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A delicate subject...

I've just got a lovely new road bike which I've set up pretty much exactly the same as my old bike.
However....after a couple of hours on it it feels like somebody has booted me somewhere you really don't want booted!
Has anybody any suggestions what I should try? Roll the seat forward on the rails, put the seat down a smidge?
Any advice very, very gratefully received! I can't be the first person this has happened to  37

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15 comments

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slowclimb | 9 years ago
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To resurrect this one....
Yep you were all right the new saddle was rubbish! I changed back to my old Specialized Toupe and it is much better, I have managed to give myself a bit of groin strain using the one the bike came with though  2
Reason for posting again is that the Toupe is a bit battered and looks rubbish on what is a shiny new bike, I was looking at just getting another as I know I get on okay with them but I've been having a look around and like the look of the Fiziks.
A mate recommended the good Prologo ones the Nack Evo etc, is there any other saddles people would recommend looking at?

the bike came with a Prologo Kappa Evo which has a pretty wide flat platform which I didnt get on with one bit. I think I'll eBay it though and put what I get towards something else.

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pants | 9 years ago
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it will take you minutes to try your old saddle on your new bike just to see if it's the new saddle causing you pain.

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redmeat | 9 years ago
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I found tipping the nose of the saddle down ever so slightly solved this issue for me.

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slowclimb | 9 years ago
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Yeah its within 1cm though.
Without wanting to go into too much detail  21
The pain is all to one side, the same side as my hip aches a bit, so I think my hips may be rocking a bit too much. I think I need to re-check the saddle height.
The next size up frame was way too big anyway so I think its just going to take a bit of jiggery pokery.

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therevokid | 9 years ago
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If the saddle to bars drop is more on the new one then I'd put money on that
being your problem as you pelvis will be rotating farther. Can you lift the bars
to the "old bike" height ??

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slowclimb | 9 years ago
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I was getting a bit of gyp in my right hip too so I'm not convinced the saddle height isn't maybe out a tiny bit, I'm going to check it tonight.
The seat tube is a bit shorter than my last bike so the drop is a tiny bit more which may explain it to an extent too. The top tube is 5mm shorter too though so that should counterbalance that a bit too?

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Shanefutcher | 9 years ago
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I have 2 bikes and spent ages matchimg them up.saddle height/angle length etc then reach to bars.ideally the saddle should be the same on both bikes.i asked my wife to measure the width between sit bones to get right width

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notfastenough | 9 years ago
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I'm not so sure. A suitable (for you) saddle should feel good from the off, unless it's something like a brooks as mentioned above. I'm all for hardening up and riding the bike, but life, and your chances of having kids, are too short-lived for sore bollocks.

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slowclimb | 9 years ago
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Cheers chaps, just took a load of measurements and it is set up exactly the same as my old bike. The saddle is the same width, maybe a bit of a different profile.
I think you are right though, I think I may just need to htfu  1

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notfastenough | 9 years ago
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Check that the saddle is the right width for your sitbones. Many manufacturers do a range of three in differing widths.

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arfa | 9 years ago
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Raise the under carriage before placing your weight on the seat  3

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Derny | 9 years ago
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Your question is hard to answer without seeing you on the bikes. You may just need to ride on the new saddle more, to get used to it. Or you may have changed your positioning (such as leg extension, or reach from saddle to bars, or the angle of your pelvis in relation to the saddle) in a way which results in pain. Or the new saddle may just be a bad choice for you. I suggest using a tape measure to figure out how different your positioning is on each bike. Try to make the new one like the old one, as a starting point.

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slowclimb | 9 years ago
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Na I've not moved the saddle over, my old saddle was a bit done in.
And more importantly the new saddle is colour coordinated with the new bike  1

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levermonkey replied to slowclimb | 9 years ago
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slowclimb wrote:

Na I've not moved the saddle over, my old saddle was a bit done in.
And more importantly the new saddle is colour coordinated with the new bike  1

A-Ha! This might be the root of the problem. If the old saddle was 'done in' then would it be safe to assume it was a few years old? Chances are that it's not the same make/model of seat and if it is the same model then it may not be identical to your old one. You may have to change the saddle.

Another possibility is that your backside and the seat have just worn into and adjusted to each other in just the same way that your favourite armchair becomes part of you over time, conforming to all your lumps and bumps or those old trainers that you know should be in the bin but are just 'so comfortable'. If this is your predicament then I'm sorry but the answer is simply harden-up and ride the b******d into submission. Ask anyone who has ever owned a Brooks saddle. Once you've broken it in then it's a friend for life but it's a painful process.

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giobox | 9 years ago
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Did you carry your old saddle over to the new bike? Hard to tell if its just positioning issues without knowing if it's a new saddle too.

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