my58vw

Hello all,

I just finished my first time trial today and I am very happy with how I did... well except one small thing...

My Butt Hurt! @#$

Well maybe some explaination...

I have a bontrager saddle that came with the bike and I am quite happy with it. I can ride 30 - 40 miles on it and not have any problems. The problem is that on the race conditions when I was pushing 22 - 30 MPH using areo bars my rear starting hurting. My feeling is that the extra pressure I put on the saddle while sprinting in the saddle is putting extra strain on my rear.

Has anyone tried the higher end bontrager saddles? I really do not want a hard as a rock saddle or to spend 150 or so on it. Later I may change and move the bontrager saddle that I may get to my jekyll and get a little different one. Otherwise what do you all think.

Thanks in advance...

My bike in time trial mode...

Surferbruce

hard to tell in the photo but it looks like the nose might be a little high? is your saddle level? i've found that extremely minute adjustments can make all the difference. just something to play with before you ditch it and spend 100plus dollars on a top end saddle.

madhouse

My guess is during the time trial you spend more time in the aero possition for a much longer duration than normal. Therefore your body position is different and you support your weight differently than normal. I would be willing to bet if you tip the saddle down on time trial days you would be better off.

ruirui

yup.. if you move the nose tip a bit downwards, then it will take the soreness from ur butt. however, if you drop the nose downward.. it will ok on short time trial. however on the long run, i would recommend leave it level, otherwise with the nose down and u being on the aero bar.. ur shoulders will feel sore and tense after a long ride.

elicheez

That saddle came with my Trek, too. My butt never liked it no matter what I tried. I switched (to a Terry Zero) and everything's great. You could see if your LBS will let you test some saddles.

biker1052

Did you re-adjust your saddle tilt and height for the aero position? Generally, for a time trial you may, and I stress "may", need to change these two measurements. Most time trialists ride with the nose level or slightly down. Some studies show that for max comfort and speed you may need to raise your saddle height by up to 1 cm.

fujiacerider

How do you know you don't want a rock hard one? Personally, I can't stand soft saddles. I guess the soft stuff just goes where it ain't s'posed t' be, or something. My most comfy saddle to date was a hard-ass shell with a piece of thin leather stretched over it. It's my one complaint about my Arione- too much padding.

Cole

Phatman

I'd rotate the seat downward a pinch when in the aero position. a good aero position takes your normal position and just rotates it forward a few degrees, so that your arms are lower, your seat is farther forward. It makes sense that you would also adjust the angle of your seat to compensate for the aero "rotation".

scroz

The Selle Italia SLR is a great saddle, very small, 115g and next to no padding. No pain either because its not trying to stuff itself up your bum