Is my saddle too wide?
05-23-16, 01:15 PM
#1
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Thread Starter
Is my saddle too wide?
Hello guys and gals,
I recently purchased a saddle for my road bike, the Selle San Marco Era Dynamic. This is the saddle: https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/u.../rp-prod128998
I ordered it online, so did not test it beforehand (stupid, I know, but it was a good deal). Now this is a pretty wide saddle, at 158mm width.
I did some long rides over the last couple of weekends (75km, 100km), and I noticed after a while the saddle caused some chafing on the lower part of my butt cheeks. Where the sides on the back of the saddle would hit my butt on the downward pedal stroke. After my ride the skin there was sore and chafed. Is this normal? Does this mean the saddle is too wide for me?
Also, the saddle feels a bit wide, like I automatically slide forward on it after a while, to rest my butt on the narrower part. Does this indicate a too wide saddle?
I was looking at some narrower saddles now, such as the Fizik Arione. According to the Fizik website, I have a flexible spine, so I'm a "snake" (I can easily reach my toes with my hands), and should get a Fizik Arione that would measure 132mm.. So this is a lot narrower than the one I have now. Would this saddle probably suit me better?
I recently purchased a saddle for my road bike, the Selle San Marco Era Dynamic. This is the saddle: https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/u.../rp-prod128998
I ordered it online, so did not test it beforehand (stupid, I know, but it was a good deal). Now this is a pretty wide saddle, at 158mm width.
I did some long rides over the last couple of weekends (75km, 100km), and I noticed after a while the saddle caused some chafing on the lower part of my butt cheeks. Where the sides on the back of the saddle would hit my butt on the downward pedal stroke. After my ride the skin there was sore and chafed. Is this normal? Does this mean the saddle is too wide for me?
Also, the saddle feels a bit wide, like I automatically slide forward on it after a while, to rest my butt on the narrower part. Does this indicate a too wide saddle?
I was looking at some narrower saddles now, such as the Fizik Arione. According to the Fizik website, I have a flexible spine, so I'm a "snake" (I can easily reach my toes with my hands), and should get a Fizik Arione that would measure 132mm.. So this is a lot narrower than the one I have now. Would this saddle probably suit me better?
05-23-16, 01:20 PM
#2
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the simplest way to know for sure would be to go to your lbs... they have a seat that you sit down on and it will tell you what your sit bones measure... then you know what seat width you need. Takes 5 minutes and then no more guessing.
05-23-16, 06:35 PM
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132mm (much narrower than you have now) to 158mm..seems like a random approach. You can measure your sit bones at home. Place some tinfoil on a hard-padded chair or carpeted stair, sit & measure the distance between the indents. Add (about) 20mm and search for a saddle in that total width.
What color Selle do you have? If it's black & you want to sell it..let me know..
What color Selle do you have? If it's black & you want to sell it..let me know..
05-23-16, 07:48 PM
#5
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Thread Starter
132mm (much narrower than you have now) to 158mm..seems like a random approach. You can measure your sit bones at home. Place some tinfoil on a hard-padded chair or carpeted stair, sit & measure the distance between the indents. Add (about) 20mm and search for a saddle in that total width.
What color Selle do you have? If it's black & you want to sell it..let me know..
What color Selle do you have? If it's black & you want to sell it..let me know..
Its black. Yeah I'm thinking of selling it, sent you a PM.
05-24-16, 04:25 AM
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05-24-16, 10:34 AM
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I like a wide saddle of about 155mm. Regardless of the saddle width, even ones only 140mm wide, if the saddle is somewhat Vee shaped so that it is wide toward the front tip, I get chafing. I look for saddles that have more of a Tee shape that taper down to a narrow front part and even then tend to get chafing. My solution is to customize the saddle by heating in the area that causes chafing using a heat gun to soften the plastic and then pinch that part narrower.
