Hi Guys,
I have an s-bend aerobar, which I’ve had for years. No matter what saddle I have, it’s height, or what tilt it is on, or how I position it for/aft, I constantly slide to the nose. However, I am more comfortable on the middle of the seat, rather than the nose. When I ride on my road bike (same saddle) I gravitate more to that area, and as a result, more comfort. Question is, could the s-bend aerobar and the inevitable choking up position it allows, be contributing to this? I notice a lot of people now have moved on from the s-bend fad into more ergonomic (cobb style) extensions. For those of you that have experience the change, have you noticed a different preference in the way you like to sit (particularly more to the rear)? When ever I *imagine *riding in this position when I ride, and invisioning somewhat pushing off the extensions (as in the case with road bike shifters) as opposed to pulling on the s-bends, it seems that my position that my body wants is more posterior. I know this is a loaded question with many variables, but for those of you who kind of understand what I am talking about, help would be appreciated immensely.
Note: I don’t have a super agressive position, my hammys are somewhat flexible, and I even recently tried raising my aerobars. Still I gravitate towards the nose, and still it feels uncomfortable. I have tried different saddles recently too (trust me), and it doesn’t matter.
Thanks for your help,
Chris
just a thought;
is the back end of your seat kinda’ wide, such that the back of your legs/butt are pushing against it with each pedal stroke- inching you forward? Perhaps a different seat geometry would help.
Sounds like it may actually be a position issue. When you are riding aero your hips are going to gravitate to a different position relative to the bottom bracket. Going significantly steeper seat angle may put the seat where your hips actually want to be. Another consideration is how much reach you have to your elbow pads and then to the extensions. This could also be causing your body to constantly slide firward to get the reach where it needs to be - shorter stem or adjusting your pads back could help. So you could continue to tinker around yourself or find a good fitter that is experienced with triathletes.
I had the same sliding problem. I have s-bends also. Bought an Adamo (Road) and it helped a lot. I also feel the like the s-bend allows more sliding forward, more use of my shoulder muscles to stay centered and a small loss of efficiency when pounding up a slight hill. I may go to the Cobb ski-tips next season if things continue.
Not too wide. It is the Fizik Arione Tri 2. 132.5 I think. All the narrower saddles seem to be significantly harder. My arse is comfortable in the aero position back in the saddle (middle), but it never stays there. I could change the aerobar reach, but, when I had the bars closer, I would always gravitate further forward on the bars, so I moved the bars further away. This has always been an issue though, even when the bars was closer. Arrrrrrggghhhh. Thanks for the help. Your point is interesting, and I’ve thought that could be the issue too. I have actually tried a Cobb SHC 170, which is 130. Weirdly, it felt wider than the fizik, and I think this is because it gets wider quicker (so the middle is actually wider).