Anatomy question. Is your sit bone still part of the bone that is between your pooper and nutters as this is the area that always becomes uncomfortable to sit when in areo. I thought the sit bone was farther back on the meat of your rear.
**Definition: **Anatomically part of your pelvis (the ischial tuberosity, to be exact), the sit bones are quite literally the bones under the flesh of the butt that you sit on.
**Also Known As: **Sitting Bones, Sits Bones, Sitz Bones
In addition to the image above, look at a side view. There is no one specific point that represents your sit bones and depending on how much pelvic tilt you do or do not ride with you’ll be contacting a slightly different point of your pelvis.
John Cobb has a decent graphic on his saddles web pages showing how your contact point changes with anterior or posterior pelvic tilt: http://cobbcycling.com/cart/Max_C1P4.cfm
Steve Hogg does a nice job of explaining this. The tuberosity can be along a continuum of many ‘areas’ depending on how much anterior pelvic tilt you have. The area I spent the better part of 25 years sitting on in the upright pelvic position was much much wider. The area I sit on now with my Adamo, where the pressure is in contact with the saddle…I’m guessing here, but would say a good 5" further forward of my old position sit bones.
Steve’s blog is very interesting. So from his explanation my discomfort is caused by my perineum area and not my sit bones. I might actually enjoy cycling if I can figure out this perineum discomfort issue. Thanks.
Look up cobb and adamo saddles.
I started with what came on my bike and it was horrible. The tried cobb and ended up on adamo.
Look up cobb and adamo saddles.
I started with what came on my bike and it was horrible. The tried cobb and ended up on adamo.
I have both the Cobb v flow plus and the Adamo TT and neither fixed the problem. I do like the shorter nose on the Adamo though. Just no relief on the perineum
Look up cobb and adamo saddles.
I started with what came on my bike and it was horrible. The tried cobb and ended up on adamo.
I have both the Cobb v flow plus and the Adamo TT and neither fixed the problem. I do like the shorter nose on the Adamo though. Just no relief on the perineum
Go for a Dash saddle. They have a trial program.
The Dash TT9 is the best saddle I have ever ridden on!
Sam
samgyde.com
I’m having a similar problem (pain in the perineum area). I’m just getting back into the saddle after a few months off. Does this pain go away with more time in the saddle? I have had my fit (seat height, aerobars, etc.) dialed in by a professional, so I don’t think it’s a seat height or position issue.
I have tried the following saddles:
- Specialized Body Geometry Romin Evo Comp – too hard and plastic-y.
- Cobb SHC – softer, but still causes discomfort and soreness over 40K (maybe too narrow?).
- Prologo Nago Evo Tri40 – feels hard and uncomfortable in comparison to the Cobb, but I haven’t broken it in yet.
I put a couple thousand miles on my Cobb saddle during the season last year and remember that the pain seemed to lessen over time, but the discomfort was always there and definitely had a negative impact on my race performances!
Actually, the most comfortable saddle for me so far seems to be the Prologo Nago Evo on my road bike. That’s why I tried the Evo Tri40 on my tri bike. But the Prologo tri saddle doesn’t seem as comfortable as the Prologo road saddle for some reason. Should I just put my road saddle on my tri bike?
Look up cobb and adamo saddles.
I started with what came on my bike and it was horrible. The tried cobb and ended up on adamo.
I have both the Cobb v flow plus and the Adamo TT and neither fixed the problem. I do like the shorter nose on the Adamo though. Just no relief on the perineum
I’m having trouble following you, your perineum is the soft tissue down the center, how are you having perineum trouble on a saddle with no nose and no center?
The Adamo and Cobb saddles definitely take some getting used to the new pressure points up front in an extreme pelvic tilted position, many folks are sore at the contact pressure points at first but if you’re sitting as far forward as you should on these saddles, which is all but falling off the front of the prongs, there really shouldn’t be any contact at all up the center or forward of those distinct prong contact points.
The double point pressure soreness from saddles like the Adamo typically goes away after a week or two of riding if the saddle isn’t overly uptilted but if you’re riding perched right up off the front as intended there should be no pressure whatsoever up the center of your perineum or your ‘taint’ and only the dual pressure points side to side to deal with. For some folks there can be some side chafing against your inner thighs and zip ties to pull the prongs closer together can help here.
Unsolicited advice. Just to ensure you are sitting far enough out on the Adamo try this. Scoot waaaaay out. I mean so far out you know it can’t possible be correct. Slowly nudge yourself back until you feel the prongs just nudge your bean bag. Stop. You are there. That’s how I find my spot. I back that asssz up until my McNuggets just nudge the nose and rotate. Voila.
Look up cobb and adamo saddles.
I started with what came on my bike and it was horrible. The tried cobb and ended up on adamo.
I have both the Cobb v flow plus and the Adamo TT and neither fixed the problem. I do like the shorter nose on the Adamo though. Just no relief on the perineum
I’m having trouble following you, your perineum is the soft tissue down the center, how are you having perineum trouble on a saddle with no nose and no center?
The Adamo and Cobb saddles definitely take some getting used to the new pressure points up front in an extreme pelvic tilted position, many folks are sore at the contact pressure points at first but if you’re sitting as far forward as you should on these saddles, which is all but falling off the front of the prongs, there really shouldn’t be any contact at all up the center or forward of those distinct prong contact points.
The double point pressure soreness from saddles like the Adamo typically goes away after a week or two of riding if the saddle isn’t overly uptilted but if you’re riding perched right up off the front as intended there should be no pressure whatsoever up the center of your perineum or your ‘taint’ and only the dual pressure points side to side to deal with. For some folks there can be some side chafing against your inner thighs and zip ties to pull the prongs closer together can help here.
Maybe I don’t understand exactly what the perineum area is. I was just going from the definition from Steve’s blog posted above. The area that gets tender on any saddle is between my anus and testicles which I understood to be the perineum. If this is incorrect then it is the rail area on the Adamo or Cobb saddle where the cut out is. I have been riding much longer then a couple weeks with this saddle. Probably closer to a year and can’t find the sweet spot. I have even pointed the nose down to try and help with the discomfort when in aero position. I am unable to use any zip ties to pull the prongs together as the saddle is pushed back as far as possible in the post. At some point should you not just build up some kind of scar tissue to this sensation.
Yeah, it sounds like you’ve given the Adamo an honest go and I’m assuming you’ve tried the other poster’s advice about sitting absolutely as far forward as you can sit till you’re almost falling off the prongs. Ideally they contact in two distinct pressure points that you’ll feel at first but should adapt to and then don’t feel at all. Sounds like that’s not your case.
Cobb has a wide range of saddle styles and I understand he’s got a new model more like the Adamo (which he helped design) but narrower. One very good reason to check out his saddles is his 6 month no questions asked return policy. That definitely helps when trying to find a saddle that will work for you. The SMP saddle is another that a lot of folks have success with but I don’t remember if that’s one you’ve already tried from your original post.
Good luck,
-Dave
You are referring to the Taint (slang.) or the Perineum (medical term)
No, this is not a bone.
On the other hand, it is hard to judge your anatomy without pictures.
So in a follow up to Dave’s question. Is your discomfort the soft tissue of the perineum (irritation, numbness, etc.)? Or is it the bones on either side (ischiopubic ramus - shown better on another page of Hogg’s site)? I ask about the ischiopubic ramus bones because you mention not being able to close the prongs on the Adamo with a zip tie. If the perineum soft tissue is your problem I can’t see why you’d want the prongs closer together.
If your pain is the ischiopubic ramus bones then it sounds like you have a problem similar to mine. There are a couple of other ST members with the same issue. I used a couple few versions of the Adamo over a 3 year period then went through a couple more models in the last 6 months. I started with the Road for about 2 years. It grew increasingly uncomfortable on the ischiopubic ramus bones - mostly one side. I switched to a Breakaway and it decreased the bone pain initially. As my mileage stacked up the problem flared up. On some big mileage bike trips I actually ended up with a bursitis-like swelling over the bone on one side. Continued riding would lead to blistering and create a sore. In retrospect I think I actually lowered my saddle gradually over time to reduce the discomfort. But this also lead to other issues.
I finally said enough and one at a time I bought the other Adamo variants - Time Trial and Prologue. The TT seemed better with the reduced padding and using thin shorts. But the problem persisted. I tried the Dash narrow saddle and it was wide enough that it caused immediate discomfort. Next up was a Cobb SHC. This saddle almost completely eliminated the bone issue, but the cost was perineum numbness. The longer the ride, the more numb the area and other parts became. Not a viable long term solution.
On the advice of forum members with similar issues I tried the Bontrager Hilo saddle. I got the Speed Dial model with the idea that might be able to dial it for comfort. I shouldn’t have bothered. I ended up at the narrowest setting which is where the non-speed dial version is set. This saddle can still cause some problems on long trainer rides. But on the road it works great so far. I put 300 miles on it in a week on a recent bike trip w/o issues! If the ischiopubic ramus bones seem to be your problem I’d suggest giving it a try. If you have a Trek dealer there was an unconditional return offer on the saddle initially. I’m not sure if this is still offered.
The other saddle that looks like it might offer similar support in a narrow width is the Cobb Gen II. Cobb offers the 6 month trial period which is hard to beat.
Hope this helps!
Look up cobb and adamo saddles.
I started with what came on my bike and it was horrible. The tried cobb and ended up on adamo.
I have both the Cobb v flow plus and the Adamo TT and neither fixed the problem. I do like the shorter nose on the Adamo though. Just no relief on the perineum
Go for a Dash saddle. They have a trial program.
The Dash TT9 is the best saddle I have ever ridden on!
Sam
samgyde.com
How wide is the Dash TT9 at the nose. Looks pretty wide.
It is the perfect width for the way it is intended (which is aero position). This is the normal version. There is a wider version available as well. It is important that your sitbones are well positioned.
You can always send a mail to Weston at Dash. They are very customer oriented!
Good luck with finding a saddle that suits you!
Sam
samgyde.com
Thanks for all the input. I will continue my search for saddle comfort happiness. I have placed some emails to Dash and Selle in regards to demo saddles but havent been able to find any thing on Cobb’s new saddle. Someone had suggested it was called JOF.
OK–
In reading all this, it seems like it may be that I haven’t given the saddle enough time because I get frustrated with the discomfort. How long is this adaptation period? And how many rides a week over 2 weeks, for example would you say it takes to “HTFU”? And in what kind of doses? Because it seems like there are two places that might be “comfortable”. The first is “perched” so you’re about to fall off. The second is further back, but I usually get chafing and other issues if I try to sit there.
If I understand this correctly, it’s the perched condition that’s correct. Does anyone have any advice on how to structure the adaptation? I can easily hang on a regular saddle for 3 plus hours with no issues.