A couple quick questions…
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Would incorrect saddle height cause one knee to track closer to the top tube than the other?
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Is there an app or something where you can draw lines over a picture to check (knee) angles?
I have a saddle question before my midday Z2 workout (those are the worst for the saddle issues 
).
I was fitted on my bike although it didn’t really help with my lower back pain (helped myself by tilting the saddle and improving my core) and I since then started riding much more. During this winter’s trainer rides I couldn’t sit on the saddle anymore, was constantly shifting and standing up (1.5-2 hour rides). I’ve decided to test some new saddles. My original was Fizik Arione. I got measured for the testing saddles (my bike fitter didn’t do that) and was informed I need L3 type saddle in Selle Italia’s language (flexible and wide hips). I’ve tested (only a couple of rides on each) Selle’s SLR superflow and SP01 superflow boost. The SLR felt ok the weight was probably more distributed, the SP01 I felt only my sit bones and it was really harsh on them (I didn’t have enough time to get used to it). Chose the first one - SLR. Now, both allowed me to ride in the drops. With my Fizik I always thought I am not flexible enough. It wasn’t painful I just didn’t use my drops. Also worth noting, I didn’t have any problems with my Arione while riding outside.
And my problems with the current SLR saddle. It was more or less fine on the trainer, and I didn’t have to move around that much. But since the weather (and corona) allowed last week I was riding outside and it started to hurt. Especially on the rough roads the saddle is harsh and I am hitting my pubic bones which are painful. During the weekend on the trainer the first 5-10 minutes I didn’t know how to sit, it obviously improved with the higher effort later on. I have the saddle tilted at 4 degrees and I kept the saddle height the same like with the Arione. How should I move my saddle so that more weight is on my sitting bones and not on my pubic bones? I must say the with the cutout I don’t have any problems with the soft tissues.
Could someone provide a guidance? I am already thinking it might have been a mistake and maybe the SP01 saddle was the right one (and I liked the look of that one! 
).
Thanks. I must admit that reading this whole thread is on my to-do list. But I felt overwhelmed and haven’t started yet just posted the question.
Regarding my sliding forward, I wouldn’t say so, I don’t feel like sliding. However, I do have an anterior pelvic tilt and might be rotating my pelvis forward a little bit more. I always here the Chad’s words of anchoring the sit bones in my mind and try to adhere to that.
I find the bone anatomy of pelvis of a standing person not really helpful in describing the contact points. I think that the correct ‘sit bones’ are ischial tuberosity/inferior pubic ramus (the first bony part when you follow your glutes down). My painful spot is 3-4 cm diagonally to the front and middle, following the bone - on the picture I see it described as pubic arch.
Edit: As I try to have the pelvis at the same place at all positions I wouldn’t say it changes that much with respect to hand position.
I still might be in the period of getting used to the saddle, of course. I have it for about 3-4 weeks and was outside only a handful of times. My volume is pretty consistent, 11-14 hours recently and did 16 hours last week to make use of the nice weather outside.
I use the app Bike Fit Fast: http://bikefastfit.com/ for some angle measurements. One pointer I would use is keep the stickers on your shoes, and use a permanent marker for the arm, wrist, shoulder under sticker position for reference. That way you can track changes over days, not just each session
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Hi all, I’m debating going for a longer stem. I have noticed in pictures of myself on the bike I have a rounded lower back, and haven’t found it easy to correct this by holding myself more upright. I’m wondering if my reach is a bit short and contributing? I generally feel pretty comfortable and happy in my position, probably an important detail, but I do occasionally gets aches in my lower back if I haven’t been riding as much. In reading online I’ve seen people say your handlebars should ‘cover’ your front hub from your eyeline, to give a rough estimate of correct stem length. My bars are a fair bit behind. Is that internet bike fitting myth or a true gauge? Yet another one I’ve heard is your arms should be an angle of more than 90 degrees from your spine when on the hoods, where my arms are just less than 90 degrees. Over-thinking it? And yep I’m gonna try and borrow some stems to try it all out in practice!
tysoncook - that’s pretty informative resource!
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Nothing terribly obvious or out of place in the pic. The old bar/hub comparison is interesting and I still use it sometimes, but only as a reference and rarely drive from it. Fit, feel and comfort overall drive me, then I check that towards the end.
For sure, try some different length and possibly rise stems to see how even a 10mm change can feel.
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Hi Chad, this is an amazing piece of thread here, thanks a lot for that!
Would you mind taking a quick look at these pictures on a resting position, on the drops and using a aero-is position on which I am pretty often and see if there might be any red flags about the fit, or potential improvements?
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Happy to. It may be tomorrow before I can get a reply, but I will try to get it on my lunch tomorrow at the latest.
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Thanks!
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Your saddle looks really far behind the BB. It might be worth shifting it forward and up, so you have the same distance from the BB but rotated around it.
I’m no expert but a few observations that you can verify and contemplate - key suggestion from me would be a video towards the end of the last interval or after a long session versus this which looks ‘fresh’ to see how form changes and what you settle into.
You appear to shorten your body over the short clip, do you find yourself ever having to shuffle back on the saddle? If so there could be a few factors, I emphasis could here: pedal down style pushes you forwards on every ‘downward’ stroke; as your effort continues the back naturally shortens and you curve more (is this first interval? ); and not being as ‘locked in’ in a position as you could be, as Chad says.
The rocking is quite obvious and looks to come from all the way up at the thoracic spine, that could be a number of things but given the toe down it would be interesting to see if a slight saddle height reduction might help stabilise you. It ties up with the last parts of the downward stroke.
If that worked to stabilise you I don’t necessarily see a need for shorter cranks necessarily but that might be an option if a lower saddle caused problems at top of stroke.
Out of interest have you any history of lower back or hip mobility issues?
Recently did a bikefit on my mtb. Changes was lowering my saddle hight, and saddle tilt forward. Also tilting down my brake levers abit.
When I was riding some rough tracks the day after i got very numb and sore hands. Have had it before, and my solution was tilting the saddle abit up.and that solved the case.
But now I want to keep my new set up. Cause of the opening of my hips and more power.
What can i change to meet my new saddle set up?
I’m thinking of move my stem up abit, and maybe get some more upsweep on my handlebar?
And of course some core training.
Just chiming in to espouse the value of Steve Hogg.
(website link from post #1: https://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/).
I always have issues whenever I transition from riding outside to riding on the trainer (as well as building volume on the trainer). Bailed on the first workout this week because of fit problems…grrr. I’m using mid-ish sole cleat position so made a visit to Hogg’s website (haven’t done so in a couple of years which is probably why my position is off). With an hour or so of reading and another 30min or so of adjusting, I think my trainer position is nearly dialed in – it made the next workout (Carillion +2) almost effortless (i.e. I wasn’t having to fight my bike!). Thanks to Steve for making riding my bike enjoyable!
Not sure of everyone’s local bike shop situation (open/closed), but if you have a niggle or two you really need to figure out and don’t have access to a bike fit, I highly recommend Hogg’s site. Be warned, though, there is an incredible amount of information, both in blog posts as well as the comments sections.
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That looks pretty good to me. I see no obvious issues. If you were chasing a pain or discomfort issue, that might change. But it seems like a fine setup to me if you are comfortable.
Thanks. I believe that my saddle is currently fairly centered (meaning fore-aft setting to neutral), but I can’t be wrong, especially due to the seatpost setback, not sure if I should align the saddle fore-aft with the seatpost axis or with the clamp bolt…
Saddle picture for more details
Thanks. Actually (I should have said that right away), I am suffering lower back pain on my longer rides. One thing I have noticed is that I have troubles to arch my back (or at least even keep it flat), which leads me to rotate less the pelvis an flex my back forward (I have a very good forward flexibility of the back and a very decent pelvis rotation flexibility, but my back lack tremendously backward arching flexibility. More precisely, I have no trouble putting my hand under my foot with straight legs, or touching me chest with my knees, but when I try to do what yoga people call “cow-pose”, at the very maximum my back is flat instead deeply curved for most people).
I believe the fact that I can’t arch or keep my back flat is leading me to compensate by tilting the pelvis less and keeping my back bend forward, thus putting more pressure on the lower back, hence the pain on long ride. Does it make sense?
I would say you have an anterior pelvic tilt. And that comes with weak abdominal muscles, weaker glutes, overworked lower back muscles, tight hip flexors. Work on that and it will improve. It certainly did for me as I am/was the same.
As for the fit changes that could help, I had a proper bike fit that didn’t solve the lower back pain. However, out of desperation I tilted the nose of the saddle a little (3 degrees) and it improved significantly. Be careful though, if you overdo it, you will place a lot of weight on your hands and that will cause other problems.