After mucking around with my bike fit a bit, I’ve turned my attention to my saddle. My bike came with a waved saddle (not so waved as Selle SMP, but not flat - more or less this one: Bontrager Verse Comp Bike Saddle - Trek Bikes but it might be a slightly different version since that page doesn’t list the 145mm width on my saddle).
For more or less flat saddles, I know that the advice is to have the tilt neutral to up to 2 degrees down. How does it work for a wavy saddle like mine?
A few numbers. Right now if I put a board over the whole saddle measure, it is about 1.5 degrees down (allowing for any errors in the measurement resulting from my phone). However, that means that the rear most section is about 6 degrees down and the section in front of it is about 3 degrees up. So I feel like I’m struggling to find a balance between having the front not too high for comfort, but the rear not so steep that I’m sliding forward.
Another bit that confuses me is that the widest part of the saddle is on that steep back section, I’d say at least an inch before it curves up to the next section. That seems like the design will force me to slip forward away from the widest part if I have the saddle tilted (like I have it currently) so that the front isn’t too high for me when I sit on the widest part. I’m guessing that’s intentional, but I don’t understand why. Maybe I just don’t understand the shake of the pelvis area. Or is there something I’m not aware of for where I need to sit on the saddle?
Of course, an added complication is that I had this set up at about this angle before, and then it slipped backwards when I wasn’t paying attention and I only caught it because I was getting some back trouble. Maybe it will be great at about this angle, if I can keep it here, but I wanted to ask people’s opinions in case I need to tinker more.
Perhaps I just need a different design, but I want to try to make this one work.
One thing that is often overlooked, is the floor you are on perfectly level? If the bike is at a 1% incline +/-, that obviously will throw the starting point off.
My suggestion would be to set the bike in the same room/position/location/etc. to ensure consistent measurements during adjustments (you may already be doing this). From there, it’s just trial and error for what works best for your body, on your saddle, with your position, on your bike fit. Some people who aren’t in a super aggressive road position may actually be fine (or even better off) with a slight tilt up.
I wouldn’t obsess too much with how you are measuring or where you are from 0 degrees aside from ensuring your measurement criteria is consistent during each adjustment. Once you get to ‘around’ 0 degrees and start making adjustments, it’s just time spent on the bike and making small tweaks until you find what’s perfect. I generally find long easy rides to be the most taxing on the saddle. The higher my power goes, the more weight is being transferred to the pedals and away from my saddle and reducing discomfort.
This is all advice that seems that I’ve found for flat saddles, and when I’ve tried a flat saddle it worked to avoid slipping down without being uncomfortable on the nose.
Unfortunately, at least that particular flat saddle doesn’t work for me for unrelated reasons and from what I’ve read here and elsewhere, I’m probably better off with a wavy saddle. But with the wavy saddle, I’ve managed to get positions where I don’t slide forward but the nose feels too high or my low back is tilted too far back, and I’ve managed positions where the nose doesn’t get in the way but I am prone slide forward (even though I’ve eliminated the non-saddle reasons that one would slide forward, and, as I said above, I don’t have problems with sliding forward on the flat saddle).
“A wave-shaped saddle with a kick up at the back is designed to be tilted down to some degree and can generally be tilted around 2 to 5 degrees. However, the area where your pelvis sits on the saddle should remain relatively level.”
This does not make sense to me, though. If I were to tilt my saddle that far down there is no chance that where I’m trying to put my weight (right around the widest part of the saddle) would be nowhere near level. Even at 1.5 degree tilt down, it’s already far from level. I get that all wavy saddles are built a bit differently, but this seems impossible advice for my saddle.
What am I missing? Is this article saying something that I’m misunderstanding? As I said before, do I need to rethink how I’m even sitting on it? Or do I just need to find a flat saddle that works better for me, since I’ve demonstrated that I can find the correct tilt on one of those. Or maybe this particularly wavy saddle doesn’t agree with me? I really do think that there might be a sweet spot on the saddle I already have.
I had an excellent professional fitting recently where the guy swaped my saddle out for a wide unit with that type of curve and a snub nose. He just set it with the rails horizontal. He didn’t bother faffing about with locating the bearing patch and leveling that. So far so good, but then his fit was a major departure for me. It would be impossible to isolate the saddle tilt impact.
I looked into that one because it sounds like it works on a lot of bikes (at least as a starting point/a decent idea of where the manufacturer thinks it should be).
Alas, on this particular saddle that would put the saddle itself, overall, at about 9 degrees down.
I am a fan of wavy saddles. I use the Trek Aeolus which is a similar shape. Ultimately, as with all saddles, you have to find what works for you. There isn’t one rule on how to sit on it.
That said - with my wavy saddles, I adjust the tilt so the wide rear part where you sit is about level. That means there is some rise as you inch up towards the nose.
It was a specialized, (Not had good experience with them in the past but…) looks similar to the one posted but has a slightly stubbier nose. Can’t recall the model name sorry. Same idea though, it was an MTB saddle as my ass was too wide for road bike saddles.
Interesting. The profile of the Aeolus looks very similar to the comp, though the cut out looks much larger (though Trek’s sales language makes them sound the same). That could make a difference. Also, the nose is shorter.
Disregard the saddle shape or any home measurements.
Tilt it down and bring the allen key for the next couple of your rides.
Now slightly tilt it back up step by step and ride in between.
When you start to feel discomfort on steeper climbs while pushing high power, slightly tilt it one step back down.
Done.