turtletop

I've been struggling with this all summer. Last year I had it pretty much perfect, the seat and arms. My seat was comfortble and and my hands had hardly any weight on them.

I had a little improvement yesterday. I had a very slight forward slant of the seat to forward and got it to more level. I just couldn't get comfortable in the position it was in. There was too much presure in the crotch area for one.

It's logical to just keep trying and adjusting I'm sure, but do you have any advice? Thank you. I've changed height, for and aft, and angle of seat.

HillRider

What style of bike and what type of handlebars do you have? Drop bars and upright bars usually require different body positions. Have you changed anything else on the bike since last year when you say you were comfortable?

dbg

Seat type and positioning is such a personal preference issue --it's hard to give advice. When I find a comfortable position (determined usually on a long ride or multi-day tour), I measure that bike's distance from tip of seat to center of handlebar. All subsequent builds get that value as a starting point with seat about an inch above the handlebars. From there I vary seat height depending on what gets sore (hands or butt), and seat angle based on what's comfortable for both "riding drops" and "sitting up no-handed." The only advice I can give is to make very small adjustments as you tweak.

cny-bikeman

Too many variables to address without more info as requested by Hillrider, but one thing that will increase discomfort in both seat and bars is tilting the saddle nose too far down. The default starting position is nose and tail level with each other. Tilt, fore-aft and height are the saddle variables, reach and height relative to saddle and bar width are the stem/bar variables.

fietsbob

Learn to keep your hips upright, bend forward just with your spine.

loimpact

Or the exact opposite based on the latest ideaology. (hips tilted forward to sit further forward on sit bones, causing a more straight back position and open chest for less strain on the back and a more compliant position for the neck)

I try not to think about it too much cuz it's like coffee.....it changes every day. Up, down, good, bad.....I just try to get stronger in a neutral position.

(shrug)

fietsbob

Racer like Go-fast (maybe) posture , quadruped like bent down low , and normal transportation cyclists are on 2 divergent paths.

Different Goals , and shop for different things..

turtletop

would that be arching your back?

cny-bikeman

I have not looked up the biomechanical aspect, but I have noticed some riders ride with a more curved (downward arched) back and some ride with a straighter back. I've always been in the latter group, but I've seen both styles in both casual and racing situations.

davidad

What kind of saddle?

Willbird

I have always been happiest with the saddle pretty much dead level, if the nose tilts down IMHO it puts more pressure on my hands and arms because it feels like I have to keep shoving myself back onto the saddle.

I had to LOL when I was looking over a health benefits brochure for work, they had this picture of a bicycle in there.



This looks like the same guy riding it (Is that the Feed Zone author?)



Never seen a guy so happy to have his testicles crushed hehe. Might not be the same bike .....

fietsbob

You can always hang all that junk off to one side .