Seat Angle

Triathlon Forum
1

Rode my Felt S22 for the first time today. Felt great but have one question…what angle are most of you setting your seats at? Mine is currently level and I’m thinking about dipping the nose down a degree or two.

And it’s definitely different than riding my LeMond!!

Anyone else do this?

Thanks,
Mike

2

Oh, this thread is about SADDLE angle, not SEAT angle… I was confused.

Anyway.

I was once lambasted by a saddle designed from Selle Italia who (I think) swore at me in Italian for not having my saddle level. He told me (in very broken English) that “all saddles are designed to be ridden level. The proper angle is built into the saddle.” That has confused me ever since. So, just what is supposed to be level? And what if that isn’t comfortable?

Well, my take on this is that a saddle needs to be with 5 degrees of level, preferably 3 degrees. Measure this by placing a bubble level on the top of your saddle on the surface of the seating area (not in the “men’s comfort groove” if you’re unfortunate enough to have one of those awful things)and placing an angle finder protractor on top of it. Read the angle, that’s tha angle of your saddle. My two Arione saddles are 2 degrees nose-down on my Guru Trilite triathlon bike and level on my Look KX Light.

If you can’t get comfortable within that range it isn;t the angle of the seat that is causing problems, it is something else like:

  1. Saddle Height.
  2. You’re not acclimated to sitting on the bike seat yet.
  3. You need to try a different saddle or shorts.
  4. Are you using chamois cream and going without knickers?
  5. Seat fore-aft position isn’t right.

In general, customers who constantly want to lower the nose of their saddle by angling it down need to level their saddle again then lower the whole thing. Needing to constantly drop the saddle nose for comfort can be symptomatic of a saddle height that is too high.

Good luck!

3

I run mine level on a steep or shallow angle. You may wish to pick up a different saddle if you’re uncomfortable. A lot of people recommend Selle San Marco Aspide or Azoto because they are supposed to be tri specific. I just use a regular roadie saddle but threw a QR neoprene cover over it. Seems to make it a lot more comfy when riding on a tri bike.

4

Tom,

Thanks for the response. I just read your fitting article again and realized I should have said Saddle…

It was my first ride on a tri-specific bike (for and extended period) and noticed a lot of pressure on the pressure point between my legs. I was thinking a little tilt might help.

I’m pretty sure that my leg angle is pretty good. When my pedals are at 6 o’clock, I’m almost at the same angle as my road bike. I feel like if I lower my seat, I’ll be way too crunched up. I may try dropping it a tad to see if that helps.

The bike shop I got my bike from didn’t do much in the way of fitting, but I feel like I’m pretty close to where I need to be. And it is a brand new seat…

Time to start experimenting and getting everything set.

Mike