Originally Posted by
djdelarosa25
The stock saddle that came with my bike is a Giant Approach and it's one of those curved types where the rear flares up. If I want to set it level, do I measure the sitting area near the center or the front? Here's a picture of the saddle with the center part close to level:
As you may see, doing so puts the nose of the saddle ever so slightly upward. Is this by design? On the other hand, if I level the nose of the saddle with the ground, I find myself gravitating towards the front (probably because the flared rear gets more pronounced).
Any advice? Should I get a flat saddle?
If your aim is to have the saddle level over having the saddle positioned for best function, then I advise throwing the level away.
After adjusting the saddle over time to get it under your butt, & so that you don't slide forward or backward in a variety of body positions,
a good way to record it's position is to put a straightedge e.g. 4' level, over the saddle & note the relationship to the bars.
For my SMP saddles with raised rear, the straightedge lines up with the top of the bars, so it's easy to eyeball, but for a flatter saddle it might be inches above the bars depending on saddle to bar drop.
This turns out to work for different bar or saddle heights- lowering the bars leads to tilting the saddle down slightly, at least for me.