Saddle Surface Material

[freiston]

Up until I was given a leather saddle, I used a variant of the Charge Spoon (Passport Navigator). I found this saddle very good except that after about 20~25 miles, I would get sore with chafing at the very top of my legs on the inside. I could mitigate this to an extent with some kind of padded clothing but the problem was caused by clothing rubbing and some padded clothing made the problem worse, partly due to shape of padding (either too narrow so that the edge of the padding was where I was getting the rubbing or moving/bunching up), partly due to the padding absorbing and holding sweat - causing discomfort.

The leather saddle put a stop to that even before it was broken in. I put this down to the smooth "slippy" nature of the leather.

I very rarely ride over 40 miles but I never wear padded shorts/underwear now (they never were a proper solution to my chafing problems). I usually ride in Endura Hummvee trousers with underpants. I do find that some underpants cause me the same problems that padded clothing does (chafing due to material and sweat retention). The best pants I have found so far are M&S long legged microfibre trunks style (though a search reveals they have discontinued the ones I have) - the edge and seams are well away from the discomfort zone and they are snug enough not to ride up or move around.

[doffcocker]

In terms of the tilt, I don't know if anyone can make sense of what I'm about to say which is that I tend to find an upward tilt gives the pedalling a lighter, easier feel.
Where an even slightly downward tilt somehow feels heavy, and slow, and tedious.
Everything I've heard/read seems to suggest the opposite should be true, the aerodynamics of a downward pointed saddle make it better in terms of speed than one pointing up but, at least in terms of my own perception, this isn't how it feels.
I wonder if these things come down a lot to personal preference and what you're looking to get out of cycling.
I mean personally I'd happily lose a little speed/acceleration on the descent, if it meant tall climbs felt a little lighter, especially living in a relatively hilly area.

[Bmblbzzz]

I can't see how the angle of a saddle has any significant impact on aerodynamics. By far the largest factor in drag is your body position and clothing. Whatever tilt you give the saddle affects your comfort and pedalling dynamics but the does not really alter the frontal area or shape presented to the wind.

[freiston]

I think that saddle tilt might have an impact on how much you "push back" with the legs to support your riding position and that with a downward tilt, more pushing back and core strength is required to maintain position but with a backward tilt, one can take the weight off the pedals and onto the saddle without sliding forward off the saddle. So a backwards tilt requires less effort in the legs, less core strength and less weight on the pedals to maintain position.

[andrew_s]

I've always viewed my preferred slight upward tilt as being because the saddle is suspended from the ends and sags in the middle, and the tilt puts the rear part of the saddle, that you are actually sitting on, at a more horizontal angle, reducing the tendency to slip forwards.

[LittleGreyCat]

In passing, the Medicus saddles from Lidl seem very comfortable for me.
I do wear padded shorts.

[doffcocker]

Just an update on this, and it also concerns my post on Q-Factor (see link) as I believe I have discovered a link.

So I believe I have found the root cause of my hip pain. It's worth stating first of all that I always wear basic trainers, I don't own cleats or cycling shoes of any kind.
But I have discovered that on the downstroke the heel of my impaired/weaker (left) leg is clipping the bottom bracket, and subconsciously (until recently) I think I have been trying to twist and manoeuvre in such a way that prevents that happening, and in the process irritated my left side pelvic area, not to mention the general saddle pain and discomfort.
Another discovery I have made is that the chafing and sit bone pain is pretty one sided, and yes it is on my weaker side.
I've seen on Youtube that this can be explained by the saddle being too high, and yes lowering the seat has tended to ease the problem but obviously lowering it only makes it harder to keep the ball of my foot on the pedal axle whilst keeping it straight enough so as to avoid my heel clipping the crank arm.


viewtopic.php?t=155933

[pwa]

I can see how straining to keep the base of your heel from touching the crank would affect your hip over time. It is a tricky one because the standard way of keeping feet where they should be is cleats or toe clips with straps, and neither of those is likely to help your hip.

Two thoughts. Firstly, some cranks stick out more than others around the bottom bracket area. Secondly, some shoes are bulkier than others, including in the heel area. Making sure your shoes aren't wider than they need to be might be the simplest first step.

Also, a leather saddle that moulds to your shape, including any asymmetry you have, would give relief, after the breaking in period. That is the only way to get a saddle that matches your lack of symmetry.

[doffcocker]

Thanks, I'm very keen to buy a left crank arm that sticks out less.

The only thing that makes me wonder about this though is, is it the done/normal thing to have odd crank arms or does it come with its own issues?

[JohnR]

Thanks, I'm very keen to buy a left crank arm that sticks out less.

The only thing that makes me wonder about this though is, is it the done/normal thing to have odd crank arms or does it come with its own issues?

If you can fit a square taper bottom bracket then they are available in a range of lengths eg https://www.firstcomponents.com/wp-cont ... sembly.pdf.

This can give you a non-drive side offset from the centreline (A1 on the above drawing) a few mm shorter than the drive side offset.