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The Trochanter Trials: A Sore Story of Seating Snafus in Cycling

12.03.2023 by Scott Jangro // Leave a Comment

You know those secret glances we all share after a long ride? The kind where we gingerly dismount our bikes and sneak a hand to the back of the shorts, checking if our derrières have gone on strike yet? Yeah, we’ve all been there. It’s a bumpy ride in the world of cycling, and it’s not just the potholes we’re talking about.

Today, let’s talk about a common but lesser-known seat sore: the dreaded discomfort from sitting on the lower trochanters rather than the good ol’ sit-bones. Plop down comfortably at home, (we promise, no bike seats involved this time), and let’s explore the contours of this pain in the… well, you know where.

Anatomy Lessons Interrupted: Where are these Trochanters and Sit-Bones Anyway?

Before we unravel the twisted tale of sitting amiss, let’s make sure we’re on the same page anatomically. The sit bones, AKA the ischial tuberosities (doesn’t that roll off the tongue?), are the bony protrusions at the base of your pelvis. Quite literally, your built-in cushion for sitting.

The trochanters? Not so comfy.

They are two bony processes located on the femur (think part of the hip-thigh crew) right near the top. It’s where your gluteus maximus muscles attach. Bottom line (pun obviously intended) – your trochanters are great for moving around but terrible for perching your cycling self on them.

The Crux of the Problem: It’s Like Sitting on Stilts

Imagine trying to sit on top of two round-ish peaks (your lower trochanters) rather than settling into a stable base (your sit-bones). A precarious balancing act, right? That’s basically the issue.

Riding seated on your trochanters is like trying to balance two bowling balls on top of two golf tees. Possible? Maybe. Comfortable? Definitely not! Safe to say, it’s not winning you any brownie points with your bum.

The Why-dunnit: Poor Bike Fit, Posture, and More

“What’s pushing my cushion away from its throne?” I hear you ask, eyes glistening with desperation and ass-sociated discomfort. It’s a mix of factors. The main culprits? An ill-fitting bike or a saddle not suited to your divine derriere dimensions; poor cycling posture (yes, that dreaded slouch); a too-high saddle or handlebars, encouraging your pelvis to roll forward.

The Fantastic Fix: Getting to the Bottom of It

Now that we’ve got a grasp on why you might be sitting funny (and feeling funnier), let’s rectify this rear-end ruckus:

1. Bike Fit: Invest in a professional bike fitting. It’s like couple’s therapy for you and your bike – ensuring everything between you two aligns just right. Even if you think you have your bike fit properly, you may not. At the very least you stand to gain some power in your stroke. Not only will they check your position on the bike, they’ll often have you sit on a bit of memory foam so you can see what size saddle is best for you.

2. Saddle Selector: Experiment with saddles. What works for one behind might not work for another. You have to date around before committing to the right saddle.

3. Perch Properly: Keep a check on your posture. Hint: cycling should not resemble a Quasimodo impression. Aim to keep your back flat and sit back onto your saddle, anchoring on those sit-bones.

4. Technique Tune-Up: When you’re mashing pedals like there’s a bull chasing you, consciously remind yourself – “Sit bones, folks, sit bones!”

So, folks. Here ends our tale of trochanter trouble. Let’s promise our dear sit-bones that from this day forth, they will be the rightful king and queen of the saddle throne. And as for those trochanters – only walking and dancing duties henceforth!

Remember, in the grand dictionary of cycling, comfort is not a dirty word. Adjust, adapt, and soon you’ll be gliding rather than grimacing. Until next time, happy (and comfortable) cycling!

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Categories // Bike fit, soreness Tags // anatomy, posture, saddle sore

Penises, Vaginas, and Bike Fit

06.23.2013 by Ray Niekamp // 4 Comments

I spent Friday evening in a lecture hall on a local college campus, listening to two leaders in bicycle fit science talk about what is known about bike fit. Dr. Andy Pruitt and Dr. Roger Minkow of the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine were the presenters, and you knew it was going to be an interesting evening when Minkow said he was here to “change the world one penis at a time.”

Drs. Pruitt (left) and Minkow address the crowd.
Drs. Pruitt (left) and Minkow address the crowd.

Minkow is the man behind the Specialized Body Geometry Romin saddle (Romin is a contraction of the first syllables of his names). He regaled the crowd with tales of measuring cyclists’ private parts to get the best handle on saddle design.

We’ve all heard that you sit on your sit bones. That they’re supposed to hit the wide part of the saddle, and that will make for a comfortable ride. But Minkow said that’s not really the case. He said we sit on the bottom of the pelvic bones, and it’s really more like a rocking chair. So the Romin saddle has a center channel and flares out toward the back. The “rockers” of the pelvic bone sit on the flares just outside the channel.

The process they went through to develop the saddle was the most interesting part of the evening, and drew the most crowd response in the form of giggles and guffaws. Back when they started testing blood flow (down there), Minkow said 50 percent flow was considered a good number. He developed a ring that fastens to the penis and can measure blood flow. Testers put on the contraption, and rode bikes in a lab. Minkow said as they modified their saddle design, they were able to get blood flow up to 75-80 percent in most testers.

“Austin is cool,” he said. “Austin was the first city where we got people to volunteer to do the blood flow test.”

It was one matter to design a saddle that would fit men’s anatomies, but when it came to women, Minkow ran into a problem.

“Where is the vagina?” he asked. The crowd gasped, then giggled.

“Well, yeah, we men know where it is in order to use it,” he added. But in terms of measurement, women aren’t as easy to decipher as men. And they can’t be tested for blood flow. Luckily, there’s a big difference in women and men.

“Ladies can draw a diagram and show every point of pain,” Minkow said. “Men don’t have a clue. They could be at zero blood flow and not be aware of it.”

So a pressure map was created to show where pressure on women — and men — is greatest.

“There is no mid-line pressure on Body Geometry saddles,” Minkow said.

That’s important, because erectile dysfunction can be a reality if you ride improperly or if the bike isn’t set up correctly.

“Bike fit,” said Pruitt, “is about making the bike look like you.”

He compared fitting a bike to buying a suit of clothes. You can go to a store and pick a suit off the rack, and eventually find one your size. But if you were to take that same suit to a tailor, he could make the suit fit you perfectly, rather than acceptably.

Specialized has developed a bike fitting regimen for Specialized based on x,y, and z axes — x and y are the two dimensions visible from the side, but Pruitt says the z axis — viewing the bike from the front — is the difference between the Specialized system and others. Pro cyclists who have been fitted according to that system show notable improvements in power output and time trial times.

The crowd for this event, which was sponsored by Bicycle Sports Shop — one of the biggest bike shops in Austin — was overwhelmingly made up of experienced cyclists. People who appeared to be racers and triathletes sat near me. Some of the questions thrown at Minkow and Pruitt were highly technical, and they did their best to field them in terms everyone could understand.

Both Minkow and Pruitt are on retainer from Specialized, so the evening had the feeling of a commercial for that brand, but overall, the discussion of bike fit and saddle design was worth attending. If the two make an appearance in your area, it’s worth a couple hours of your time.

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Categories // Bike fit, Specialized Tags // bike fitting, saddle

Seat Adjustment

06.17.2013 by Ray Niekamp // Leave a Comment

I had been bothered after a ride of any length lately. I’ve always had trouble being comfortable in the saddle after an hour or so, but now I was getting low back pain. It cleared up quickly once I stopped riding, but if I was going to continue to enjoy being on the bike, I would have to take some action.

The obvious culprit was the saddle. I had been fitted to the bike way back in 2009, and the most unexpected finding there was that my seat had been too far back. The fitter moved it forward, and I enjoyed the feeling of riding in a slightly upright position, with the bars a tad closer to me than they had been.

But in the intervening years, I’ve been experimenting — making tiny adjustments in the saddle position. Over time, those tiny adjustments became substantial changes. I guessed the problem must be that the saddle needed to move forward again, because at this time, it was as far back as possible. I had even considered getting one of those seat posts with the additional back offset. But I decided first that I would try to get the bike back to the original settings the fitter had come up with.

I didn’t have a sheet with my measurements, but I did have my garage window. On the window sash, I had written in pencil that the distance from the nose of the saddle to the headset was exactly 16 inches. Now, it was about 16 1/2 inches.

I made the adjustment. We’re told not to change things drastically — more than, say an eighth of an inch — so this was a drastic change. I rationalized it by reminding myself that I’d ridden in this position before.

On my first ride with the new position, I noticed the effect of the forward saddle right away. My arms bent naturally at the elbows. There was less pressure on my hands. I did a club ride of about 30 miles, and felt fine after it was all over.

Last week, I did a few short rides in the neighborhood before work, a longer ride with hills on Saturday, and a 37-mile club ride Sunday. No lower back pain.

It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty close. And I have a hunch that any further adjustment I make will be on the saddle height rather than fore and aft — remembering that raising the saddle has the effect of moving it back, and lowering it has the effect of moving it forward.

By all means, tweak your riding position for the most comfort — but be sure you have a record of your original settings. You might need them.

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Categories // Bike fit Tags // saddle

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