In my 27 months of cycling I've never found a comfortable seat. Does one exist? Are my expectations too high? Is it a "bike fit" issue?

What I want is a seat that I don't think about. I do not want to be forced to stand and stretch and re-position my butt every 2-10 miles after the first 15-30. Is this a realistic goal?

I currently weigh 200# - 185# is my initial goal (6’2”, goal = 2.5#/inch). I have been fitted (with a different saddle) but I didn't like it – months ago I raised the seat 1.5" higher because my legs feel better! The various heights I’ve tried have not had any noticeable effect on seat comfort.

Photo 1 - - - - pedal at 12 (or so it seemed), thigh not horizontal?

Photo 2 - - - - pedal at 6, still plenty of bend at knee

Photo 3 - - - - pedal at 3, knee directly over pedal

Photo 4 - - - - pedal at 9, on the hoods

Photo 5 - - - - top of handlebars are slightly below seat

Photo 6 - - - - rear of butt is close to rear of saddle

Photo 7 - - - - front of junk roughly even with front of saddle

Photo 8 - - - - saddle has BIG cutout

Photo 9 - - - - saddle from side

Notes:

• The Selle Italia Max Flite seat has gel
• It feels like my sitz bones hit the middle of the fat part of the saddle. I.e., where I think they should be.
• I have not, amazingly, seriously dived into exactly what hurts and exactly how. Sometimes it seems like it's the sitz bones, sometimes it's the peritoneum. sometimes both.
• When I am "forced" to stand and stretch, this "force" is quite compelling - I will do it even if I'm going uphill, and usually stopping pedaling - my focus is on my discomfort. (I need to analyze this more scientifically.)

HELP!

1. Comments?
2. Suggestions?
3. Need different pictures?
4. You say HTFU? Did you average 600 miles per month in your first two years? I'm just saying...

Thanks, as always.

PS - I feel great because I've dropped 40# since April. I'm wearing clothes that haven't fit me for over ten years. My cycling is vastly improved. And then I look at pictures like this and realize I've still got a long way to go.

Try a Fi"zi:k Wing Flex.

They have some padding and Flex when you pedal.

I was able to do this on one when I was 67 y/o.

Got in 15923 (1326 monthly average) miles that year. 11,200 miles (933 m.a.) the year before that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBx84...eature=related

Saddle selection is a 3-part process.
1) get your sit-bones measured so you have a rational starting point
2) get your seat height correct, get professional help with this, yours might be a bit too high but the picture we would need to tell isn't there - with the leg facing the camera at the lowest position - crank vertical.
3) try a bunch of different saddles, at a bunch of different angles, even one degree of angle makes a difference, start with level (measured with a level)

No one can tell you what saddle will work for you, you have to do trial and error.

SOme bike shops have try-&-buy or good return policies, I found a shop that let me buy one saddle, and then keep exchanging it until I found the one one I wanted, and another shop that had a $40 saddle demo program, where the $40 applied to the eventual purchase.

Have you tried:
1) Biking shorts with gel pads?
2) Getting extra, sensitive tissue position up away from pressure from the saddle?
3) No underwear to eliminate creases and extra pressure points?
4) Repositioning the saddle more forward (less pressure on peritoneum) or more backward (less pressure on sit bones)?
5) Tilting the saddle with the front a little more down to relieve pressure on the peritoneum?

ps. The easiest way to lose the gut is to buy bigger shirts. The cheapest way is to keep pedaling!

Got one of these last week. $40 from craigslist just like brand new.

https://www.fizik.it/saddles/triathlon/ARIONE-TRI2/

This post is a desperate attempt to see if
lightening strikes and I can manage to catch it
before I commit to spending the big bucks. And, FWIW, I have tried 2 Fizik seats, 4-5 Specialized seats (including the Avatar that came with the Roubaix), a Brooks B17, a garage sale seat (Serfas, no model, large cut-out, wider than the rest), and the Selle Itallia Max Flite ($95 on eBay from someone who tried it for 500 miles). The Avatar and Serfas have been the best. The Max Flite is very well built but seems uncomfortable so far.

Thank you all for your suggestions.

Keep trying...you may someday find the perfect saddle for your imperfect body.

Valygrl's comment about tiny adjustments sometimes making a big difference fits right in with my own experience. Sometimes you just need to mess with the saddle position 'till something begins to work. Your saddle is also a gel surface which may tend to produce a hot feeling after an hour or so. Furthermore, your saddle is down by the nose a fair amount. For most people a near perfectly level saddle seems to work best.

This suggestion may not be relevant but you look slightly stretched out. A slightly shorter stem will put you a bit more upright at which time a more level saddle may work better. I feel your pain, or rather I used to and despaired of ever finding saddle comfort. It took me about 5 or 6 different saddles and much experimenting and repositioning to reach, if not nirvana, at least a fairly happy place.

Only one thing left. Become a track racer.



OR



or

No, no, no. One problem is the saddle is already titled down too much. It should be level (or pretty close to level). When the nose is down, your body wants to slide forward. That puts pressure on your read trying to keep yourself in position.

I would respectfully disagree with loads of the above. Your saddle nose is too low but that is a different matter. Do not ever buy gel saddles. The softer and comfier they feel, the more miserable you will be.
Cut-out are over rated. Having suffered from numbness for a lifetime, the right solution does not include cut outs, it means getting the right fit.
As far as saddles, it is a one step process, not three. Find a saddle that will change to you and not force your flesh to change to it. How is this accomplished? simply by ordering your rock hard, brand new Brooks Professional saddle. I went through the evolutions you are describing, went through the gels, the sellas, the fiziks, the romins, the swifts and swallows. Ended up on the romin which became the most painful saddle I have ever ridden. Bought a new Brooks Pro, and I kid you not, as hard as it was It was and is the most comfortable saddle I have ever ridden. There will never be another.

ah, it's you again!

Methinks is perfectly normal to raise up off the saddle a smidge every few miles - as in, every five minutes or so - such that the pressure on the sit bones is releaved for a few moments. Not to say constant movement and jostling, but certainly not a staid buttlock by any means, No.

Also becomes second nature to lift a bit when crossing creases, dips, etc. in the pavement; we all watch the road fairly well, but some are more watchful than others - some just run right over crap and wonder why they get flats? ...more to the point though, the arms and legs are better suited to absorbing - springingly - the impacts, event the small ones.

You are quite upright in your photos (and smiling!); for me, I've become much more comfortable in a lower position. At first, it was using the drops more, then removing the spacers. Although I'm quite Old (though perhaps not as ancient as yourself), the top of me bar is over five inches below the saddle ...which isn't as extreme as it may sound, given my "wingspan" is over seven inches greater than me height. Still, my position - and I use the drops a lot - is lower that most.

My butt don't hurt.

The evolution of my position has helped; the callousing of the points of contact have helped; the correct saddle - for me, 130 (me checked just now) mm Sella San Marcos Aspide Gelaround Arrowhead + several thousand miles to "break it in" helps (I'm 6'1" and not a rail by any means; imo the points of the sitbones are not to be on the edge of the saddle, no, but not much material outboard of that point neither - it's just in the way); and, serious, I'm quite a bit stronger than I was, hence less weight is on me ass, more weight on the pedals.

Good luck!

Same here, except my saddle of choice is the ISM Adamo series. I have the Prologue and it was love at first sit. I can ride all day and at the end of the ride, it feels the same as before I started. I've had the saddle for almost three months and have not needed an adjustment on it since my Retul fitter put it on the bike.

IMO, the bike looks too small for you and the position too upright unless you have a back / neck issue or something else that prohibits a flatter back. An upright position may put too much weight on the sit bones.

In the pic where you are in the drops and you say the knee is over the pedal axel, it does not look that way to me. The knee looks behind the pedal axel. Normally, when one is in the drops, the rider slides forward to generate more power. You looked cramped and slid back.

When you are on the hoods, the left knee is in front of the pedal axel. This may be the camera angle. For a 6'2" rider, there is not enough seat to bar drop.

I would start with a longer stem and gradually lower the handle bar by removing spacers 5mm at a time. Do not flip the stem, since it would be too great of a change for you to manage. The goal is to get more room so that you can stretch out and reduce the pressure on the sit bones.

More than likely your core and back is not strong enough and even though you ride a lot, your legs need more muscle. This sounds critical but it is key to riding comfort. While on a trainer, you should be able to release the hands and hold your posture bent over pedaling. More muscular legs will mean more muscle in the glutes and more muscle over your sit bones offering more comfort.

The correct posture is to have a flatter back and light touch on the handle bars generating power from your core and glutes while you squeeze your ass cheeks together. Once you can do that, the saddle and bike short selection becomes less of a problem. At least that was my case. I tried many saddles and I finally got comfortable in 25,000 miles when I got strong enough in the core, back and legs.

Having said all that some riders seem to have steel sit bones and ride upright and look like skeletons. I needed more muscle and better position to get comfortable on the bike. YMMV.

Edit: Because you are upright, there is less unweighting of your ass as you pedal. Pedaling with power in a neutral position will take pressure off the sitbones.

In my opinion:

1. I would go to someone else for a fit. Your saddle still looks low to me (based on knee bend in your photo with the pedal at 6). Did your fitter specialize in BMX?
2. If you want to be able to ride long distances without changing position, try a recumbent.

I am not a fitter. I have heard that a method to get the seat height in the ball park is to put your heels on the pedals and pedal backwards. If your heels lift off the pedals at the bottom of your stroke, then your seat is too high. If your legs are fairly straight at the bottom of the stroke and the heels only get a little light on the pedals, then lock the seat down and go for a test ride.

I don't have a saddle that I like so just having the correct saddle height is not going to fix the problem. I am a weak rider and sit heavy on my seat. When I sprint even sitting I notice that the weight on my seat drops to almost nothing. So what some have said about getting stronger or just riding harder will take weight off the saddle.

I have great flexibility so I decided to drop my bars very low. I had read that this would take weight off your hands and arms because your core would start to support your forward weight. I have been taking yoga for 4 years and have pretty decent core strength and all I can say is this did not work for me. Maybe it didn't work for me because I have such great flexibility.

It would be nice to find a saddle that I could sit on for hours with comfort but since I am too cheap to just start testing saddles my rides will just have to be uncomfortable. I am only riding for exercise and fun so stopping to let the sit bones rest is not a game killer.

1. Listen to Hermes.

2. If you haven't done a sit bone measurement, go here https://www.wekeepyoucycling.com/en/p...ring-tool.aspx

3. And then here https://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/...ll-about-smps/

Here's one you have not tried yet, by your account. Unlike the Brooks, it does not require any extended break-in. Put it on the bike, adjust the position, adjust the tension, and badda-bing, you're good to ride. It is literally like a hammock for your backside. Here's a coupla their videos... I have no affiliation with them, other than being a satisfied user of this saddle.

I wish I paid the $300 for a fit when I started and I would have saved a lot of money on saddles. I had a Roubaix just like yours and sold it, it was a size 58. Then I bought a Look, that was a 57.4. After I got fit I'm on a 61 and never felt so good while riding. I had a 6 cm drop with the Look and now I don't have any drop. In stead of going down I went out. My reach now is 59.5 and it feels great and I still have my lowed postion. No neck or should pain. Right now I'm on a Romin evo 143 which has a narrower nose, than the ones made before it. Good luck with the fit, but I'm thinking it might not be the saddle.

I generally prefer the Selle AnAtomica over all the others, but refining the positioning is critical. Height, tilt, fore/back, nose tension, and slot trimming. It is NOT in my experience a "just bolt it on whatever dude" solution. But for me when it's right, I don't need to move around much at all, and have had an easy 65 mile comfort zone. It does function as a double hammock when it's right.

For me perineal pain is chafing. Chafing is due to side to side motion between my pelvis on teh saddle, combined with my sitbones not being supported on the landing zone. The saddle is at least too high. You might not be on the landing because the saddle is too far back or tilted too far forward. Too far back means that when your butt is where your pedaling wants it to be, the saddle is not meeting it.

Tilt means gravity is causing you to slide forward on the saddle so your sitbones fall off the landing zones, and your weight is actually supported by the perineal region. If this is the case you should be getting a seriously sleepy winky. If you have too much forward tilt with a too-high saddle, you get sleepy winky plus perineal chafing.

I agree that refining the position is critical. Long rails on a Selle An-Atomica. But all you have to do is follow their instructions. It wasn't hard.

I second the observation that your saddle looks low. A 30 degree leg angle is the starting point for saddle height with fore/aft position nominally KOPS(YMMV). I would consider a fit by someone with some expertise, but as a starting point I'd go for a basic fit, probably $50-$60 instead of $250+. If you're not racing a good fitter can come very close without resorting to the computer.

Lots of good advice here in the previous posts. The only thing I noticed is that your leg at the 6 0'Clock position should be more extended--not fully, but there shouldn't be too much bend. The perinieum problem is the worst, just so much discomfort if you don't have things adjusted correctly. It could, however, be a prob with the saddle itself. I had a couple of Selle Italias and a Terry Firefly and they made me miserable. I picked up an E3 (now called Kontact), and the perineal problem went away. Used it for 2 1/2 years and then switched to Brooks B17. I've had to fool with that one a bit, but it's never caused perineal pain. One thing you might want to try, when you get the height correct, is pushing back just a bit on the wide part of the saddle. As long as your sit-bones aren't sliding off the back, you should be fine. Sometimes pushing back just a bit takes the pressure off the perineum. Also, make sure the seat is perfectly flat. As for height, I used the Lamond method (google it), but bumped it up a tiny bit at a time until it felt just right.

I know I probably will get loads of snide remarks about this, but the only real fix is a recumbent. "Proper fit" is always presented by the DF crowd and the perfect fix. I ride a bent now, but put thousands of miles on DF bikes. As "proper fit" goes, as far as I am concerned it falls right in with-------tastes just like fresh perked and the check is in the mail.This is just my opinion, so I hope the DF riders dont get their padded shorts and butt grease in a wad.

Maybe I'm the only one. But to my eye, the bike looks too small for you. The balance point is too far forward and the posture is cramped. The saddle is too low by quite a bit, and it's tilt is too downward at the nose.

Maybe you need to start fresh, by walking into high quality shop and asking to be fit to one of their 2013 road bikes. Note your current frame size and measurements and then see where they start you. Not knowing your measurements, I can't tell from the photos. I'd say that you need to go up at least one frame size, maybe more. Your balance point needs to be adjusted, too. I doubt that you could keep the pedals at 3-9 o'clock, release your hands and stand/balance easily on your current set up. You'd pitch forward, and that's indicative of the issue.

It's hard to do over the internet with photos, so please understand. That bike doesn't look right beneath you...to me. Good luck.

Phil