pepperbelly

On my ‘13 Specialized Roubaix I replaced my Body Geometry Toupe saddle with a Cobb Randee. The old saddle was painful due to, I think, it being too narrow.
The Cobb felt much better. Last fall after I had lost around 75 pounds I put the Specialized saddle back on- mainly because it looks cooler. It still was uncomfortable so I put the Cobb back on.
I didn’t get around to adjusting it due to an arm injury then cold weather. The Cobb is taller than the Specialized so I figured I would need to lower the stem. I had set it pretty much level and about centered forward and back. Basically neutral.
I got on it today for the first time in a couple of months. At first it felt almost too tall-taller than ever before, but my hips didn’t rock when I pedaled. I rode 5 miles and it felt good. It felt like I was lighter on the saddle. I rode in the hoods mostly but in the drops some. No leg strain.
Have I accidentally found the right height?

rando_couche

Stranger things have happened. Ride easy for a couple of weeks and listen very carefully to your knees and legs.

freeranger

Noone but you can tell if you've found the best saddle position for you. When putting a saddle on, I'll take along a wrench and have it handy for a couple of weeks, usually. If something doesn't feel just right, I can stop and make small adjustments, until I find the "sweet spot". If you didn't have to make many adjustments, guess you've found what works. Sometimes we're just lucky!

Iride01 

First time in a couple months? Let us know what it's like after you've ridden three or four rides in less than 10 days!

pepperbelly

Yeah. I strained or tore something in my arm.

Carbonfiberboy 

That's tough. I have found that I can't exist as the human I want to be if I don't do something every day. Doesn't have to be much . ..just stretches, planks and pushups before breakfast is enough to keep me operational though not fit. Injuries are the big bugaboo. You get some little thing like that so then you can't do something and that makes it worse and it's a downhill slide. It's tough. I had cataract surgery on one eye at a time, so 2 weeks in close succession during which I was forbidden to lift more than 20 lbs. or do anything that would make me sweat. So then I got sciatica just from not exercising. Almost got that fixed but wow am I weak. Back at it now. I like to do fast walks as well as cycling coming back from this sort of thing. So walk until the arm is better, like 3 brisk miles every other day and then every day when that gets too easy. You can probably plank just fine. Planking and pushups after stretching every morning go a long way toward injury prevention.

pepperbelly

The arm is better. It doesn’t hurt supporting my weight on the handlebars now. I am just getting back in something resembling shape. It’s just harder to get motivated at 65 than it used to be.

Carbonfiberboy 

OTOH, as we age, fitness becomes even more critical. You ain't seen nuthin' yet. The walker is not as far away as we wish it were. For me, it's fear, always a good motivator.

As long as the arm is good enough, a plank and pushups every morning has been very helpful for me.

pepperbelly

I have ridden several times and so far the height feels good. I may move it forward or back later after I get an idea of where it needs to be to be just right. It’s ok for now.

zandoval 

Bravo... Mark it... Measure it from top of Seat to bottom peddle. Then from the top of your Hoods to the center of your seat. Write it down in your book of measurements. This may be the most important measurement on your bike.

Ya Found It!

pepperbelly

I forgot to measure but I did take pics. I will measure asap.

phughes

I once accidentally found the ideal saddle height for me. I was on a tour, on my Surly LHT. I had gone through all sorts of machinations over a few years trying to get the saddle height right with my B17. It was close, but not perfect. I was initially fitted, but the seat height was definitely too high. I used Steve Hogg's approach to setting seat height, and got it better. I dropped it quite a bit using his method, but something always nagged me that it was still a bit too high, but I resisted. I would get some perineum pain on long days.

One weekend my wife drove out to spend the weekend with me while on tour. I had her bring an old saddle I had that had a cutout. I put it on and rode around the campground and immediately thought, no way! I put the Brooks back on and rode, and it was instant saddle nirvana. I inadvertently installed it a bit lower. I rode all that day and it was amazing. Zero pain, and everything felt good. It didn't matter if I rode 35 miles, or 70. No pain, and I could get up and do it again the next day.

I have kept the saddle at that height, and five years later, I have had no pain, and no more saddle sores. It is just perfect. I should have listened to my gut before that and lowered the saddle a bit, but I was holding onto the vestiges of the ridiculous formulaic methods of setting saddle height. I also noticed that people use the wrong method of setting saddle height when using the heel on the pedal method, placing the pedal arm perpendicular to the ground instead of inline to the seat tube. Inline with the seat tube is actually the bottom of the stroke, and the spot where your leg will be most extended. That position on my bike correlates very closely with my current "accidental" seat position. Had I continued to listen to most fitters, and used all the formulaic methods, I would be still having pain. For that matter, had I continued listening to myself, I would still be having pain. It took a quick haphazard install of my seat and seat post to teach me what the correct seat height is for me, which actually ended up confirming Steve Hogg's method, and the method of other fitters who use a dynamic approach to bike fitting. BikeFitJames is another one who has a great approach to bike fitting.