reqm

I recently went on my first 100km ride, and towards the end of it, experienced extreme saddle discomfort/pain. At first, it was just discomfort, but after riding another 15 min, it got painful enough that I could no longer sit on the saddle. It's been a very discouraging ordeal, and I don't think this is the usual sit bone soreness I'll get used to over time. It felt like the nerves being pinched (compressed perineum?).

I'm just considering what options I have since I don't want to experience that again. Does this mean I need to change saddles? Or try to reposition it?

The saddle in question is a Fizik Arione R3, which I started using about 2 weeks ago. It felt fine during the test ride, and I haven't had any problems with it until this particular ride, which was longer than my usual ride of about 50km. The saddle before it was the stock Selle Royal Seta that came with the bike. Didn't experience pain while using that one, but it was limited to shorter distances.

Here's the current saddle setup. It'd be great if anyone can point it out if it looks out-of-position, or any suggested saddle position or different saddles I can try to remedy the issue

Machka 

You might want to try tilting the nose up a bit so that it is at least level.

rpenmanparker 

It is quite possible this saddle is just not for you. You need to have the right match between saddle width and sit bone separation so that the bones are supported and you are not sitting on your perineum. Also you may need a particular cut out design, and the Arione F3 has NONE. Lots of folks like the Arione, but that narrow width looks like a killer to me.

I would take the saddle back to where you bought it (LBS hopefully in this case) and ask to treat the purchase as a trial. Many shops offer saddle trials. If they are amenable, see if they can measure your sit bone width and convert that to an appropriate saddle width. Try various saddles on long rides for a couple of weeks at a time before making your final selection. If the shop won't go along, find another one that will let you trial saddles and just unload the Arione on ebay. Small expense for cycling comfort.

Specialized offers one of the most varied selections of saddle styles and widths. And they have a sit bone gauge. If I weren't happy with the three identical saddles that I am currently riding, I would go to a Specialized dealer for sure and try and try until I was completely satisfied. Your experience suggests to me you really need a cut out. Give that a try.

loimpact

2 things........

First, I have yet to find a saddle that will feel good to me beyond about 30 miles. (I know there may be one out there but I ain't found it yet)

And "B", (see what I did there?) positioning is all relative & personal. You should make sure you're close to KOPS position and then adjust from there. I don't see anything abnormal about your setup but that doesn't mean a thing to your knees/feet.

Only other thing I'll add is that I couldn't make it past 20 miles on the Fizik Arione. It was too narrow for me, but also an absolute BRICK, imho. There could be a better saddle out there for you too.

bowzette

Welcome to the "Quest"! And what feels good for a short distance may feel terrible for longer distances. Additionally you have to condition the tissue over the sit bones for distance. It takes time. You need to try different saddles for extended rides until you find one that works. Look for demo programs, used saddles off Ebay, return policies such as Nashbar and Performance. Over a period of time many of us still end up with a box of saddles gathering dust. Of course you could go the recumbent route and avoid the issue-but really weird machines when you first try to ride one!

bruce19

I would definitely start with saddle position. Like most of us I have several saddles sitting in my workshop. My latest, a Bontrager Affinity, was excellent up to about 50 mi. Then I started getting the same pain that the OP described. I went back to the basics. Measured fore and aft and checked saddle level. Fore and aft was spot on but the nose was pointed down. I leveled it and did a Metiric without major complaint. Not sure it's the "perfect" saddle but it's pretty damned good.

bikepro

+1 with the nose down you tend to slide forward onto the nose especially on longer rides. Use a level to make the saddle level. Be sure the bike is on a level surface as we'll.

merlinextraligh

It sounds like you're putting pressure on your perineum, as oppossed to supporting your weight on your sitz bones.

Saddle positioning could be contributing to that. As already mentioned, tilted forward could be causing you to sit more on the nose of the saddle.

Also, it looks like that seat post has a ton of setback. If the saddle is too far back, it may be encouraging you to slide forward on the nose of the saddle and again be placing pressure in the wrong place. So I'd check your fore aft position, and perhaps try moving the saddle forward on the rails.

WhyFi

As others have mentioned, make sure that you're not sliding forward in the saddle for whatever reason (saddle tilting down or saddle too far back from the BB for your femur length) - as you slide forward, you'll likely put more pressure on the soft tissues rather than the sit bones. That may or may not take care of the problem. In the end, you may need a saddle of a different width and/or one with a cut-out. Good luck.

RNAV

First, are you male or female? Second, being male, I've noticed that the older I get the more sensitive I am to perineal pressure (I'm 34 now). Third, in my personal saddle journey, I've found that only saddles with center relief cutout/channels alleviate pressure from that area . . . so I'm thinking you may want to consider a saddle with that feature.

Repositioning is always free, so start there. You saddle looks fairly level to me. I personally haven't experienced a situation where going nose up relieved perineal pressure . . . for me it always increases it. But, start level, then go up in 1 degree increments and see how that helps. Then go back to level, and go down in one degree increments. Your body will tell you what works.


Without seeing video of you on the bike, it's pretty much impossible to tell if you've got a saddle set up incorrectly. That said, a great tip from Steve Hogg (great website for bike fit info) about fore/aft seat adjustment is this: get on a trainer, warm up, and then get going hard. Get in the drops, and push yourself to about 80-90% effort at 90 rpm. While doing this, remove your hands from the drops and put them behind your back. Ideally, you should just barely be able to hold that position with some effort, and have a slight tendency to begin losing your balance forward (i.e. you shouldn't be able to hold this for very long). If you immediately fall forward, your seat is too far forward. If you can maintain your in-the-drops position with your hands behind your back for a long period of time (minutes), then your seat is too far back. You should just barely be able to hold that position, with additional effort, for a small amount of time.

Once you get that fore/aft position dialed in, then you can focus on saddle level up/down for comfort. This, naturally, assumes your saddle height is already set correctly.

As far as different saddles go, I'm still searching for my perfect saddle, but think I may have found it. This past week I got an ISM Attack saddle. I've previously tried Selle Italia SLC Gel Flow (got numbness), Selle SMP Forma (likewise got numbness and general pain), Bontrager Paradigm RL (got numbness, no pain), and ISM Adamo Road (no numbness, but saddle was too wide and gave me nerve pain down my legs). The ISM saddles are the only saddles I've tried where I have not gotten numbness. The Attack is narrower than the Adamo Road; on my first two rides with the Attack I've gotten no numbness and no nerve pain . . . only a little discomfort from adapting to the new saddle.



Hope this helps.

merlinextraligh

I know lots of people like the Adamo. I'm not one of them. I've got the Adamo TT saddle. I use it for time trialing because in my TT position, I'm sitting on the front of the saddle, with pelvis rotated forward, and it works for that.

But it feels like sitting on a board, and it doesn't feel like you're well connected to the bike, like your sitting on top of the saddle rather than sitting over it, if that makes sense. Personally, I wouldn't want an Adamo on a road bike.

jerbax18

arione is 1cm longer on nose and 2cm at the back. just an info if you measure the foreaft from your old saddle.

reqm

Thanks for the great suggestions! As many of you suggested, I'll try to adjust the saddle position to see if it helps (tilt up slightly and check fore/aft position). It did feel like I'm sliding forward to the nose of the saddle when I'm on my rides, but didn't really think much of it. Hopefully this will solve the problem -- or I'll end up having to sell the nearly brand new saddle

WhyFi

Count yourself fortunate if you only end up selling one saddle - it's not unusual to go through a few before you find what works for you. That said, not having ass pain or numb junk is a precious thing and well worth the time, money and effort.

bruce19

How wide is the Attack?

carpediemracing 

If a saddle gives a sharp pain then it's probably a pressure point and therefore a mismatch of saddle-to-posterior.

If it's a numb or just a "been sitting for a long time" duller, more sore kind of pain, then it might be just getting used to it.

I used the same saddle for a number of years (8?) then switched after I broke my last spare. I stayed with that saddle for forever, 15 years or so, and was down to the last couple. I tried other saddles and found two that worked reasonably well. One was the Arione but when I switched back I realized it wasn't right for me. I tried the SLR, a minimalist saddle but one made by the same company, and it's been fine, even with a surprise 5 hour ride thrown into a mostly 1 hour ride schedule.

What I did find is that I could hop on a bike with a new saddle and it took me only a few seconds to reject it. If it was okay for a minute then I considered it but most saddles caused me immediate pain.

Even when you have a good saddle (for you) you'll need to stand up frequently. I try to stand every 5-15 minutes and it's probably closer to the 5 minute mark.

Another thing is that I don't sit on the sit bones. I sit on the curved inside part of the pelvic bones, about where the purple meets the pink in this picture:


Finally if you have your bars higher than necessary it puts more weight on the saddle. A lower bar will increase weight on your hands and therefore decrease weight on your saddle. This only fine tunes comfort on a saddle that already works for you, but a lower bar may tilt your pelvis such that you end up more on the inner part of the pelvic bone instead of sitting with your pelvis upright (which I find extremely uncomfortable).

Good luck and let us know if you find a solution.

Bandera

Without having a proper fit, and adapting to the changes, messing about w/ hardware is a pointless waste of time and $.
As Macha notes a level saddle is a "baseline" fit requirement, but w/o knowing that your saddle height/rail position/drop/reach and even frame size are correct.......

Join a club, get a coach and/or an experienced fitter and have all aspects of your position checked, which will include the type of saddle you are on now.

-Bandera

RNAV

110mm, which sounds super narrow, but as pointed out in @carpediemracing's excellent post, the Attack is designed to interface with your pubic bones. In comparison, the Bontrager saddle I tried was 148mm wide, and it still resulted in perineal numbness. I chose the Attack because I found that the 135mm width of all ISM's other saddles was simply too wide for me.

dalava

Try the Specialized Romin EVO. I am a concert after many years, and large amount of $, of experimenting.

reqm

I thought I should post an update on this. As suggested numerous times here, I had the seat moved slightly forward (LBS insisted it was already level).

I think this helped a lot and made it more comfortable. I completed my first 100km ride without experiencing the sudden pain I got last time, and logged a few other 70-90km rides as well.
I still feel some discomfort on long rides, but maybe I'm just imagining it. Will stick to the Fizik for now and attempt some longer rides (hope to do a 200km soon!).

Thanks for all your helpful advice

Bike Gremlin

I didn't like Fizik Antares seat. Got really bad when riding in the drops. Switched to Specialized Romin Comp Gel and never looked back. They come in different widths.

What was wrong with the Selle Royal seat you had? I ride a Selle Royal Suez on my commuter and find it very comfy even without cycling shorts.

colnago62

The Arione is designed for very flexible riders. If you can't easily touch your toes, the saddle might be wrong for you.

IcySmooth52

Due to the positions of the bike in this photo, I'm 80% sure the Arione isn't for you. (I'd have to see you in person and on the bike for the other 20%). The level of handlebar drop suggests you're not using the nose of the saddle as much with your pelvic bone leaning forward (closer to a tri bike). You're sitting more on top of the saddle (closer to a mountain bike). Try saddles that're less flat and level (attached picture shows opposite examples). As for width, their's no way I can help you from here.

beatlebee 

I'm quite flexible and get numb using the Arione. I switched to a Romin and haven't looked back.

reqm

There wasn't anything wrong with it in particular, but I didn't find it all that comfy either. Just wanted to explore other higher-end options.