Originally Posted by
jrickards
I have a road-style touring bike (Kona Sutra, great name!) and a 29er mountain bike and on both, I have been using the saddles that they came with which are very similar in shape, both made by WTB. For the most part, I've been happy with the saddles as they are but lately, I've been doing longer rides with the 29er, taking it out to camp (depending on my starting point, it is a 66 or 72km ride) and I've been suffering with saddle sores (zits) showing up a couple of days after the rides and some chafing. I'm wondering if I need a different saddle for the 29er than the one that I'm currently using which is probably fine for shorter rides but may be the source of the problem for the longer rides. The touring bike is ridden on the drops so a more lean-forward position whereas the 29er is ridden in a more upright position.
Does anyone else have 2 (or more) different bikes with 2 (or more) different shapes of saddles that are purposely suited for the body position used on the different bikes?
More upright = more platform at the back, less upright = more triangle shape & less platform at the back. The less bulky design allows for your legs to move more freely to a more fully extended position. A more upright position has your legs less vertical & more at an angle, so the V part is short & you have a 3 shaped bit on the back to hold your sit bones.
I took a week to get used to the much less padded breezer seat vs my old cruiser comfort seat, but when i tried putting the comfort seat on the uptown, it blocked my ability to properly extend my legs while pedaling. It has the stock seat on there now & no issues.
Hope this helps.
- Andy