I have a road bike, but I use aero extensions mounted on standard drop bars for comfort on longer rides. Unfortunately, I can’t get real comfort on my saddle while resting on the extensions.
The Selle Italia SLR 135 that came with the bike is good for about 30 minutes before numbness starts to set in. Tried a Romin Expert 143, and there was less numbness, but I was moderately uncomfortable during the whole ride. Tried a Rido Lt, and it was better as long as I stayed on the hoods or drops, but when tucked, the pressure all went onto the soft tissue.
Is an Adamo the next step? Getting frustrated that the saddle is ruining my long distance rides.
Hi there, that can be a frustrating problem. Have you tried Cobb saddles? They have a wide selection and are very helpful in choosing what is right for you. The new JOF could be good or the gen2 http://www.cobbcycling.com/shop/roadsaddles/gen2
Message me if you are interested or have questions. I have a discount code you can use.
I used an adamo prologue with the same setup as you (Clip on Aero Bars on a road bike). To make it work was a compromise for both positions. I had to angle the tip down more than I did with my road position I also had to slide the saddle forward. No numbness or tingling with this seat at all.
The right saddle with the wrong fitting will always be the wrong seat. Aero bars require a different fitting from traditional road bike to be used properly.
I am really surprised I don’t see this recommended more often on this forum.
When you are using a properly sized road bike and put aero bars onto your road position fitting the aero bars are way to far away to be used properly.
With all of my triathlon clients we use two seats and two seat posts for the 1 bike with aero and standard fitting.
Keep the normal road saddle you like setup with your proper bike fitting.
Then purchase a aero position saddle you like and a Profile design fast forward seat post and have a aero fitting done.
When you are doing a TT or Areo position ride use your Aero post, when you are doing a group ride or just a long base ride use your traditional post.
Here is a example i did for a client last week.
Carbon Fast Forward and Aluminum Fast Forward
I have been looking for a full writeup on why you should not use aero bars with a normal road fitting but have been unable to locate one. I guess I will have to write myself.
I have a Cannondale Competition seatpost that can be turned forward-facing. Tried that, but felt really off-balance (too far forward) and my shoulders started hurting, so I changed it back.
In the meantime, I picked up a Cobb Plus and have put a few rides on it. Unfortunately, I’m experiencing numbness with it. I’ll try tilting it down a bit and see if that helps, but I wonder if the wider Max would hit me differently.
That’s a joke, right? I certainly wouldn’t admit to that in my fit portfolio and it looks as if it was done just to sell more kit. I’ve seen more aero positions on a penny-farthing.
The use of a Sitero with that fit just makes me laugh.
That’s a joke, right? I certainly wouldn’t admit to that in my fit portfolio and it looks as if it was done just to sell more kit. I’ve seen more aero positions on a penny-farthing.
The use of a Sitero with that fit just makes me laugh.
What makes a fit aero in your your fit portfolio… you know absolutely nothing about this customer his age, his race length, and his flexibility.
Without this information saying a fit is not aero is pretty much talking out of your ass.
Some fits the customer wants comfort over it as well.
This specific customer did finish first in his age class today in a Olympic distance. So it was aero enough to win today.
Perhaps I was being unfair as I haven’t seen the chap, but if he is in the realm of typical morphology he’s about as aero as a brick. If anything he’s just strong (and perhaps a fantastic swimmer or runner). His placing means little when you consider the amount of permutations of races/locations/age groups available.
Anyway, back to the OP.
Saddles are very personal and it takes a lot of trial and error to find the one that’s right for you (and once you do you don’t give it up easily). In most cases adding aero bars to your road bike shouldn’t require an real adjustment of the saddle. Any sort of hip rotation whilst on the aero should be very similar to what you’d experience on the drops (this is due to the pad height increasing stack). What you may need to do is move the pads back a bit and perhaps tilt them up so that you don’t feel as though you’re overly weighting your torso. As others have suggested, a stubby saddle could be a solution, but without seeing your fit it’s difficult to pinpoint.
I don’t know if this will help, but here are a few pictures with me on the bike with the Rido mounted forward facing (the setup that was not comfortable).
Here is the Rido mounted on the seatpost rear facing and was more comfortable in my arms/shoulders.
I did 40+ miles with the Cobb Plus yesterday with it tilted down slightly, and had more discomfort than numbness. Not sure that is really the trade-off I was looking for.
Not to just defend my seat but in this case most any saddle you put on this bike, your saddle is at least 2cm too high. The seat post needs to be turned around, it looks like a Thompson so it is reversible, so that the saddle is more forward. And then you need a stem that is at least 2cm shorter. When a rider is very stretched out the way you are, it puts a lot of pressure on the front of your crotch, work on these basics and then you can fine tune the bike but I think the saddles will all be more comfortable for you.
I remember reading a through article Dan wrote about this in context to Gomez, Brownlees ect. not using clip bars in ITU races. Essentially theirs fits are optimized for a road position where they have to spend most of their time and using clips would actually put them in a sub-optimal position. I can’t seem to find that article but Dan has written about the topic numerous times in context to seat choice here: http://www.slowtwitch.com/Products/Saddles/Saddle_Theory_Part_II_2507.html
(Parts 1 and 3 are also good.) and more general fit here:http://www.slowtwitch.com/...bar_forward_891.html
and here http://www.slowtwitch.com/...al_problems_436.html
Moral of the story as you have already said it are going to struggle to find a setup that is ideal riding on both the clips and the hoods at the same time.
Not to just defend my seat but in this case most any saddle you put on this bike, your saddle is at least 2cm too high. The seat post needs to be turned around, it looks like a Thompson so it is reversible, so that the saddle is more forward. And then you need a stem that is at least 2cm shorter. When a rider is very stretched out the way you are, it puts a lot of pressure on the front of your crotch, work on these basics and then you can fine tune the bike but I think the saddles will all be more comfortable for you.
This.
Your frame certainly looks too big. I’m surprised that your knees haven’t been giving you grief with the saddle that high and your hips must rock like you’re in Salsa class. As John says, you’re too stretched and need to reign it in. When your on your aero bars you’re incredibly far out from 90 degrees on the elbows which is where you should be aiming.
The problem isn’t your saddle - it is you fit and position. Your seat is WAY to high, you are too extended, and you overall don’t sit real well on the bike. NO saddle will help until these issues are addressed.
Thanks to John and everyone else for your feedback. I’ll dig into those links later. I can make those suggested adjustments, but my main concern is that it will aggravate an old knee injury. Moving the seat higher is the one thing that has helped the most, and I am leery of going too far down.
At 5’7", I was fitted for a 52cm frame years ago, but I brought the bike back so I could get a 12cm stem. The bike in the photos is also a 52cm, though the top tube does come up a bit higher than I’ve read it should. I again swapped out the stem (10cm for a 14cm), and I felt more comfortable and balanced, while also placing the handlebar between my sightline to the front hub. Maybe I have been doing it wrong all these years and I need to unlearn this position. The nearest fitters are all two hours away (Serotta Personal Fit, Retul), but one of my concerns has been that they would tell me to lower my seat, possibly leading to a re-aggravation of my knee.
Fixing knee pain by raising your saddle is not that good of a direction. Where does your knee hurt? is it both or just one, is it only while cycling are doers running aggravate the knee? Leg length, cleat placement, knee alignment while pedaling can all cause this and can be fixed but I doubt you are going to find a comfortable saddle with the seat height that high. Describe your knee problems and history a little and I suspect that you will get some good help from this forum. You might throw in a little info like height, shoe size, yrs. riding, avg. speeds and any info about toe numbness or hot spots on your feet.
Looks like the consensus is that my fit on the bike needs attention first. I can turn the seat post around and shift the saddle several centimeters forward, and the aero extensions can be moved back and arm rests mounted behind the bar to get my arms closer to 90º (not going to mess with the stem). I looked up the pix of pros, but feel kind of self-conscious trying to look like them. I’m just a road rider who wants to cheat the ever-present wind and rest my upper body while pedaling away. If setting the bike up like the pros is the way to do it, I’ll give it a shot.
If anyone is still reading, here is a bit of info about my knee injury. Almost 25 years ago I increased my weekly mileage too much too soon and the orthopedist diagnosed a case of patella tendonitis in my left knee. There weren’t many sports medicine docs in '90 who were familiar with cycling injuries, but he told me to rest, stretch, ice, and strengthen. So, I…
-always take a rest day; I haven’t cycled two days in a row since 1990.
-I did his recommended leg stretches for awhile.
-I’d also ice after stretching sessions; can’t remember if I iced after rides.
-I couldn’t really manage the travel and PT fees, so he suggested I do sprints in the big ring to strengthen the muscles in my quads.
No matter what I have tried, whether exercising or not through the years, my knee has never felt the same since.
I can’t really recall much success doing all of this, but I must have read an article in the latest Bicycling magazine about seat height. Instead of using a formula based on my inseam, I started raising the seat post until just shy of feeling too high. After riding only a few blocks, the pain in my knee disappeared! It did come back, but that one change made more difference than anything else. I eventually worked back up to three 40 mile rides a week before other things in life took over.
It has taken two years to work my mileage back up to about 85 mi/wk, but keeping the seat high and not increasing mileage more than 10% per week has allowed me to get back into cycling with minimal discomfort. The left knee still doesn’t feel like my right one, but I have pretty much given up on that ever happening.
