I thought folks might be interested in this story that has played out over the last few days.
I have three road bikes, all equipped very similarly and with identical saddles. I have them set up as similarly as I can manage for saddle height, reach, drop, etc. At least the saddles were identical until I had one recovered at
www.recoveredsaddles. com When I got it back in the mail, I reinstalled it exactly as it had been before the recovery job at the exact height from the BB that my other two same saddles were. I thought all was fine, but after a little while I started feeling "low" relative to the pedals and like my leg extension wasn't as much as usual. I started thinking maybe the saddle had become just a little softer due to the recovery job (e.g. due to adjustments to the padding), and I might be sinking into it more than previously
I raised the saddle just a tiny bit, about 2.5 mm or 1/10 inch. I immediately felt better on the bike with regard to leg extension. That feeling of sitting in a hole was gone. The problem was, I started having perineal discomfort. Nothing severe, just a sense of pressure that hadn't been there previously. I returned the seat post to its original height and
voila, no more pain. Unfortunately I was back in the hole, so to speak.
So I split the difference and raised the saddle just a shade over 1 mm. Insignificant, right. Well not so much. I feel like I am now at the perfect height, AND I am not having any pain.
Lessons from this experience?
* Tiny saddle height differences do make a difference even to someone who considers himself fairly numb to lots of bike characteristics. I mean we are not talking about "The Princess and the Pea" here...are we?
* Besides saddle design and model, width, suitability for one's sit bones, cut outs, channels, topography (curved or not) etc., etc., maybe height is just as important to comfort on the seat.
* Before changing saddles due to discomfort or tilting the nose one way or the other perhaps we should think about its height. Until we have the saddle at exactly the right height can we really evaluate its potential for being comfortable?
I wish you all comfy riding.