An odd question, I know. But I was on my LeMond trainer this evening – as it’s the first time I’ve been on a static trainer for a while I thought I’d shuffle about in the saddle a bit and see if I could identify what makes me comfortable or uncomfortable, and what applies or relieves pressure.
I was on the Antares saddle pictured above, on which I have always had positioned and sat on it where feels most natural. However, when I moved my ‘sit bones’ backwards – i.e. more over the widest parts of the saddle – I found a significant relief in the pressure that causes me the most numbness normally.
Now, I’ve always just sat on a saddle where it felt right to sit, and some saddles seem to encourage you to ‘land’ in a particular location (my Superleggera for example – it’s difficult to sit anywhere other than where the shape of the saddle naturally makes you). This discovery this evening has made me question whether I should be encouraging myself to sit differently, and whether in doing so I might relieve the issue that has bugged me for so long…
I know I always ask for comments on these things, but this time I really mean it – am I doing it wrong?!
2 thoughts on “Am I Sitting Wrong?…”
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Rich, as you know i’m playing with the seating position on both the TT and road bike. But I can fully relate to where you’re coming from on this subject of where to sit. What raised the question was what width of saddle to opt for when replacing the Fizik Arione. I’d never perviously thought about width, a saddle either worked or didn’t. I’m now trying my saddles much further forward forcing me onto my sit bones more. It’s certainly provided a change with me feeling the pain on the sitbones, but has taken the pressure off the other areas. I’ve been told the sitbones will soon toughen up and a repeat of the 100m in Surrey on Sat shouldn’t provide any seating issue.
Rich,
I think part of the advantage of the Antares is that its relatively flat shape encourages you to move around on the saddle. I’ve always done so, partially as a response to riding conditions (climbing, vs. riding in the drops) but also to mix up the pressure points to alleviate any discomfort. So, yes, don’t hesitate to move around!!