Fifty Plus (50+) - A Simple Lesson (re) learned.....

I ride a Masi Gran Criterium S w/ AL frame and CF fork and rear and a Selle Italia Flite Gel saddle. I've been using this saddle for 3 yrs. both on the road and rollers in the off season. Until this season it's been a comfortable seat. This winter I decided to concentrate on my spin on the rollers and got comfortable in the 100-110 rpm range. However, once the weather broke and I got out on the road I started noticing it was difficult for me to spin beyond 85-90 rpm's and I started getting soreness in my right sitzbone. At first I thought it was all about needing more time on the saddle. But, riding showed no improvement. I also noticed I was riding more on the nose of the saddle. I then started thinking that because I had lost 8 lbs in the off season and am now 65, perhaps I was just losing my fast twitch fibers and was generally getting "bonier" in my butt. Went down to the bike shop to look at saddles and got measured for saddle width. This process took weeks and was starting to make me a little crazy. One day in the workshop I decided to check the fore-aft position of my saddle. Don't know why...just felt I should. Good grief! The saddle was nose down and set back way too much. I leveled the saddle and moved it forward about 1/2". Much, much better. Spinning well, feeling better. Then I remembered....my bike had been in the LBS. My theory is a tech took the seat off to put it on their workstand and somehow messed up my settings. My new mantra....check your settings. Damn.

I've often wondered how many people find their saddles in the wrong spot after some tech work. Stands all seem to clamp on the seat posts now, so I assume a good many saddles end up getting raised first. Though them messing with tilt and fore/aft seems a little dingy to me.

Mark the positions of the saddle. I use painters tape and cut a sliver of blue to mark the seat post and saddle clamp positions. Also, remember that you are supported by three points when sitting on the bike. Statically, support comes from the sit bones and hands. Dynamically, there is support from the feet. As the spin rate and power increases, cyclist move forward on the saddle and each pedal stroke un-weights the sit bones. The toughest day in the saddle is a long slow ride. When I race saddle comfort is never an issue.

Riding the rollers to increase cadence and improve pedal stroke is excellent. Power at higher cadence takes months and years to develop.

I'm a relatively new cyclist and in the never ending quest for increased comfort, which means continually moving saddle and bars, I've been using a typewriter whiteout pen to put a dab of color where needed to mark a position on the seat post, saddle rails or handle bars when making a possible change. Then, if the change does not seem to be working, I can return to the original position easily, without measuring, in the middle of a ride.

I always know when my LBS owner works on my bike because there's always tape on the seat post and/or saddle rails to let him know where to re-position the saddle. I usually do the same but for some reason didn't this time.

You might even have to move the seat forward slightly even more if you are intent on increasing your on-road cadence.

Glad you were able to get it figured out. My LBS has my setup measurements on file. If they work on the bike, which is rarely, (in fact, I think the last time they worked on one of my bikes is when the bottom cups were stuck) they know to make sure I get it back with that setup.

Just loosing the weight would have an effect on lowering ridder position, just as gaining would raise rider position.

You might even have to move the seat forward slightly even more if you are intent on increasing your on-road cadence.

Exactly what I did after one ride with the "new" seat setup. Moved it forward another 1/4-1/2" and it is close to perfect. Since I did this I feel like I'm riding with a tailwind.