Best seat

On Sun, 15 Jun 2008 22:08:14 +0100

Topref said:

I need a new seat on my run-of-the-mill Dawes One-Track bike as I
intend doing quite a few miles in the next few months to help shed
the pounds. Can somone suggest a comfortable alternative to the one
that hurts my back-side at the moment?

It's such a personal thing that you really need to try for yourself -
what suits one person's anatomy can be totally unsuitable for someone
else. There are a few things to bear in mind, though:

Everyone will have a bit of a numb bum until they get enough saddle
miles to tone up a bit.

Discomfort can be caused by poor bike setup as much as a bad saddle -
the top of the saddle should be pretty much horizontal, its height
is fairly crucial too.

Wider softer saddles often aren't as comfortable in the long run as
narrower firmer ones.

Rob Morley said:

On Sun, 15 Jun 2008 22:08:14 +0100

Topref said:

I need a new seat on my run-of-the-mill Dawes One-Track bike as I
intend doing quite a few miles in the next few months to help shed
the pounds. Can somone suggest a comfortable alternative to the one
that hurts my back-side at the moment?

It's such a personal thing that you really need to try for yourself -
what suits one person's anatomy can be totally unsuitable for someone
else. There are a few things to bear in mind, though:

Everyone will have a bit of a numb bum until they get enough saddle
miles to tone up a bit.

Discomfort can be caused by poor bike setup as much as a bad saddle -
the top of the saddle should be pretty much horizontal, its height
is fairly crucial too.

Wider softer saddles often aren't as comfortable in the long run as
narrower firmer ones.

Agreed about soft saddles. BUT, saddle width is important, and its related
to the position of "sit" bones in backside. The width of sit bones is not
that closely related to bodysize. Mine are quite wide for a male, yet I am
really skinny.

Specialized dealers have a bit of memory-foam to work out sit bone width.
They use it to recommend saddles from their range, but armed with knowledge
about which Specialized saddle might fit and a tape measure, you can apply
the knowledge to any maker.

Other thing is to minimise road "buzz". Aluminium frame and aluminium post
strikes me as a bad combination. I put a titanium seat post on the best
bike and that killed a lot of road buzz. Carbon posts might also be
similarly effective, if the frame is suited to a carbon post (watch for
scratching or stress points which could weaken a carbon post).

--
Nigel Cliffe,
Webmaster at http://www.2mm.org.uk/

On Mon, 16 Jun 2008 08:50:20 +0100

Nigel Cliffe said:

Agreed about soft saddles. BUT, saddle width is important, and its
related to the position of "sit" bones in backside. The width of sit
bones is not that closely related to bodysize. Mine are quite wide
for a male, yet I am really skinny.

Cor, look at the ischial tuberosities on that. :-)

Topref said:

I need a new seat on my run-of-the-mill Dawes One-Track bike as I intend
doing quite a few miles in the next few months to help shed the pounds.
Can somone suggest a comfortable alternative to the one that hurts my
back-side at the moment?

Brooks B17.

Duncan Smith said:

Topref said:

I need a new seat on my run-of-the-mill Dawes One-Track bike as I
intend doing quite a few miles in the next few months to help shed
the pounds. Can somone suggest a comfortable alternative to the one
that hurts my back-side at the moment?

Brooks B17.

I refer to the earlier posts about picking a saddle suited to one's backside
shape.

B17's are too narrow for me.
(Anyone want to buy a B17 with springs, I forget the model name, or swap for
a B66/67).

--
Nigel Cliffe,
Webmaster at http://www.2mm.org.uk/

"Nigel Cliffe" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

(Anyone want to buy a B17 with springs, I forget the model name, or swap
for a B66/67).

Very tempting but then I'd have to buy a bike to fit the saddle ;-)

Topref writtificated

Quoted message said:

I need a new seat on my run-of-the-mill Dawes One-Track bike as I intend
doing quite a few miles in the next few months to help shed the pounds.
Can somone suggest a comfortable alternative to the one that hurts my
back-side at the moment?

<www.sheldonbrown.com/saddles.html>

This will tell you all you need to know.

Alan Braggins said:

In article said:

B17's are too narrow for me.
(Anyone want to buy a B17 with springs, I forget the model name

Flyer? http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/saddles/brooks-flyer.html
How much are you asking for it?

That's the one.
Its a hardly used "pre aged" example, which I think is ~£50-60 in shops, I'd
take about £35, but its bulky and a fair weight, so postage might scupper a
long range deal.
Would rather swap for similar condition B66/67 which should fit me better.

--
Nigel Cliffe,
Webmaster at http://www.2mm.org.uk/

On 16/06/2008 20:23, vernon said,

Quoted message said:

Very tempting but then I'd have to buy a bike to fit the saddle ;-)

And the problem is......????? ;-)

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

Nigel Cliffe said:

Rob Morley said:

On Sun, 15 Jun 2008 22:08:14 +0100
Topref <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I need a new seat on my run-of-the-mill Dawes One-Track bike as I
intend doing quite a few miles in the next few months to help shed
the pounds. Can somone suggest a comfortable alternative to the one
that hurts my back-side at the moment?

Quoted message said:

It's such a personal thing that you really need to try for yourself -
what suits one person's anatomy can be totally unsuitable for someone
else.  There are a few things to bear in mind, though:

Quoted message said:

Everyone will have a bit of a numb bum until they get enough saddle
miles to tone up a bit.

Quoted message said:

Discomfort can be caused by poor bike setup as much as a bad saddle -
the top of the saddle should be pretty much horizontal, its height
is fairly crucial too.

Quoted message said:

Wider softer saddles often aren't as comfortable in the long run as
narrower firmer ones.

Agreed about soft saddles.  BUT, saddle width is important, and its related
to the position of "sit" bones in backside. The width of sit bones is not
that closely related to bodysize. Mine are quite wide for a male, yet I am
really skinny.

Same for me. Do you have any problems getting shorts with wide enough
padding? I realised some new shorts were uncomfortable because I was
right on the edge of the padding, so with the help of a couple of LBS,
I looked at the padding in lots of shorts and discovered most of them
weren't really wide enough, one or two were just adequate. At the
moment I'm comtemplating mutilating a gel saddle cover to give me
padding in the right place and not in the wrong place. The result is
likely to look horrible though.

Rob

Quoted message said:

Nigel Cliffe said:

Rob Morley said:

On Sun, 15 Jun 2008 22:08:14 +0100
Topref <[email hidden]> wrote:

Agreed about soft saddles. BUT, saddle width is important, and its
related to the position of "sit" bones in backside. The width of sit
bones is not that closely related to bodysize. Mine are quite wide
for a male, yet I am really skinny.

Same for me. Do you have any problems getting shorts with wide enough
padding?

No, I'm fine on shorts.
Suggestion; ask one of the few UK makers (eg. Corinne Dennis ?) if they
could supply you with wider pads ? Might be worth trying those they fit to
either larger sizes or to womens ranges.

- Nigel

--
Nigel Cliffe,
Webmaster at http://www.2mm.org.uk/