Long-time readers of this blog are aware that I have had an ongoing battle with various saddles. It seems that after about an hour’s riding, my butt starts to hurt. I’ve tried several different saddles, and thought I had finally hit upon one that was acceptable — not perfect by any means, but one that seemed to work better for me than most others I’ve tried.
Even with this one though, I have to resort to some tricks to stay comfortable. I stand and pedal every so often. Whenever I coast, I take the weight off my butt. I vary my hand positions on the bars constantly. But when riding Friday, I accidentally scooched into a position that was mahvelous.
The admonition when riding is to sit on the sit bones — the “ischial tuberosities” — that protrude from the pelvis. I’ve always been aware of this saying, and I thought I had always been abiding by it. But this shift of position moved me to the real sit bones. I could tell the difference. Suddenly, my bottom felt at ease — as though it should have been in this spot all along, and should continue there from now on.
Funny thing is, I’m not really on my sit bones. At least, not the sit bones we all think of. It was all cleared up for me when I stumbled onto Steve Hogg’s Bike Fitting Website. Hogg writes extensively about the arcana of a proper bike fit (Reading his articles is a great way to spend a rainy afternoon when you can’t get out for your ride) and you’ll learn a lot by visiting his site.
He points out that the pelvis is not constructed for us to sit on the ischial tuberosities. Instead, the bones on each side of the base of pelvis curve a little bit lower than the tuberosities protrude. They angle from wide at the rear to narrow at the front, and if the saddle is the right design, they’ll rest right on top of it.
I must have rocked back just enough that these bones rested on the saddle, instead of my perineum. I’ve been crushing my taint all along, and apparently thought that was what we had to put up with when riding a bike.
It seems a lot of cyclists have trouble with finding the right spot. As our frequent guest poster Jeff Hemmel pointed out in a review of the Bontrager Affinity saddle, Bontrager designed its perch to facilitate finding the right spot on the pubic arch.
I spent the rest of Friday’s ride, and Saturday’s, changing my position on the saddle so I could practice getting back to the exact spot I needed to get to. I think I have it down. At any rate, my rides seemed more comfortable to me than they usually are after I’ve put in 15 miles or so.
Now, you might think that if I’m putting my weight a bit forward of where we have always thought it should be that I’d be crushing my softy bits. In my case, the Forte Classic saddle I ride has a cutout, so there’s no pressure there anyway. I’d be interested in trying one of my other saddles that don’t have a cutout to see just what the results would be — but I’m in no hurry to do so. For the time being, I’ll just enjoy my rides.
I’ve had the same experience exactly. Great post on a tough subject to write right. I had my sit bones measures at the bike shop on a special kind of memory foam board made by Specialized, that’s the only way I was able to figure out where – and how – to sit on my bike.
The Bontrager Affinity saddle I purchased about 5 months ago has been the best saddle I’ve ever been in. I did get fitted for that, and was well worth it. I’ve also been wanting to try some of the ISM Adamo saddles that I hear a lot about.
I’m not finding anyone talking about the problem of sitting on Lower Trochanters instead of the sit bones. Looooong time problem for me but only recently found the name of the bony knobs that seem to be supporting more weight than my sit bones. 2023 I pedaled more of RAGBRAI standing than I did sitting. Jacking around with seat fore/aft, tilt, and height hasn’t revealed a no pressure situation for my Lesser Trochanters. I don’t have any soft tissue pressure issues. My MTB saddles are 13 and 14 CM which are the narrowest commonly available. The snouts of the saddles (where my Lesser Trochanters are grinding) are as narrow as the rails so it’s not like a 12 CM seat is going to be any narrower in that area. My sit bones are about 10 CM.
Hey Gary. Your problem may not in fact be your saddle. It could be your seat height, handlebar settings, etc. Have you thought about getting a professional bike fitting? While some may not find it necessary as their body can tolerate imperfect positioning, it could make the difference. At the very least you may get some more power.
Another issue is posture. Make sure you’re sitting up straight, not hunched, for example.
You may know all these things, but it’s worth mentioning. Good luck!