grantelmwood

During my ride, I notice I am slid forward on the thin part of the seat.
When I push myself backwards, to the wider back part of the seat, it feels much better.

Should I always be sitting on the rear part of the seat, by default?
Am I doing something wrong to allow myself to slide forward like that?
Or is adjusting backwards at regular intervals considered normal?

rsbob 

Is your seat perfectly level? Typically if it is nose-down a bit, one slides forward. Some prefer a little nose-down, but too much could be your issue

grantelmwood

I will verify nose down status

_ForceD_

Also…maybe you need to slide the seat forward a bit on its rails.

Dan

RCMoeur 

I presume we've been through the basics such as "Are the rails on the top or the bottom?" and "Is the wide part of the saddle toward the front or rear?"

In my experience, sliding forward on the saddle is sometimes a function of the nose being too low, as rsbob mentions. It could also be that the handlebar reach is a bit long for your arm-torso combination, resulting in unconscious forward-sliding to compensate. To correct that you could move the saddle forward on the rails as _ForceD_ mentioned, but be aware this can adversely affect your position with respect to the cranks (unless you're currently too far back in which case it could correct it.)

I'm not a user of professional fitting myself, as after 40+ years my body has become very adept at telling me subtly if a fit item is off (just this morning, raising the saddle 0.2" on one of my bikes eliminated minor knee pain). But if you have no baseline experience with fit, it could help. Others who have been fitted say it improved their riding (along with a few who said it was a waste of their time & money.)

Iride01 

Looks like you have the saddle all the way back in the clamp. Move the clamp more to the center of the rails and as another person said, make it level with no tilt going down. If your saddle has a rise in the rear of it, then ignore it for leveling purposes.

Usually sliding is more about you being told where your butt should be positioned over the BB as your exert force on the pedals. There are some other things to consider, but you need to find that position first and then work out your other issues afterward. Though you first need to find out if you even have the correct saddle height, which is pretty much numero uno for you to determine.

indyfabz

Patient: it hurts when I stick my hand in the campfire.

Doctor: So, don’t stick your hand in the campfire.

Mtracer

I agree with others, to try moving the saddle forward and/or bringing the nose of the saddle up.

veganbikes

If you want to improve your cycling experience then find a good fitter and get a bike fit. You will be happy. Ideally look for someone who does a dynamic fit where they are making adjustments as you ride and optimizing your comfort. Bike fits are literally for EVERYONE. If you ride a bike more than once a year or want to ride your bike more than once a year a bike fit is well worth it. I thought I was decently comfortable on my road bike and after the fit I felt so much better, it was absolutely amazing the transformation and there were things I would not have thought about or maybe even known had it not been for my fitter. You don't have to race, you don't have to a have a road bike, you don't need to be riding every single day or anything like that.

noimagination

This is not intended to contradict in any way the advice from posters above.

I find that I move around on the saddle during a ride. If I'm spinning at a high cadence with lower resistance, I tend to be more forward on the saddle. If I'm pushing a bigger gear at a lower cadence, I tend to be more towards the rear of the saddle.

Maelochs

I disagree bike fits are for everyone. A lot of people have enough experience that bike fits would be a waste of money .... particularly if they own multiple bikes.

If you are seeking an extra few percentage points of power or efficiency, if you have some physical condition which makes cycling uncomfortable (different length, legs, joint issues seem to be prominent here) than getting a bike fit might help.

A good bike fitter will attach sensors to you and track them by video, or just video you riding form several positions .... but will they video you again after you have spent a week with your new set-up? Sure, for another $300-$500 ..... and a good fitter can do things like adding shims under your cleats and such and making other minute adjustments to perfectly tune your body to that bike---in that specific riding position.

If you are like me, a person whose health and schedule sometimes keeps him off the bike, then your "best" position is going to change constantly because your fitness levels and flexibility will, likewise, change constantly ... so your expensive bike fit will be worthless three weeks later.

If you want to drop a few or several hundred dollars on a pro fit ... go ahead. If the fitter is good, s/he might make some improvements---actual improvements which will improve your entire riding experience. Depends on the fitter and how well s/he communicates.

I recommend instead, going on line---and not just here---to learn as much as you can about the various schools of thought concerning bike fit. There is also a whole forum here. I'd post the question there (if you have not already) and see what they say.

I am intrigued by this issue because I have the same issue on my "favorite" bike ... I am not completely willing to move the saddle yet because I know that my leg strength and core strength have dropped due to time off the bike (health issues) and I want to see how the set-up works when I am back on track ... but I am pretty sure I will move my saddle forward a tiny bit.

When your saddle is set right, the ischial loops will support your weight on the wider part of the saddle (depending on how wide your pelvis might be. The saddle should be pretty level ... if the nose causes pressure you might need to drop it a Tiny bit ... or you might be leaning too far forwards, tilting your pelvis too much, and leaning on things you shouldn't. Also, if the seat tilts too much you will naturally slide.

Remember (at least, I try to) that we shouldn't really be sitting on the saddle ... our legs should be bearing most of the weight. As I tire and sit more on the saddle I get discomfort because the pressure is concentrated on small areas. Also, if you are reaching too far or your hips too tilted, you will need to push back off the pedals, so when you tire, you will slide worse.

I find bike fit constantly changes .... if you don't carry a multi tool, at least figure out which Allen wrenches you need to make on-the-spot adjustments. Try riding several times on each new adjustment, and make further adjustments as needed.

If, after having learned all you can learn and doing everything you can do, you still cannot get it right .... drop the $300-$500 on a pro fit. But be warned ... you might feel uncomfortable on the bike afterwards, just in different ways.

The only times I have ever been really comfortable on my bikes is when I have been riding a lot, so my body works well with the bikes. There is no substitute for miles ion the saddle. of course, I would always make minute adjustments, even when really fit, to really dial in all my contact points, but ...

When I am not fit I am mostly feeling the results of my body trying to compensate for weakness--- I sit too much on the saddle, lean to hard on the bars, etc., to try to ease the tired portions, and then the other parts start to hurt, too. Nothing but miles---habituation--will really habituate your body to balancing on the balls of your feet, the palms of your hands, and that tiny little part of your buttocks, for any period of time.

IMO.

grantelmwood

You clearly know nothing bout bike fitting.
Try looking it up. it's a thing. Good luck!

grantelmwood

Can a seat like this adjust the nose up and down/?

shelbyfv

FIFY

The adjustment is in the seatpost. This should be obvious to anyone who bothered to look at the assembly.

79pmooney

Or, you could be riding like many racers, using the entire seat depending on what you are doing at the moment. I spend a lot of time in "the spot". But I also push right to the back to power climb up hills. Perch on the nose going hard on the flat and sometimes uphill. I use every inch of real estate on my saddles and frequently wish they were longer. (I won't ride a traditional leather saddle because at both ends I would be sitting on hard leather and steel. Spent several years commuting on a very nice leather seat. When that bike got stolen, I said "Thank you". And I am speaking blasphemy in many's eye's.)

Chuck M 

Yet you are the one in an internet forum asking about what part of a seat to put your ass on. He was making a joke and I'd wager he has his bike set up jut fine.

smd4

This is a serious question?

Paul Barnard

Have you tried removing the seat altogether? You should stay pretty well anchored in place that way.

Koyote

I've had many problems with bikes, but figuring out where to put my ass has never been one of them.

mstateglfr 

Assuming the seatpost you use is able to adjust saddle angle, yes the saddle you are asking about could point up or down.
I wont speak in absolutes, but I have yet to see a seatpost that cant adjust.

Maelochs

Reassemble the seat clamp as best you can without the saddle and photograph that.

Chuck Naill

Over the years I have looked at the seat angle when members post there rides here. Often, I am surprised at the angle back positions that people use, but the point is, they have found what works for them, and that is a good thing. My Brook is slightly, almost unnoticeably angled nose up. My seat height is optimal for needing to dismount for stop signs and such. Like someone said, and what I did, carry a tool and make adjustments based on your riding habits. I like my sits bones on the wide part of the saddle.

mstateglfr 

Brooks leather B17 style saddles are meant to point nose up. The closer it looks to a proctology instrument, the better. Its a goofy design, but its feverishly loved by many, so to each their own. Bikes with a properly angled leather hammock style saddle always look goofy because the nose is up like 30 degrees.

Now when a traditional designed saddle is nose up?...I just assume that is ignorance more than anything else, and I hope they decide to fiddle around with things before they quit the activity out of pain and frustration.

Then when a traditional designed saddle is nose down?...well that is equally mindblowing because I cant imagine why anyone would want to constantly push back with their arms to keep their butt from sliding forward. Some people swear by it and say it gives them more power and they dont slide forward. Ok then, their velcro bibs apparently lock them in and there is no sliding forward. Odd, but if they know its untraditional and choose to stick with it, they likely tried a level saddle first so again- to each their own.

livedarklions

I have it on reliable authority it isn't where you put your holes in the ground.

indyfabz

If that photo is any indication of what a BMC looks like, it’s nursery school.