saddle help.....pleeze!!
 

ok I have been testing saddles. Some i was able to tell right off the bat it wasnt going to work but then some really felt great! They even felt better then the saddle I am currently using (selle italia X1) but right around 45mins to an hour they just beat to hell my but, around the sit bone area. today like an idiot I mounted a test saddle (prologo nag evo) and did a 40 miler....same thing felt like i had a winner till about an hr in and i suffered the rest of the ride. So my question to you experienced guys..... Do u think I need to just break my but into the saddles that feel great when i first start??.....its becoming quite frustrating and at my wits end...im buying saddles ebaying them etc etc.... I think i should just stick with my trusty X1!!

If you have not had much saddle time, start out with shorter rides like 1 hour every couple days. Gradually increase as tolerated.

Is it possible that this soreness is cramping? Are you drinking enough fluids? Wearing padded shorts?

I can't fit you to a saddle but I can tell you that a "milestone" soreness (it happens about an hour into the ride) can be related to issues of position, body conditioning (are you hydrated when you ride?), and hygiene.

Im not quite sure if its cramping.....i just have to keep getting off the saddle!....I wear chamois and I think Im drinking enough!.....i do 50 miles on my selle italia with minor discomfort(compared to new ones)

Stand and pedal once in awhile in the big ring.

It gives your back and butt a rest and stretch.

Never heard of butt cramps.

You need to adjust the tilt. IMO most people who go through saddles like the OP don't know how to do it properly. You want to get that balance between crotch pain (nose too high) and sliding down the front (nose too low). Pull over and make adjustments during a ride when you start hurting. Even a tiny amount of tilt like 1mm can make a difference. When I have a new saddle I'm stopping multiple times to adjust it. The last one I bought I was making adjustments of just 1/4 of a turn on the clamp bolt. If your actual sitbones hurt then the saddle may be too narrow or your butt just isn't used to long periods of time in the saddle, the flesh that covers them needs to toughen up. I can be comfortable on almost any size and shape of saddle, flat, curved, doesn't matter except for super narrow ones.

You've never had cramps that extended up your glutes? Lucky you!

Never had riding cramps in 59,000 miles...

Has some once in awhile at night.

Now a trike rider..

Had a thigh cramp at just 10 miles into one ride..Standing on it did not help.

Right! but who's counting? JK

Me ......My Test for a Good saddle was a 100 mile ride.

You do realize that was a joke.

Example: A man and a woman had been married some time when the woman began to question her husband. "I know you've been with a lot of woman before. How many were there?" The husband replied, "Look, I don't want to upset you, there were many. Let's just leave it alone." The wife continued to beg and plead. Finally, the husband gave in. "Let's see." he said "There was one, two, three, four, five, six, you, eight, nine..."

Got in a 100 mile ride on a small BMX saddle.

Butt was fine...It hurt my back.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=490511

This is very wise advice.

I just put a new saddle on one of my bikes. Took it out for 25 mile ride for the sole purpose of adjustment - hills, long straights, etc. I lost track of the number of times I stopped in the first five miles, got it close and then tweaked it several times over the course of the rest of the ride.

[MENTION=133361]Lazyass[/MENTION] is absolutely correct. Adjustements of less than 1mm make a difference. When it is right the saddle will "disappear" and you'll forget that its even there. Adjusting it is a process.

I have noticed one thing in common with the saddles I like, they have dense, but thin, foam. I tolerate firm cushioning far better than a soft, deep foam, saddle. This probably seems pretty obvious to a lot of riders but I am continuously surprised that people are amazed by how firm my saddle is. Generally something along the lines of, "Wouldn't be more comfortable to ride on a wider saddle?"

so basically keep dropping it down till i start to slide foward the back up a touch?

I like leather saddles. The Brooks Colt on my folder took about 200 miles before broken in enough to be comfortable. I went with a Selle Anatomica X series for my Roubaix. Comfortable from day one unlike the stock Specialized Toupe saddle which hurt the sit bones from mile 0 to mile 100.

Yep. You should start out with it level. When your crotch starts hurting, pull over and bring the nose down about 1mm (or vice versa if you're sliding forward). Just a tiny amount almost hard to see with the naked eye. Not every saddle is the same. On my three road bikes, two saddles are curved and one is flat with a cutout. All three are different widths. One is slightly nose down, one is perfectly level and one is nose up about one degree. I can do century ride on all of them with no pain.

If tilt adjustments don't get it perfect you can try lowering your saddle a hair and that can take pressure off your sitbones when you're pedaling. Mine are about 1.5cm lower than the calculations say it's supposed to be, not everyone has the same skeletal structure. At that height I feel like I'm sitting in the saddle and not on it, if that makes sense. It feels good. It's possible your saddle is too high right now.

It's important to know the width of your sit bones so you can try the appropriate width saddle. You can either DYI or go to the shop and let them measure you. The next step is to have the proper set back, saddle height and tilt. Determining each of these can be a bit tricky, but there's plenty of youtube videos and help at the shops if needed. I don't suggest you keep dropping your saddle forward until you slide forward. Sometimes the correction is counter-intuitive to what you think you should do to correct the problem.

Don't give up on a new saddle right away.

My new bike came with a Fizik Aliante saddle. I was sure I'd need to swap it for something different. It was way different than my previous saddles--no cutout, big curves down the sides instead of flat, and a little curve up at the back.

And the first two rides were terrible. Ow! It was pressing against the tops of my thighs and was just uncomfortable. But after a couple more rides, it seemed more neutral. And I tipped up the nose slightly, too.

Now, it's my favorite saddle by far. I can ride all day on it. What works for me is the smooth curve on the sides so there's no seams or saddle edges (like my previous flatter top saddles.)

Took me 47,000 miles to find the perfect saddle for my butt.

Bought 5 of them from ebay.

Fizik Aliante Sport

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=490528

Good luck on your search.

maybe it isn't the saddles, but rather your arse man....

keep trying though... the saddle comfort thing can evade people for a looong time... it always comes down to personal preference...

only thing I would suggest is maybe get someone at your LBS that does bike fits to look at your saddle height and fore/aft...as those things can sometimes make a world of difference in how a saddle supports your bottom and sit bones...

because you're complaining specifically about the sit bones getting sore, I'm wondering if your saddle may be a lil' bit too high... lowering it a tad can really relieve some of that pressure... u may sacrifice a small amount of power, but unless you're racing competitively I don't think that'll be too big a deal....

those aren't the new Aliante's are they? I remember them having different paint schemes...

But who's counting?

They were nine years old..They came new on Trek bikes.

Do you count the bottles of beer as you drink them?