Asymmetric saddles or other exotic solutions?

[sworcester]

Due to nerve damage, I have some pretty low performing upper leg muscles on my left side. So withy the atrophy you loose padding. So when I sit on a saddle, the left side feels like I am riding on the tendons with the sitbone.

All the rehab I have had was to get me out of a chair (done) out of crutches and leg braces - (now one crutch) and I can ride a bike on a trainer, but only last about an hour before it becomes too uncomfortable. Because of the leg weakness, I can't stand and pedal, so the standing to relieve pressure comes at the cost of not pedalling.

Anyway, after reading an article on asymmetric saddles it appears I can put more padding on one side of the saddle to build up that side. When I contacted a custom saddle maker, generically the answer was see a physical therapist.

Two things
How would I find a physical therapist that knows about cycling kinetics and symmetry etc., two has anyone had this problem before and how did you fix it?

[robt57]

https://www.aerotechdesigns.com/replacement-chamois-pads.html


Double up one side.

Maybe like me you bought your wife a Bernina Package and she can sew in the repl pads accordingly. [And let you buy a new bike because the Bernina package cost so much]

[Black Dog]

Have you considered a recumbent? Serious question.

[Alan]

I have some scar tissue due to previously having high hamstring tendon issues. Since then I have used the narrowest Berthoud leather saddle and now I am on the narrowest Rivet saddle. I like narrow type saddles and these are the narrowest leather saddles that I have seen.

Rene Herse sells Berthoud now and you can find Rivet who has a one year money back policy so you can try. If you are interested in the Rivet try one with other than black leather as the black model takes a long time to break in vs the other colors.

PM me if I can be helpful.

Alan

[sworcester]

Have you considered a recumbent? Serious question.

I have one, that got me back on a bike (of course I had to change it over to 11 speed and Di2). I miss the upright bike speed, although I don't know how much of that is left yet because outside of on a trainer, I haven't ridden an upright bike yet.
But I did get long term access to a tandem, so part of this is to see how well that will work, which will likely require some adjustments

[pdonk]

I wonder if something like the adjustable saddle from bikefit could be modified to work? Maybe cut the wedge and shape plates in half?

https://blog.bikefit.com/bisaddle-shapeshifter-installation-instructions/

What about taking the cover off of a saddle and either building up the padding or removing some and putting the cover back on? OR use duct tape and build up one side to a saddle you already have as proof of concept, then do a mod that looks good.

If I was going to shave a saddle down, I'd look at the fizik versus evo range of saddles as the padding is in two distinct pieces and would be easy to do without messing up the other side or worrying about tapering too much.

[2LeftCleats]

Wonder if seeing a prosthetist might help.

[sworcester]

Wonder if seeing a prosthetist might help.

It would have to be a butt cheek prosthetic

[giordana93]

I would worry about introducing (more) asymmetry to your pelvis but I guess that isbetter than not riding. There used to be a sling seat that was kind of a hamoc/webbed awning set perpendicular to motion, like a swing set seat. Something like that might work if still available

[charliedid]

No experience but have you looked into a custom solution?

https://www.meld3d.com/

Edit" Just read your OP and saw you had tried the custom route. The meld is just make the form and they make the saddle?

[sworcester]

No experience but have you looked into a custom solution?

https://www.meld3d.com/

Edit" Just read your OP and saw you had tried the custom route. The meld is just make the form and they make the saddle?

They have an article on their site about asymmetry, which got me into thinking this might work, and I contacted them., They said to start with a physical therapist. At first I thought about the 100s of hours I have already been through in physical therapy, but they are talking about having them work with you to figure out the delta required.

I probably need to get back with them about what I should look for and really need from a physical therapist.

[mjbrekke]

No experience with this (yet; probably my next cycling purchase), but it looks like it might address your problem: https://infinitybikeseat.com