saddle issues...help

[Climb01742]

i've been riding aliantes for 2 or 3 years now without a problem, ever, not even for a moment. my butt was one happy clam. but now that i've evolved into a new position on the bike, the happy clam has left the building. i've raised my saddle quite a bit and extended my reach. every other part of my body is very happy with my new position. it feels "right". everywhere except in the saddle. the main discomfort is in the (how do i tactfully put this?) area between the family jewels and the poop-shoot...that flatish area, you know. i don't know which way to turn, saddle wise. what shape to try. i've tried my last two rides to zero in on what was causing the discomfort but i can't say. it's just sore. and it's a saddle i moved over from another bike, so i know it was comfy before. and i tried one of my other aliantes, too...same sensation. my guess is that the higher saddle position has somehow shifted how i sit on the saddle. possibly requiring a different saddle shape? any ideas greatly appreciated.

[Ken Robb]

try lowering the nose a wee bit.

[keno]

perhaps a little experimentation with saddle tilt will help. I have found that very minor changes in tilt result in big differences in comfort.

keno

[Kevin]

Climb,

I would go with the trial and error technique. Get a digital level and try tilting the saddle in 1 degree incriments until you find a happy spot. I would not go more than about 3 or 4 degrees in either direction.

Kevin

[ergott]

area between the family jewels and the poop-shoot...

...known as the gooch FYI

[Mud]

get a Brooks saddle although it is not a bad idea since the flat back keeps the pressure off the soft spots. You may be chafing a little. Without sounding like too big an idiot on this stuff I had the same problem. A little Bodyglide worked very well for me and I found that it lasted a long time. The other stuff is Brave Soldier which I also found works quite well.

[David Kirk]

The image of you butt being a happy clam is going to stick with me too long.

That said I use the same saddle and had the same issue. Tilting the nose up by 1.5° fixed it for me. I give the sit bones and taint area a flater section to sit on.

No more clam stuff.

Dave

[93legendti]

I agree with the above. Is your saddle tilt EXACTLY as it was in your old position? Maybe the issue can be solved with either new shorts (chamois' do wear out!) or different shorts?

[gone]

my guess is that the higher saddle position has somehow shifted how i sit on the saddle. possibly requiring a different saddle shape? any ideas greatly appreciated.
I also ride an aliante and will second the tilt recommendation others have made. I'll also suggest trying different shorts. I've found with mine that the pad in some shorts (most notably Pearl Izumi Ultrasensor 3D's) produce a lot of pressure in the "area" you describe whereas others are fine.

If it happens with a variety of shorts or different brands & age then I'm back to the tilt suggestion.

[Fixed]

bro after years of riding why change you position now? try a little lower saddle pos. i.m.h.o. cheers :beer:

[david]

area between the family jewels and the poop-shoot...that flatish area, you know.

aka "grundle."

[93legendti]

I also ride an aliante and will second the tilt recommendation others have made. I'll also suggest trying different shorts. I've found with mine that the pad in some shorts (most notably Pearl Izumi Ultrasensor 3D's) produce a lot of pressure in the "area" you describe whereas others are fine.

If it happens with a variety of shorts or different brands & age then I'm back to the tilt suggestion.


Ouch, those shorts are the only ones I can not ride with. Painful indeed!

[bluesea]

Go with the Arione or the plain SLR. They both give you more options, as they have little to no swayback. I voted with my wallet.

[1centaur]

I have Aliantes and I have probably ten other saddle types hanging around I swap in from time to time on the trainer if I start to get pain/numbness on the trainer, but I always go back to the Aliante. Harder saddles are more efficient but ultimately they are not worth it if you are not comfortable on them.

I agree with the growing consensus here on saddle tilt, and especially the idea of the digital level so you can consistently measure what you are doing. Change in position COMPLETELY changes the subtleties of saddle comfort, a fact little noted in endless threads on finding the right saddle. Nevertheless, so many people like the Aliante, and they presumably have many different favored positions, that you should view that saddle as the one to experiment with until you know nothing will work. Don't get on the treadmill of changing saddles to find the right one, because really with each one you'd have to do the same thing you are about to do with the Aliante - experiment with tilt until it's right enough. The key, from what I read, is to make the back of the Aliante flat which may mean saddle tip up a touch. That in turn may be a problem with a higher saddle position and a longer reach, which may mean putting the saddle down a bit, thus reaching an effective poswer compromise, because there's no point in putting out max power with an uncomfortable position. You need to put out max power for your comfortable position.

A final, common sense note: you are feeling pain because you are putting weight on an area where it was not before. The sit bones need to form an arch over the point where your taint would hit the saddle (one reason for low padding saddles - to keep that arch from being filled in - which chamois sometimes does too). The swale shape of the Aliante allows that arch to be formed by dropping away where the taint would hit (I so don't understand saddles that have a bump in that location!). As you adjust your saddle tilt, visualize how that swale is supposed to work.

[Len J]

from the first time I tried the Aliente and many other saddles.....that area has always been the area that made saddles uncomfortable for me.

I finally tried a Brooks swallow, tilted so that the back end was flat to support my sit bones. From the first ride it was like heaven. It's pricey, but what price comfort?

Len

[Smiley]

Climb , Let me say ths to you one time only , you now have to pick up your sit bones since when you rotated you changed everything and your bones are not in contact with the saddle width . Try a wider girth saddle like LenJ said the Swallow is the cats meow for me but if you chose go with something wider and re-check the KOP for sure to keep the knee in the same spot . This is FREE advice and as you may say in your business its free so its worth nothing except in this case. Call Bill Lane at wall bike get a 6 month return and get a Swallow and join the freaking club .

[jerk]

climbo-
if you put a swallow on any one of your bikes, save that mx leader, the jerk is coming to your house and violently appropriating each and every one of'em for the next "crazy harold's tent sale".....

if your 'taint is bothering you, you might want to try a firmer, flatter saddle like an arione or something. saddles are such a personal preference anyway....frankly the jerk thinks its because you're sitting too far forward and weight you used to have on your feet is now on your grundle.

be that as it may, the lower chin rest is a sensitive place, and the jerk'd recommend doing something to fix it.....

jerk (who really wanted to use three terms he knows for a part of the body climbo doesn't know one term for, just to prove he is the most depraved jerk here. disregard the rest of the post.)

[bcm119]

Just an observation... but it seems as if people that love Aliantes usually have smaller saddle-bar drops. If you're stretched out pretty good you might try a different saddle. The Aliante didn't work for me at all- same problem with pressure on the taint.

[jerk]

Just an observation... but it seems as if people that love Aliantes usually have smaller saddle-bar drops. If you're stretched out pretty good you might try a different saddle. The Aliante didn't work for me at all- same problem with pressure on the taint.


word. it's too soft. (the saddle)

try an arione or an aspide or something.

jerk

[Climb01742]

i certainly am at the point to try something. i got a digital level this afternoon at local hardware store. a few days ago, i had just raised my saddle one last little bit, 2mm. that may have been 2mm too far. i'll first try lowering that 2mm. i now know that, at the moment, it has a 0.4 degree upward tilt. i'll see how tomorrow goes. i'm somewhat loathe to switch saddles, mostly because my position (setback and reach) are based on the aliante. but hey, if the trade-off is comfort, i'll switch. let the experiments begin.

ps: digital levels are way cool.

[Chief]

climbo-
<snipred>

jerk (who really wanted to use three terms he knows for a part of the body climbo doesn't know one term for, just to prove he is the most depraved jerk here. disregard the rest of the post.) Color added for emphasis.

The Chief believes this is the first post by the Jerk in which the Jerk referred to himself (Jerkself?) in other than the third person.

[Len J]

climbo-
if you put a swallow on any one of your bikes, save that mx leader, the jerk is coming to your house and violently appropriating each and every one of'em for the next "crazy harold's tent sale".....



It's OK on your BLE, but not on Climb's bikes?

http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=7960&highlight=jerk

Len

[dirtdigger88]

the lower chin rest is a sensitive place, and the jerk'd recommend doing something to fix it.....



post of the night-

Jason

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . when he suggested lowering the nose of the saddle a bit. You might also try a second pair of shorts so you have a double pad. Not a permanenet solution, but could help for the moment until you get it right.

Also, the area you are referring to is the perineum.

BBD

[jerk]

It's OK on your BLE, but not on Climb's bikes?

http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=7960&highlight=jerk

Len


yes that's true. it doesn't work on a carbon bike.

[Len J]

yes that's true. it doesn't work on a carbon bike.

or function?

Me....if my Bums happy, I'm happy.

Len

[RABikes2]

I have a barely used Aliante that gave me problems, too (elsewhere, but...in the same vacinity :rolleyes: ); I'd be glad to sell it. Rode with davep this weekend and he saw my "new" noseless saddle (he tried it, too :p ). Over 2,000 miles on it (big time improvement down below), but still working with the fit, hopefully the new, uncut fork will help do the trick. Hope you find the solution Climb.

RA

[shinomaster]

Dude i have the exact same problem, try an Alias saddle form Specialized.

[scrooge]

Dude i have the exact same problem, try an Alias saddle form Specialized.

Anybody here every trying that saddle fitting system from Specialized where they take a butt print (or something) and tell you how wide a saddle you need?
Impressions?

[Ginger]

Scrooge: Impressions is exactly right...you can use a staircase and a piece of corregated cardboard to determine the width of your sit bones (and select the appropriate saddle by that dimension) Or like most things, you could pay someone to do it... If you do a search on "sit bones" here on the forum you'll probably come up with the complete directions.

Climb, I'm with Dave. You have ruined both seafood and riding with a pack of guys in lycra with that clam analogy... :( Bad Climb. BAD BAD Climb!

Try the Aspide Tri gel. I have a similar issue...only different ;) and outside my old Concour, the Aspide Tri Gel saddle seems to be the only one I've found that works fairly well....(It sounds like you've moved forward into a more tri like position? Why not try something designed for that?)