phtomita

I am having a mild pain that doesn't go away after a week without biking.
The pain is on both sides, kind of in front of the sitting bones.

If I am sitting on a chair, it is definitely at the front side of the sitting bone.
When biking it will be likely where the front part of sitting bone ends.

I have more than 2000 miles on this saddle, but I changed bike at the beginning of the year.
I measured the dimension with the previous bike and here are the differences I have.
1 - handlebar reach on current bike is about 1/2 to 1" away
2 - handlebar is lower to the saddle by about a inch. Before was like 1/2 inch above.
3 - saddle height is same - relative to the bottom bracket. Crank size is same, 165 mm.
4 - if you trace a vertical line on front tip of the saddle and bottom bracket,
the new bike is 1/2 to 1" away

This past weekend I moved the saddle to the front, but impression is that I got more pain while riding a short 30 miles.

My quill stem is almost on max up so can't bring that much up.

Any suggestion from the butt experts on this forum? Saddle angle?

JonnyHK 

Angle was what I was thinking before I got to the bottom of your post and saw that you had already highlighted it.

KraneXL

Yep, use the scientific method. That's what your doctor would do. Go back to where the pain first began and list all the change (physical, environmental, etc.) that proceeded it. What changed recently? The new bike would be your first suspect. Anything else new? Prolonged sitting/standing? Were there any traumatic experiences? New diet? Mattress?

You might have to go back a couple months. Also, keep in mind that you might feel it in your butt but that doesn't necessarily mean the problem is centered there.

Retro Grouch 

I'd experiment with your saddle tilt. It doesn't take very much to make a big difference in how the bike feels. If you have a notched seat post I'd try moving the nose of the saddle up the least amount possible.

europa

Start by telling us what saddle it is, there might be something specific to it. For example, if it's a Brooks, the set up procedure is a whole 'nother can of worms.

jj1091

Sounds to me like you need a shorter-reach stem, since it's the forward part of your sit bones that feel the difference. You're leaning forward more, putting new pressure there, because of the longer "handlebar reach".

cyclist2000

+1, tilt of the saddle can make the most comfortable saddle a torture device. I like a two bolt seat post and fine tune the saddle tilt by a turn at a time.

coffeesnob

I thought the saddle was supposed to be parallel to the ground.

phtomita

I have the Selle Italia SLR Superflow saddle.
I will try a forward tilt this Saturday and see where it goes.

phtomita

Yes, I am thinking on this as my last option since I will have to do the taping and all again - it is a quill stem.

canklecat

I just got the SLS Kit Carbonio a few weeks ago. Very similar, but no perineum relief cutout, and only 131mm wide.

Just over 500 miles on it so far, mostly in rides of 20-40 miles each. So far, so good, although when I first handled it I thought "This is what they call 'padding'? This a$$ hatchet is gonna kill me." It had even less padding than some Fizik saddles I'd handled at the LBS.

But it's turned out to be pretty comfy. Some minor aches in the sit bones/ischial tuberosities after some rides, but so minor it's hardly worth mentioning -- just different from my gel foam saddles, which cradled the sit bones but put more pressure on the perineum because everything squished down too much over longer rides.

My initial setup was very rough, lots of guesstimates. I was simultaneously switching from platform pedals/casual shoes on the road bike to clipless and Look pedals. Between the pedal and saddle change, I had to raise the seat post an inch. Rode that for a month, then felt like I wasn't getting quite enough leg extension. Raised it another 1/4" before yesterday's ride, felt much better. Also lowered the quill stem 1/4", thinking I might need to adjust the nose angle downward a notch, but it felt fine on the one ride of 22 miles. We'll see after a few more miles.

But it's very position sensitive. Or, rather, my butt is very position sensitive. I kept tweaking everything an nth of a degree and 1/8 or 1/4 inch at a time. One day I adjusted the fore/aft position slightly in response to a minor knee twinge, just above the patella. The rest of the ride I felt like I was doing pushups. Turned out I'd tilted the nose down a mere single notch. That's all it took to feel like something was way off. Reset the angle, everything was fine again.

And the Aerotech Pro shorts with their thinnest padding -- the tan and black stuff that's just thick microfiber with no loft -- may not be quite right for me now on that saddle. My Pearl Izumi and cheapie Baleef shorts with fancypants 3D sculpted padding is more comfortable.

So try some different shorts if all else fails.

canklecat

BTW, before swapping stems and retaping, try a cheapo-ugly trick to see if it helps.

Add some thick foam padding to the bar. Pool noodles, pipe insulation, whatever's cheapest. Just slit it lengthwise and tape it on top of the existing wrap. Try it for a couple of rides and see how it feels. It will effectively reduce the reach a bit.

That's what I did last summer after first getting this '89 Centurion Ironman. At the time it felt like the reach was too long, but I suspected it was mostly my back and neck getting accustomed to the road bike. Heck, I'm 60 years old with a busted up back and neck, and hadn't ridden a drop bar bike in 30+ years. So before swapping stems, etc., I tried the foam trick. I actually used some fairly stiff handlebar padding from a BMX bike, since I already had it in a box. Used it for a few weeks, while also working on my back and neck conditioning. After about a month I was able to remove the padding. Turns out the reach was fine. It was mostly my creaky old back and neck. So it motivated me to do more stretching and strengthening to regain what I'd lost from years of inactivity.

phtomita

Thank you, this is great idea. I like it and will try out if the saddle tilt doesn't work.
Hope I find my right setting by end of April

europa

Which part of the saddle?
Some roadie saddles are pretty much flat, others have contours. With the Brooks I mentioned above, you're more concerned with the rear area where you sit which is why the nose usually winds up slightly elevated.

rydabent

Still another the saddle hurts my butt. Must be something to it.

Smart people know how to prevent that problem.

phtomita

Today I went for a ride and have the saddle tilted forward a bit.
It feels much better - the pain on the specific area I mentioned early is much improved .

During the ride got a supper bad cramp on my left leg and after some good stretch and massage was able to come back home. during the ride home I lowered the saddle by about 1 cm that seems helped the ride back.

Can a wrong height of saddle (too high) be linked with leg cramps?
In my case stretching the leg all way down, but I still had a flexed knee down there....

Patriot1

This makes total sense. Thanks for sharing.

FBinNY 

If it's clearly at the tops of the back of your leg, forward and below your butt cheeks, and it feels like you're sitting on a golf ball, or something similar, suspect piriformis syndrome. I linked one site with more info, but there's plenty more available with a simple search.

The bad news is that it can be with you for life, but the good news is that it's easily managed and can be 100% resolved with some basic and simple exercises. Once resolved, it can be gone for months, but there's high likelihood that it'll come back and you'll need to deal with again.

The best news is that if it is piriformis syndrome, it's more annoying than a serious health issue, so use the info to diagnose and resolve it with the specific stretches.

phtomita

Thank you for the info. It is not like the one you described.
The good news is that the pain is now gone after the little forward tilting the saddle.
I have now my legs cramping bad - last Saturday I got a really bad one when trying to unclip the pedal. Left foot, ankle to outside, toes inside and my leg just got stuck on that position and have to stretch for a while to go home.

I've lowered saddle about 10 mm and will continue these micro adjustments. Getting close to a nice fitted setting.

phtomita

Thank you, but what hurts, hurts ...

billnuke1 

If I really mash the pedals I can end up with a similar pain. Usually happens beginning of the season, change to another bike...but, once I start spinning the pedals, the pain goes away.

phtomita

Had a longer ride this past Saturday with the saddle tilted a bit forward and some 5 mm lower and no pain on following days .
It was against some 15 ~ 20 mph sustained wind one way and tail wind pushing me on way back, so spent much more time than normally I do.

fietsbob

A place like that, Microsoft campus etc, should have a Sports Physiologist, if not in Seattle proper..