Saddle Comfort
 

Ok, I have a 35-year-old bike given to me by a friend. I've started commuting about a month back, and I am having pain in what seems to be the, um, tailbone area. It's not the sit bones, it's the tail bone in the middle. I would think I've ridden enough to have gotten broken in/used to things.

I have a feeling I might be sliding forward in the saddle as I have to keep lifting off and repositioning further back, which feels better for a while.

So I'm confused - is it the saddle? Do I need to get a new one? How do you figure out what's wrong and how to fix it?

A picture would help. Side view.

Also rear view photo of the saddle.

All seat posts will have a tilt adjustment of the saddle. So, if you're sliding forward, perhaps it would work better if the nose of the saddle was tilted up slightly.

It's not a recumbent, I assume ?

If you are continually having to push yourself back on the saddle, there are a couple of possible fixes. They may seem counterintuitive.

One fix is to adjust the tilt of your saddle as CliffordK mentioned. If it tilts slightly forward, you could adjust it to level, or even a teensy bit tipped up at the front. That will cause you to naturally slide back onto the wide part. But don't tip it up too much, or the front of the saddle will be pushing up against your junk.

Another fix is to slide the saddle slightly backwards where the rails of the saddle attach to the seatpost. Again, it seems paradoxical, but it moves your weight back of your feet, like sticking your butt back when you are poised in a crouch to dive, so you don't fall forward. If it makes it seem like you then have to reach too far to the bars, you can raise them slightly which should help.

Tilt the nose up a few degrees.

It's counter-intuitive but it almost always results in a more comfortable ride...

Thanks everyone. I'll have to figure out how to adjust it; all I know how to do is raise/lower the post.

I'll try to figure out how to post photos.

This might help. Here's a broader overview.

Here are photos. The saddle has a gel pad on top. To me, I see how the saddle could slide forward/back, but I don't see a joint where it can tilt.

Any other comments or suggestions on the bike would be appreciated.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...VtRDhKq-XL.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...53WpgVC-XL.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...KzRcCh9-XL.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...2x5sh4G-XL.jpg

You can see a hex bolt under the seat pointing up - right above your rear light. Loosen that and you can probably tilt the saddle and slide it forward and back. The tilting may be difficult at first as the joining parts (a kind of cradle and a curved part that sits in it) are often somewhat fused together after years of being untouched but should loosen with a bit of wiggling.

Padded seat covers can actually contribute a bit to discomfort (numbness, actually) as you sink into them and they choke blood flow a bit. Once you adjust the position of the seat, see if you can manage without the gel cover.

Here's a picture of a somewhat similar seat post. Errr...it's not that similar but it illustrates the point. The upper parts are like a sandwich that clamp onto the saddle rails; and they can also be adjusted a little bit forward or back in the shallow cradle they sit on, to adjust tilt. The one bolt secures it all.
http://www.bikepro.com/products/seat...xtr_side_l.jpg

Will try, thank you!

Ok, I was able to loosen the hex bolt and slide the saddle further back a little on the rails, but the range it can tilt back is not that much, so it really looks the same.

I've taken off the gel cover for this morning's commute and I still find myself having to slide back a little on the saddle periodically.

Anyway, I'll ride without the gel cover for a while and see what happens.

That seat cover is too soft. Take it off. That explains your problem.

The tilt adjustment isn't obvious -- I didn't even realize until after reading this thread my seat post/saddle has a tilt adjustment! But it's already set where I'd want it anyway.

Main problem I'm having now with rides longer than 10 miles or so is the comfort saddle is too wide for my butt bones, and the perineum/urethra recess could be deeper.

Those gel tops can be deadly as you have been told. It appears you have an extreme amount of bar height relative to seat height. You are sitting extremely vertical and putting a lot of weight on your seat (both of them). My SO has a prominent tailbone and I simply could not find a saddle that made her happy until quite by accident I found a seat with a deep notch in the rear section. The seat we found (Bontrager CRZ 'Sport') is no longer made, and present day examples (Bontrager Affinity, Terry Falcon) are not cheap. You might find that having your handlebars much lower rotates you forward lifting your tailbone from contact with the seat.

A park bench is much wider than the butt bones of anyone sitting on one. Don't worry about how wide a saddle is. It is important however to have the right body positioh to be comfortable on a very wide saddle. You should be rather upright.

Thanks, this is the kind of input I need.

So sounds like I should lower the bars. But not sure how to do that. Do I remove that black plastic plug on the center stem and loosen what I assume is a bolt? Or is it the hex ring around the stem on the frame?

I thought you said that in my case I was sitting upright and that was bad?

I see these racers really bent forward, but I assume that is for aerodynamics and speed...

Good to ditch the gel cover as that can cause pressure as others have mentioned but it also usually causes a squirmy feeling when riding.

Here's a similar seatpost together with the bolt tightened. I've removed the seat just for clarity of the seatpost.

https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7697/2...2881fc03_o.jpgIMG_3846 by Miele Man, on Flickr

Here it is again with the bolt loosened a fair bit. Notice the gap now betwen the two flat pieces.

https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7303/2...1678e523_o.jpgIMG_3847 by Miele Man, on Flickr

If this has not been adjusted for some time on yours you might need to tap the bolt to get it to separate the pieces.

these clamps have serrations on them that fit into each other to hold the seat in position. The bolt holding them together needs to be loose enough so that those serrations can move over each other. Here's an image showing those serrations. You do NOT have to take the seatpost apart like this to adjust it. This is just to show you those serrations.

https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7301/2...fb0af2cc_o.jpgIMG_3849 by Miele Man, on Flickr

So, loosen that bolt under the seat until the parts can move apart a bit. Then raise the nose of your saddle a bit and hold it in position and snug the bolt again. make sure the nose of the saddle doesn't slip down as you snug up the bolt. Check that the nose is not too high. If the nose is too high just loosen the bolt again until the seat can be positioned how you want it. Snug up the bolt again and check the angle again. If it's okay then tighten the bolt frimly so that the seat will not slip with you on it.

Good luck and cheers

Yup. I said exactly that. Do I detect mild confusion?:) Seriously, the other poster was not complaining of tailbone discomfort. Looking at the photo of your bike I see no way to lower your handlebars much, if any at all. The only way to get less height would be to change the handlebars to ones with no rise built into them. I have to say at this point that little is known about you as regards your physical dimensions. It may be that your seat is way too low and the bar height is just fine. How tall are you? Do you know your inseam length? When you put your elbow at the nose of the seat where do your fingertips reach to when reaching for the handlebars?

Your stem is constructed in a way that makes for a lot of height even without much extension of the main stem. If you were going to try and change the stem height the way to do it would be buy loosening (not too much!) the bolt under the black plastic plug. They almost always require a 6mm allen wrench. You don't want to go anywhere near the hex ring at the bottom of the stem! It might not be the worst idea to find a source of basic bicycle adjustment and maintenance online. I don't know of any offhand but other posters might.

Lose the gel cover. Are you sure the seatpost is at the right height? That's not exactly a dutch/city bike. Mountain bikes are meant to have some forward lean for the rider. My guess is the saddle needs to come up, or handlebars need to come down if saddle is at the correct height, lose the gel cover, and don't go for a fully upright position.

Thanks for your help, Leisesturm.

I know the seat looks too low, but the bike is a hand-me-down from a friend, and he is a lot taller. I am 5"9', and the bike standover height is 32", which is exactly my inseam. So, when I straddle the bike with feet flat on the ground the top tube is pretty much right against my crotch, maybe just a half an inch of play. So that's why the seat is so low. I think I'm getting enough leg extension with it that way, but I wondered if it's better to have a smaller bike with the seat higher or not. The Lance Armstrong-type racers always seem to have their saddles way up high which implies a really short standover height.

So one question is does it matter how tall the bike frame is if you get proper leg extension on the pedal strokes?

If I put my elbow at the nose of the seat with my forearm horizontal my finger tips reach the stem adjustment bolt.

I see your point - I can push the stem down 1" before it bottoms out, but then there is a vertical extension that angles forward. I haven't seen other handlebars that look like this, but this is probably a 30-to-35-year old bike.

I'm wondering that since it's so old, and is big for me, if it would be worth it to get a new handlebar set, and I wanted to replace the pedals too (their plastic and pretty chewed up) or just get a new bike that fits me better. Since I have been at the commuting for over a month and plan to continue, I'd consider a new, better fitting bike...

Thank you.

I think the saddle is at the right height because I get almost full leg extension on the downstroke. It sits low because the bike is quite tall for me; the standover height is 32" which is my inseam. So, I have to keep the saddle low.

The bike was a freebie from a SF commuting friend, and he's 6' tall I think, so the bike is a bit large.

Looks like I can try to lower the handlebars by 1" before it bottoms out.

You can try removing the plug to see if it has a bolt under it (it should). Only drawback with that stem is that it looks like you will only be able to lower it a cm or so. You might want to go to your local bike shop (LBS) and ask them to try another stem. While you're at it, you could have them help set your seat height, and position (fore, aft and tilt).

Edit: I also agree with the others to lose the gel pad. Just use the seat as-is and get another down the road if this one still causes discomfort. But you'll only know after dialing in your position like you're doing and putting in some miles.

The taller frame is also longer so it makes you reach further to the handlebars, so that leans you forward more and changes your pelvis angle on the seat too. When you add height on top of that, this particular bike looks like it probably has you posed like Superman. The rule of thumb would usually put you on a smaller frame, probably a 17in, which is probably one size down. But you should also be able to successfully ride a bike that's one size big, it just won't be very perfect.

You can try a different stem with less rise. If you don't mind a somewhat goofy (in my opinion, mind you) stem you can get one that adjusts the angle and height.

Thanks. So sounds like the bike is not a good fit. As I mentioned, it's a 30-year-old hand-me-down commuting bike.

You said 17" - this bike is a 21" - quite a difference!

Probably should go bike shopping soon...