saddle and gloves

[Jay]

> Congrats with your use of the thingy. One point I forgot to mention is that, in general, if you
> move the saddle forwards, you'll have to increase the saddle's height a little (assuming you want
> to keep the same effective saddle height). It's easier than DIY femur-adjustment surgery, IMO.
>
> James
>
Hi James, it was actually set a little too high anyway so moving the saddle forwards has made it
better, my old saddle was quite thin and small whereas this one has more padding making it too high,
or at least it was when it was tilted badly!

Since the purchase of the new saddle forced the purchase of a set of allen keys I can play around to
my hearts content, much to my other halves' amusement, he still thinks I am incapable of putting up
a shelf, despite me having tiled the bathroom, changed the oil and brake fluid in my car and now
tilted my bike seat all on my own!

Jay

 

[James Hodson]

On Thu, 20 Mar 2003 16:37:37 -0000, "Jay"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Since the purchase of the new saddle forced the purchase of a set of allen keys I can play around
>to my hearts content, much to my other halves' amusement, he still thinks I am incapable of putting
>up a shelf, despite me having tiled the bathroom, changed the oil and brake fluid in my car and now
>tilted my bike seat all on my own!
>

Pre script: Sorry in advance for the micky taking that's about to come.

Glad it's sorted. As long as your perch is comfortable that's all that matters.

Incidentally, does your other half want to mow my garden? I use the word "mow" in its loosest sense.
I probably mean deforest. BTW, I need some washing and ironing done, too.

Shelf? Are you referring to one of those vaguely horizontal planky thingies that often falls
off a wall?

<ducks for cover>

Personally, I far prefer a harder saddle as opposed to a gel-style one. About one year ago I visited
my LBS to ask for a replacement saddle for my then new road bike. The staff seemed a bit surprised
that someone would actually want a harder saddle.

James

--
A credit limit is NOT a target.

 

[ChrisW]

Or you could just switch to a recumbent. No more sore bum, no more sore hands, and, surprisingly enough, no more runny nose. Sadly, no more bank balance either.

Chris Walker

Originally posted by David Green
"Jay" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...

> That said, the gel saddle is forcing me to lean forward more then I usually do and I am putting
> more pressure on my hands and specifically the fleshy bit at the bottom of my thumbs. I have seen
> padded gloves with pads in this area, do people recommend these, is there a particular brand I
> should be after and why - or is the story so far making people shout at the computer as I should
> obviously not be using this saddle.

I assume you are using drop handlebars.

Some practical advice:

saddle angle - the top of the saddle should be horizontal. It is certainly not a good idea to tilt
it nose-upwards.

handlebar height - your hands should be roughly the same height as the nose of the saddle (after
you've got that right, for your leg length), or possibly up to 1 inch lower. If you are getting a
lot of weight on your hands, it might well be because the handlebars are too low: try raising them.
(This is easy with a traditional stem, but usually impossible if you have a more fashionable
'threadless headset'. If you have the later, consider replacing your stem with an 'adjustable angle'
type, to get the necessary height for your hands.)

Handlebar angle (drops) - Remember to ride with hands around the brake-lever hoods most of the time.
Unfortunately, some new bikes come with the bars incorrectly rotated forward 15 degrees or so,
making the

the bike shop, and some people (incorrectly) believe that you ride drops with the hands on the lower
parts, but you should ride with hands around the brake-lever hoods most of the time for comfort.
Forward sloping bars will make your hands very uncomfortable, in the way you describe. The top of
the dropped handlebars should be horizontal, leaving the lower parts pointing DOWN towards the rear
axle (ie. a downward slope to the rear of about 30 degrees.)

Let us know how you get on. I'm sure the saddle itself is not to blame.

David Green Cambridge, UK