shipwreck

Just sort of posting this as an observation that is on topic with weight loss, may be of interest.
Ive always sort of lurked this forum, as my weight has generally been in the 220 range, recently it got up to 235. Never really bothered me that much, as I ride just for my own pleasure and some touring. But some recent foot troubles(plantar fasciitis, heel spur, past broken bones and some nerve damage)made me decide to lay off the Little Debbies and cheese puffs in order to take some of the pounds off the feet.
Down to 205 in about a month and a half, and suddenly most of my saddles were getting painful. Old Vettas, Avenir touring, vintage Selle turbos and the like, saddles like I've ridden for decades. When I noticed some, ah, "numbness", I considered getting right back on the donut train and donating my new pants to the thrift shop, but instead lowered the saddle noses a bit, dropped the seat post a few mm's and raised up most of my stems as much as possible. Things are better now, I can feel my sit bones contacting the saddles now, and I've been experimenting with getting the drops back down bit by bit, as I really don't like anything less than a two inch handlebar stem drop. Keeping the saddles where they are for now though, but raised the posts up a bit as I felt some knee stress from to little extension.

Bottom line, from years of being pretty exact in my fit and position with a well padded body, I'm now having to work things out again. Since I plan on losing at least 15 more pounds, I am feeling it out as I go. Don't want to buy new stems and all, just to find I didn't need them. Trying to lose the weight more slowly, and that's harder than losing it fast. I mean, how do you regulate your reduction by controlled dorito consumption?

Is it common to have to get used to a new contact dynamic on the old butt? Could there have been some core fat that didn't reduce as much as the surface area, leading to changed contact pressure? As I said, I can feel the sit bones hitting the saddle now, so maybe things are evening out.

DrIsotope

I went through 7-8 saddles in my first two years, as I went from 250 to 200. Fantastic for a few thousand miles, then they would try to split me in half.

I probably have a dozen stems. I've changed bars four times. There's a spot in the closet with shorts, bibs, and jerseys that are now way too big.

For many, these are the basic costs of playing the game.

masi61

"I'm now having to work things out again. Since I plan on losing at least 15 more pounds, I am feeling it out as I go. Don't want to buy new stems and all, just to find I didn't need them. Trying to lose the weight more slowly, and that's harder than losing it fast. I mean, how do you regulate your reduction by controlled dorito consumption?

Is it common to have to get used to a new contact dynamic on the old butt? Could there have been some core fat that didn't reduce as much as the surface area, leading to changed contact pressure? As I said, I can feel the sit bones hitting the saddle now, so maybe things are evening out."





The new "contact dynamic" on the old butt has less to do with core fat than is has to do with the muscle plexus in the perineal area being weak. And your overweight self may lack the abdominal strength to hold your core in a more cycling friendly position, thus increasing the pressure on your sit bones. If you are having trouble with your old, reliable saddles that you did OK on in the past but now they're not working you've got a dilemma -either wait it out and know that you will tone up down there pretty quickly or you could play around with trying different saddles, angling them differently at slightly different height settings or setback settings. Vetta's Avenir's and Turbo's all sound a bit dated in design to me, more on the soft side. Saddles are a lot better nowadays. I swear by my Turbomatic Team Carbon but other folks might consider it rock hard (even though there are slightly forgiving elastomers under the rails). Specialized, Fizik and Selle Italia, Selle SMP, Cobb, Brooks, all make a range of saddles for all kinds of different bodies and different types of riding. Also, today's bib shorts are way better than what used to be available.