Saddle Help
 

Hi everyone. I am starting to get a bit irritated over the saddle I ride on my bianchi. I originally got it with a cinelli hard leather saddle but thought it would be uncomfortable so I switched it for a bontrager that I had laying around. I have been riding the bontrager for a week or so now and am very dissatisfied. It is great for short little cruises but I can't handle it any longer on my regular 18-20 mile rides. I do wear bike shorts for the longer rides and it helps but I still have trouble with my 'package' getting in the way on the back half of the ride and I feel like I can't put my weight in the right place. Anyone have a similar predicament? Should I just get over it? Should I give the cinelli another try? Should I scour around for a cheaper fizik chameleon? All advice is appreciated and thanks in advance!

Any info will help us help you, so give us a bit more info.

What kind of bike do you ride? Drop bar, flat bar, etc...?
What kind of shorts are you using and how old are they?
Do you sit up or are you in an aero position?
Are you overweight?

I find that the saddle is rarely the problem and is usually either adjustments, shorts/bibs, body weight, or a combination of them all. If you get one of those problems corrected it can make a huge difference so getting them all corrected lets you ride without even thinking about it. Small adjustments can make a huge difference and sometimes its not the saddle at all. Assuming you're on a drop bar road bike, be sure you have the basics covered. Start with leveling your saddle, then be sure you have the proper leg extension with a slight bend at the knee when at the bottom of the pedal stroke. From there I would start to tweak things a bit trying different adjustments but keeping a log of where you started so you can go back. I had a similar problem not to long ago where I felt good heading out but half way through my ride I felt bunched up down there and found that as I got fatigued I was sliding forward to the nose of the saddle which means my weight was being supported by my junk instead of my sit bones. I corrected this by putting a shorter stem on the bike and tilting my saddle nose up just a hair.

I'd go to what works for you now. Ride that saddle or get something like it.

I am 6'2", 155lbs and ride an '84 bianchi classica with drop bars. I use the midrange performance brand shorts and they are about a year or two old. Most of the time I am down on the drops. The bike fits well and my only issue is with the fatigue down there. I have been making minor adjustments with the saddle but have yet to get it to work like I want

My only other advice would be to find a shop that demo's saddles and try one of the Selle Italia Super Flow's and reconsider the shorts, a year or two is asking a lot.

either that, or you can try shopping on Amazon for saddles. they sell pretty much every Fizik and most of the Selle Italia saddles, which covers a lot of ground, and you have a 30-day return policy if you're not happy with them for any reason.

also, Nashbar has great sales from time to time, and they have a lifetime satisfaction return policy...

I'm curious about the old leather Cinelli? Post a photo ? Might be comfortable after breaking in. Some old leather Cinelli saddles go for big $$ on eBay.

It's a Cinelli Unicantor from I'm guessing the mid 80s like the bike. It is in pretty good shape, you can still see the stamping saying Cinelli Made in Italy. I put it back on today and I think that I will give it a try. I think that the Bontrager saddle was a little too cushy and after my seat bones sunk down the pressure on my package increased.