Dip in the Saddle.Where to sit?
 

Are the pelvic bones supposed to be seated in the dip of the saddle taking most of the weight,or is your rear supposed to be,with it seated on the back of the saddle.
I usually sit at the back of the seat,but occasionally find myself sliding forward.At the moment the nose is level and higher at the back.I'd rather not tip the nose up because It becomes very uncomfortable.
I've tried seating more forward this becomes quite painful as well.
What to you think

I asked a similar Q and nobody answered.

Guess the short is, there is no one spot, it's OK to move around. But am, guessing again, there is one "sweet" spot where u should remain mostly on long rides.

I'm not keen on curved saddles for this reason. If it's level, I keep sliding forward off the back where the sitbones should be and into the dip (uncomfortable). Tilting the nose up slighly fixes this, but then I've got the nose of the saddle jabbing into me and stopping me from rotating the pelvis forward.

There's really no universal answer to this. It depends on the sadde, how it is positioned and your own anatomy. How you are positioned on the bike also affects it. Sit where it's most comfortable and where you don't slide forward. Generally, if you ride in a more sporty manner, and you like descending hills as on a road bike, you want to leave some room to be able to slide back some when going downhill for better balance and control.

What's "level"? With some saddles, you can't just put a spirit level on it from front to back and call it level, because they curve up at the back. Also, some plastic saddles do have a certain "cradle" which is a dip intended to emulate the dip that form naturally in a leather saddle after miles and miles of riding on it. But like I said, all that matters is that YOU be comfortable and stable on the saddle. If you sit in a way that you keep sliding forward, it's going to have an impact on your arms and hands for sure.

The saddle is Selle Italia 06 C2 Gel.I bought it thinking i was getting the best,but now realise my my old cheapo plastic one is more comfortable.
Do they make flatter saddles? this thing has a big hump at the back and a sharp slide downwards in the middle which I see no purpose for apart from jamming your parts

Whatever is comfortable and allows you to deliver the most power to the pedals. I ride high and in the back, directly on my 'sit bones' and directly on the ridge at the rear of the saddle. I don't need any of the saddle from the post forward.

That's a pretty nice shape of saddle, actually. Nothing extreme there. I would experiment with positioning until it feels right...

Make sure your saddle isn't too far back from the bottom bracket. That can really put pressure on the front of the crotch. But, judge by riding, not by sitting on it. My favourite saddle feels terrible when just sitting on the bike, but saddle issues melt away when actually riding on it. I can do miles and miles without even thinking about it.

Sit on your butt. Not your crotch.

Goes to show, $=doesn't mean better.

Selle Ita are pretty flat saddles, at least the recent models.

Having said that, a website recommends the "sudden drop" seats vs the flat ones. Goes to show, not all butts are equal.

I believe this is the time to visit a Selle Ita Test Center and ride them! Selle's website, Test Center.

My sitbones are planted firmly in the divots in my saddle. After all, my sitbones made those divots ... the saddle is custom fit to me. :)

I always feel like I'm the dip in the saddle...

If you want a flat saddle, try a Specialized Toupe.
Be prepared, though.

S.

My favorite saddles are dead flat from side to side and from front to back. The other saddles are always difficult to set-up well, and their comfort changes as you move forward on the saddle.

I too prefer a saddle which has a flat top both from side to side and front to back. This allows you more room for different positions on the saddle. With the shaped saddle, you end up with only one position. You can still sit more on the nose or the back if you want to I guess, but I find flatter saddles are best overall. But the OP's saddle is a fairly flat one to begin with, I think.

Most saddle are shaped front to back shape for a reason. The rear of a saddle should be higher...still level....than the center to relieve any pressure off the perenium. This why Brooks saddles have a slight concavity to their center.

OP if you position your sit bones in the slumped center section, the nose of the saddle will torture the nerve that runs along your perenium.
HTH.

how important is the hole in the middle of the saddle (whatever it's called)? my top tube length has me stretching pretty far, which is fine, but can stress my..uh..tender areas on longer rides, even with a chamois and no matter how much i shift my weight to be on my sit bones. i picked up a selle italia flite fluid (which i can't even find much info about online), but that didn't really help. should i just sell the saddle and get a flite gel flow, or some other saddle with a hole/recessed center?

Toupe saddles are NOT flat. I would love it if they were. I am constantly sliding forward down into the dip off the sit bone support. To stop this, I have mine with the nose very visibly pointed up. This in turn puts pressure on the perenium when I'm in the drops and/or on the rivet.

Notice the difference in the red and black line. The image started with the rails horizontal. Rotated 4.5 degrees left to obtain a flat reference from the sitbone support to the nose. The red line is the slide my butt likes to take down into the dip.

The line with the arrow - I'm trying to find some kind of support piece to shove in there to make the saddle stay flatter when I'm on it. If anyone has any ideas...let me know! I can pull the saddle flat with my fingers when I'm off the bike but haven't figured out a way to make it stay that way.

http://sterling-ranch.com/foo/SpecializedToupe_01.jpg

Sounds like a satisfied Brooks user to me, I know I am on my commuter, same thing, custom molded.

Thanks for all your help
ok,after some fiddling around.I've adjusted the seat level with the nose and back(as in boggus diagram with the black line).It seems more comfortable than having the back higher anyway.Time will tell though whether it will
aggrivate my sacrum-illiac problem.
So,are there any saddles that are flat and can be had for $60?