Pasifist

I have been having some pain and tenderness on the outside of the knee, likely due to some inflammation related to the IT band. I have never had this before. I went from almost no training stress to a for me hard two-hour ride, which was the first to bring up the pain. I figured it was just the sudden increase in mileage that brought it on. However, it has kept coming back after this. Before the ride that just brought the pain up for the first time I also changed from a Fizik Arione saddle to a Specialized Toupe saddle. I'm now wondering, as this pain never has occurred in previous seasons on the same bike, if the saddle change could be the culprit. To me it seems the seat should place me at pretty similar setup as previously. However, due to less padding in the Toupe, it seems to in effect be around 1 cm lower. I had not accounted for this previously. Could this possibly cause the IT band situation, or is the increased training stress more likely to be the culprit? I have now put the Arione back on to check if this will solve the problem before I try the Toupe further. The reason the saddle change was in the first place due to problems with penis falling asleep when cycling on an indoor trainer with the Arione.

Thanks.

IK_biker

The only troubles I have had with the IT bands sometime in 2006 I think were when I had set my saddle a bit too high by mistake.
IT bands quickly recovered once I dropped the saddle to its normal height.

If in your case the new saddle rides lower, look elsewhere. Fore-aft could be a factor.
However, since the Toupe has no padding whatsoever (I have experience with this saddle), I fail to understand your logic about why you think its "less padding" result in your ass being effectively lower.

Pasifist

The Toupe with no padding surely must result in the ass sitting lower, i.e. closer to the BB, than in a saddle with padding. In this case, approximately 1 cm according to my measurements. The Arione is longer than the Toupe, so if it's the case that I'm often sitting forwards on the Arione it would perhaps make sense to adjust the Toupe a bit forwards.

Carbonfiberboy 

That sort of pain is usually due to tightness in connective tissue around the knee. Try these stretches: IT Band pain (during ride)

Put the Arione back on and make the heel on pedal check. Then the same check with the Toupe. That'll tell you if you're getting the effective saddle height the same with both saddles.

motorthings

you can also look at the saddle rail to top measurement for both saddles, and see if they are different.
just because a saddle has less padding does not mean it is lower.

McBTC

Runners get ITB (runners knee) so, it likely has zero to do with your saddle being 1 cm lower than before... stretching that band of gristle is pretty difficult to deal with. Probably about all you can do now that you've got it is working out with a foam roller which involves the sort of pain you don't ever say afterward... "Ah... that hurts so good."

McBTC

However, according to this, you should stay away from putting pressure in the knee area when rolling. He says that rolling out on the hips is where it's at (stretching the ITB is sort of a misnomer as nothin you can do will actually stretch the band)--