all-knowing wera bicycle peeps....

STOP!!! Don't waste your money on some other saddle that may or may not bring the life back into your nuts.

Spend some cash on getting properly fit on your bike!!!! Take your bike to a GOOD bike shop (ie: not performance) that employs fit experts. Your numbing problem is most likely from improper fit not you saddle.

Bike fit is most important on road bikes because you spend large spans of time in the same position, as opposed to your mountain bike where you are constantly moving about on the bike.

I have been in the bike industry for 10+ years, trust me, most people are not properly fit on their bikes!!!

If you have any questions, feel free to PM me.

jack

 

+1 My 1st MTB was bargain and it helped me get my feet wet but by no means was the bike suited to my frame. All the changes to individual parts only resulted in money spent without any benefits.

 

This holds the same importance as getting your suspension on your race bike sorted. It's the first thing you should do.

It sounds to me like your seat angle is all wrong.

 

Angle

Height

Distance to Bars

Drop to Bars

Get your nuts back! Get Fit!

 

I consider bike fit and saddle selection as two seperate issues. Both should be addressed. But by the same token there is no way my Arione would've kept me from going numb despite my bike fit. I know this because I had the bike fit done by two professionals and tweaked by each several times. What worked was a softer saddle.

Prov431, I've tried the seat angle trick you're using but on long rides my shoulders would get worn out. With a forward sloping saddle the burden of keeping your body back on the seat is transfered to your arms. Some people get numbness in their hands. You might be strong enough not to notice and I simply wasn't. But it's still not a longterm solution in my mind.

 

All saddles should be set level.

 

Yes with the nose down on the seat your arms need to do more work and this can lead to tingling in the hands if you don't move them. All that said, you have MANY more options for hand placement than butt placement, if it is a road bike you have the tops the drops the corners and the hoods, on a mountain bike you have the tops and with the curved barends you have two more position there. It is a good practice to move your hands a different position at least every 10 or 15 minutes but really, how many places can you put your butt. I regularly ride 5 to 8 hours and have no numbness issues on either my Selle Flight (very minimal racing seat which recently wore out after 15 years of service) or my new Serfas gel seat (basicly the same as my Flight but has a little gel on top).

+1 on the bike fit, get the setup right before you spend any money on anything else. The anatomical seat market is booming because too many people have been poorly fitted on their bike and have problems stemming from that, so run of the mill bike shops sell them a $100 seat that helps a little and ignore the fit problem. Find a good bike shop and get fitted properly, look for a shop that has a racing team and talk to some of the racers, they can get you in with the guy that knows how to do the setup right. If you really want to take it to the limit then this place was recently written up in Today in PT Magazine http://www.bch.org//sportsmedicine/science.cfm/Sports Science#FAQ's - Bike Fits My physical therapist (for a work related injury) recommended them to me if I ever get to the Colorado area (I tore about 50% of the big part of my calf off and seriously injured my back in a work injury last fall still trying to get my leg and back to work right again). I'm sure with a little internet searching you could find a PT clinic locally that could do the same too. The benifit to a PT clinic is that they can look at you specifially and identify little issues that you have and customize the fit to prevent problems that only you would have.

Good luck.

 

Level is a good starting point but every one is different and many people are more comfortable slightly nose down. It is really a personal preference thing.

Also Wine mentions that he is using aero bars which will considerably lower his upper body position which will put a great deal more pressure on the nose of the seat unless it is tilted down a little bit.

 

I worked with a guy who was an ex Cat2 racer that ran his seat slightly tilted up to take pressure off his arms and shoulders. Mainly because he probably couldn't bust out 10 push ups. He was like the wind on a bike though, especially uphill.

I agree that seats should be level, but there's an exception to every rule.

 

But with a slit tilt he will be putting more pressure on his arms, but hey what do I know I just do this for a living.

 

anything else is just a compensatory measure which in reality will make your situation worse. the horrific things you see that people do trying to get 'comfortable' is amazing...ummmm...psst...it's already been figured out...look at guys that ride bikes for a living.

now if I could just people to stop putting their helmets on BACKWARDS and/or tilting them off the back of their head...

 

Saddles are for wimps. Just throw the damn thing away and ride without one.

 

I also sell saddleless bikes,

 

of course you can always go old school: http://www.brookssaddles.com/brooksengland.html

 

fo shizzle!!!!

 

Tracee-

I never noticed that you guys carry IF...love my Crown Jewel. steel is real...:up:

sweet line up at the shop overall...bit of something for everyone...right on.

 

nothing better once you get past the break-in...:up: didn't Pez just do a thing on them?

 

Yeah, we can get them, the owner has a CJ too.

 

Damn, gotta get to work, just got a Orbea Diva in that I have to build.

 

I had a similar issue till I made an effort so move back in the saddle where the bones rest on the seat. No problems since.