. There is a goop between two sheets of film and underneath it a sliding color coded scale. The sit bones squeeze out the goop where they apply pressure and the the scale is slid so that the color bars are equal on each side. The color under the center of the cleared portion marks the size which can be read as numbers (mm) or simply to seats whose packaging has the matching color code.

Simply brilliant!

-don