I've watched about a dozen videos on finding the right saddle fit, and this video is by FAR the best one I've seen. Wonderful explanations and more in-depth than most that I have seen. Now on to the next task - applying what I've learned to find a saddle that works. Thank you!
You can also measure your sitbone width at home! Place a large piece of brown corrugated cardboard on a flat surface, ideally chair height like a flat bench. Sit on it for a few minutes. Rub the side of an unwrapped crayon or piece of chalk over the surface of the cardboard, like you’re making leaf rubbings, and you will see the indentations from your sitbones. Measure the distance between the centers of the indentations and that is your sitbone width 👍
@@LizRideLife I’ll let you know if I find out! I am going for my first bike fitting in a week, thanks to advice from you and others. I so appreciate the advice from female riders specifically, thank you for sharing! :)
Great video and very informative. I recently purchase a Power Comp with MIMIC for myself for my mountain bike. I have 30 days to try it out. I have ridden about 4 times with it. Today I rode and i'm still getting used to it and today i felt like my left side sit bone was a little sore. So i did move around on the seat because maybe i'm not sitting on it properly. Is that something everyone has to figure out? Should I be trying to aim for my labia to be sitting on the hole part of the seat? Thanks!
With any seat you can have a little bit of soreness, the key is that it doesn't linger for multiple days or cause sores. One thing to think about is if you tend to shift your weight toward one side or the other.
which WTB seat do you use? Im on the market for a new seat after realizing mine gives me soreness i keep enduring for some reason! thanks for this video and all the rest! very helpful! i’ve also been wondering if i raised my handlebars just a bit, it might help with my angle…? which sometimes i feel like it forces me to be inclined a little too much, and i get discomfort/soreness in the groin/abdomen area…? but maybe just changing the seat and its angle may be the solution! 😅
Hi, bought the Koda for my wife, didn't work for her. I tried it, with a slight forward tilt, it's great. Got her the Ergon gel ladies. Better than all tried so far, but still not great. Don't think it is the saddle..... Ergon is no. 7
I tried one of these short-nosed so called "Power" saddles. The problem is exactly as you mention: back of the thigh hits the wings of the saddle. There is really no way around this except to go for a narrower version of the saddle (which may still not be narrow enough for some males who have narrower pelvises). If you slide the saddle back, your weight can be too far in the mid line of the saddle, putting pressure on the soft tissue. The hardest thing to know about choosing a saddle is which shape along the three dimensions (t- shaped or v-shaped, longitudinally curved or longitudinally flat and laterally flat or more log-shaped) is right for you. Flexibility, riding style and to some degree sex, may help determine this.
I’m having a horrible issue where I feel I’m sitting on only my vagina like specifically my clitoris… I have gone numb down there and it’s even affected my sexual life. I’ve changed saddle and angles, stems… all with bike fitters. I’m coming to believe it’s my bike frame? I have a tarmac sl6 which is a race bike. I’m thinking it’s too aggressive
Oh no! I hate to hear that. You could be too aggressive and have too far of a reach. What happens when you bring your handle bars up? Did the bike fitters try that?
That's definitely not right. In road bike position (back at 45-60 deg. angle), most of the weight is on the bone (pubic rami) and perhaps a little on the ischial tuberosities (sit bones). Your reach may be too long which is forcing you into too much anterior pelvic rotation. Or you may need a saddle with a larger cut out, given the width of your pelvis. Finally engaging your core a bit more (bring belly button in a bit) may help in transferring more of the weight to the bones. Women are more susceptible to this problem because there are nerves that run along the pubic rami which innervate the areas you mention as being irritated. So you might have relief with the pelvis sitting more upright, or even with your lower back in slight flexion, so as to reduce the pressure on the pubic rami. Increasing the flexibility of the lower back and legs (stretches) may also help you maintain this more comfortable position. Shortening the reach by 2cm as a test (shorter stem) may be a good place to start, before you decide to change the frame. You can also invert the stem which will raise the bars 2cm. It may take 500km of riding to adapt to this new position but you should never have so much compression and pain that causes numbness. Soreness on the glutes is normal and usually goes away after 30 days or with shorter rides.
I've watched about a dozen videos on finding the right saddle fit, and this video is by FAR the best one I've seen. Wonderful explanations and more in-depth than most that I have seen. Now on to the next task - applying what I've learned to find a saddle that works. Thank you!
So glad it was helpful for you and gave you good insight for your goods.
Love your explanations and demonstrations! It really helps make things clear and easy to understand the "why" 🙂
I'm so glad you loved the video! Glad you understand the why "behind" things ;)
You can also measure your sitbone width at home! Place a large piece of brown corrugated cardboard on a flat surface, ideally chair height like a flat bench. Sit on it for a few minutes. Rub the side of an unwrapped crayon or piece of chalk over the surface of the cardboard, like you’re making leaf rubbings, and you will see the indentations from your sitbones. Measure the distance between the centers of the indentations and that is your sitbone width 👍
I feel like you have to add to that an amount as well. But I can't honestly remember
@@LizRideLife I’ll let you know if I find out! I am going for my first bike fitting in a week, thanks to advice from you and others. I so appreciate the advice from female riders specifically, thank you for sharing! :)
This video is super helpful and informative! Thank you for sharing this.
So glad, I hope that it helps you choose the correct saddle
Super informative. Thanks!
Hope it helps your saddle issues
Great video and very informative. I recently purchase a Power Comp with MIMIC for myself for my mountain bike. I have 30 days to try it out. I have ridden about 4 times with it. Today I rode and i'm still getting used to it and today i felt like my left side sit bone was a little sore. So i did move around on the seat because maybe i'm not sitting on it properly. Is that something everyone has to figure out? Should I be trying to aim for my labia to be sitting on the hole part of the seat? Thanks!
With any seat you can have a little bit of soreness, the key is that it doesn't linger for multiple days or cause sores.
One thing to think about is if you tend to shift your weight toward one side or the other.
which WTB seat do you use? Im on the market for a new seat after realizing mine gives me soreness i keep enduring for some reason! thanks for this video and all the rest! very helpful!
i’ve also been wondering if i raised my handlebars just a bit, it might help with my angle…? which sometimes i feel like it forces me to be inclined a little too much, and i get discomfort/soreness in the groin/abdomen area…? but maybe just changing the seat and its angle may be the solution! 😅
IT is the WTB Diva
Hi, bought the Koda for my wife, didn't work for her. I tried it, with a slight forward tilt, it's great.
Got her the Ergon gel ladies. Better than all tried so far, but still not great. Don't think it is the saddle..... Ergon is no. 7
I tried one of these short-nosed so called "Power" saddles. The problem is exactly as you mention: back of the thigh hits the wings of the saddle. There is really no way around this except to go for a narrower version of the saddle (which may still not be narrow enough for some males who have narrower pelvises). If you slide the saddle back, your weight can be too far in the mid line of the saddle, putting pressure on the soft tissue. The hardest thing to know about choosing a saddle is which shape along the three dimensions (t- shaped or v-shaped, longitudinally curved or longitudinally flat and laterally flat or more log-shaped) is right for you. Flexibility, riding style and to some degree sex, may help determine this.
Totally Agreed. It is a frustrating thing
I’m having a horrible issue where I feel I’m sitting on only my vagina like specifically my clitoris… I have gone numb down there and it’s even affected my sexual life. I’ve changed saddle and angles, stems… all with bike fitters. I’m coming to believe it’s my bike frame? I have a tarmac sl6 which is a race bike. I’m thinking it’s too aggressive
Oh no! I hate to hear that. You could be too aggressive and have too far of a reach.
What happens when you bring your handle bars up? Did the bike fitters try that?
I couldn’t ride an aggressive road/tri position without a cutout. Now finding a cutout that works is no joke…but for me that was the ticket.
That's definitely not right. In road bike position (back at 45-60 deg. angle), most of the weight is on the bone (pubic rami) and perhaps a little on the ischial tuberosities (sit bones). Your reach may be too long which is forcing you into too much anterior pelvic rotation. Or you may need a saddle with a larger cut out, given the width of your pelvis. Finally engaging your core a bit more (bring belly button in a bit) may help in transferring more of the weight to the bones. Women are more susceptible to this problem because there are nerves that run along the pubic rami which innervate the areas you mention as being irritated. So you might have relief with the pelvis sitting more upright, or even with your lower back in slight flexion, so as to reduce the pressure on the pubic rami.
Increasing the flexibility of the lower back and legs (stretches) may also help you maintain this more comfortable position. Shortening the reach by 2cm as a test (shorter stem) may be a good place to start, before you decide to change the frame. You can also invert the stem which will raise the bars 2cm. It may take 500km of riding to adapt to this new position but you should never have so much compression and pain that causes numbness. Soreness on the glutes is normal and usually goes away after 30 days or with shorter rides.
My saddle started injuring me no matter the distance.