FWIW.
Quote:
i had a new seat selle SMP. i like it's curves and design and so i bought it. since the day one which was two months ago i have been trying to adjust to the pain/discomfort it caused me. the seat is designed with a hole in the middle which means it is separated by two pieces of metal in the middle. now my left groin the bone under is seating on the metal and causing me pain. so i am thinking how to adjust the seat or what should i do.
There are a lot of reasons that a saddle will be uncomfortable ...
BUT, FWIW, I think that the principle reasons that some people (but, this is
not true in all cases) find some saddles to be uncomfortable is because of:
- saddle height
- saddle orientation (i.e., tilt)
AND
- where the person is sitting on the saddle
The first change that you (
stevechow) may want to do is to LOWER the saddle height by 1/4" ... that's an arbitrary amount, and you may eventually need to lower the saddle more, or less.
IMO, the mid-section of the saddle as viewed from the side should be parallel to the ground. That is, the nose should not be pointed upward & masochistically pressed into ones crotch UNLESS
that is something they are in to!?!
With the understanding that "designers" will often design a product to accomodate the "market" demands, it is important to realize that a rider should not (as noted by
kdelong) be "sitting on parts of the saddle that were not designed to be sat on" OR to put it another way, the correct place to sit on a saddle (yes, there is a correct place) is on the rear of the saddle ... not the middle AND not the nose (unless you are riding on a TT bike-and-saddle) ...
WHERE a person sits on the rear of the saddle can have an impact on how the saddle feels to a person's butt ...
By my reckoning, the curve-and-ridge on the rear of an SMP saddle ([COLOR= #808080]which appears to be
more-or-less modeled after the contour of the original (vs. Lite) San Marco Concor[/COLOR]) are
not meant to cup the cheeks but rather the ridge is meant to be the
backstop against which your sit bones rest ...
If you can't get that SMP saddle to work for you, then consider either a "standard" or "narrow" BROOK B17 saddle -- it's the preferred choice of long distance riders.
The "narrow" B17 is wider than most contemporary saddles, and the "standard" B17 is even wider ...
With a BROOKS saddle ([COLOR= #808080]and, most leather saddles[/COLOR]), you will need to lower the seatpost because the distance between the rails to the top of the saddle is greater on most leather saddles than on most contemporary saddles ...
The rails of a leather saddle should be set parallel to the ground (at least, initially).
A BROOKS saddle is
porky ... about a Pound in weight ... but, what price comfort?
Anyway, to repeat my first suggestion ...
- try lowering your seatpost and, subsequently, the saddle's height ...
- and, sit on the rear of the saddle.
Good luck.
