Saddle Problems are NOT caused by your Saddle - BikeFitTuesdays 

before seeing another video today from a few months back, I had never seen James riding a bike, only rather talking about them... I had a theory that bike-fit James can't really ride a bike at all. due to growing up with this problem from a young age in life, he spent many years in search of the perfect bicycle fitment in help of succeeding in his rather simple childhood dream of being able to ride a bike, unfortunately, he did not succeed, this may sound sad for James but later on in life but this leads him to begin a new career. providing the best bike fitment service available for other people in search of similar dreams with hope that they will succeed well in something in which who is now known as "Bike-Fit James" has never had the opportunity to do himself....

James should be next in line to play Captain Jack Sparrow. He’s got the whole “Ireallydon’tgiveashitori’mdrunk” thing going.

Knowing the width of your buddies relief channel off hand is a level of friendship worth striving for.

Thanks for videos like this. After watching the bike fit tuesdays i now shortened my reach, fixed saddle height and fore aft and did stretching of the hips. Saddle problems gone! Thank you!

I took James advise and levelled all of my saddles that previously were 1-2 degrees downward tilted and I have to say it worked, BUT I flattened around the nose (around the cutout) and general "sitting area" of the saddle rather than the whole thing because my saddles have a slight upward shape in the back. So thanks James, hope the quarartine ends and we all get to enjoy our bikes again!

Very timely BFT as I am currently looking to replace my bike saddle. I'm replacing the saddle that came with the bike I purchased late last year. I understand the marketing and after-sell of accessories but a $3,700 bike should have a decent saddle...most do not. As always, I learn from the wisdom and experience that you and James provide. Thanks so much! Well done my friend.

Absolutely cracking video, cheers for the happy content including James.👌

Can we pls have an episode that touches on brake hood position, handlebar rotation in the stem and bar tape wrapping?

My bike fit is great (had it done by Bespoke in London) but I still enjoy these videos tremendously and always learn something. Thanks for producing entertaining & informative content in the middle of everything that's going on!

I love that this video was made, because after buying my first road bike "the wrong way," i.e. buy the bike and then try to fit it after, I had tons of saddle issues; shifting side to side, always feeling like I was sliding forward, etc. Watching Bike Fit Tuesdays helped me 100% fix all these issues without ever changing my saddle by moving back my cleats and using shorter cranks and a shorter reach, narrower handlebar. Suddenly, I'm sitting square and comfortable in my saddle!

Big fan of the fabric scoop, the shallow one and the flat one, seems to be all the saddle I need, although I'd consider trying the one with the cut out sometime. Having had perthes as a child I have one hip that's a bit of a pain so these bike fit videos have been great for helping to dial in a comfortable position.

Best saddle info Ive ever seen in my life!

I had some serious discomfort issues when I purchased my first road bike in 2017. OE Giant saddle was a torture device, so I started demo-ing some different models and brands. Nothing was quite right, so I dug an old, fairly traditional SDG Bel-Air out of a box for general use. Continued to demo, including some models from ISM. They recommend dropping the height (5mm), and while these felt pretty nice, I wasn't 100% convinced to drop the $200+ for one. Kept the lower saddle height, and realized that this clearly improved the overall comfort experience, no matter which saddle was on the bike.

i ride the old selle san marco regal saddle always have they don"t call it the belgium armchair for nothing !! great content as always

I really enjoy watching this series. James sounds very knowledgeable. So much so that I'd fly to the UK from the States just for his expertise bike fitting.

Thank you for another great video, gentlemen- and on a Tuesday!

Very interesting and I think, pretty much spot on in terms of problems which are not caused necessarily by the saddle

Another ten thumbs up for Bike Fit Tues, watched on a Thurs after poorly fitting new shoes to cleats to bike. Lol. I’d love to see an elisode of how James uses the fit machine so quickly flashed in the intros. And howche compiles the assessed data into a complete fit.

That was fantastic. We so seldom hear an actual expert talk in a common sense manner about the things that make people actually more comfortable. Just great.

Great video as always!! Your content is always entertaining and helpful! Good to see James rocking a seiko SKX on a leather strap. Sharp dressed as always!

Thanks Francis & James for the excellent bike-fit content. As always, great job with this series. It's been incredibly helpful to me & my fit has improved greatly! So far, your advise has convinced me to add a shorter stem, get G8 insoles, move my cleats all the way back on my "F" shoes, and now I'm fiddling with the height & tilt on a Romin, knock-off saddle. It's weird though.. Every Wednesday, my pocketbook is slightly lighter than it was on Tuesdays.. HEY!

So many people need to watch this......

My shortfit saddle has more padding which has become my favorite saddle now. I've also got a different saddle on a few bikes and whilst i like the cutaway the 3 factors that have relieved any issues are tilt -5 degrees nose, width 143, and 5-10mm of HD gel foam. lowering my post by 10mm and going back to a shorter higher stem has also got rid of pressure on my man nerve.

Great video guys!! I hear James very often mentioning core engagement. Could you perhaps touch on this aspect and explain to us what it means and what/which muscles need to be engaged wile on the bike. Thanks un advance.

It's defo the end of the world bikefit tuesday actually on a Tuesday!!!!!🚳

You guys are very cool! Great fun. Thanks

This is really interesting and highlights why I need to get a *good* bike fit. My local fitter and I tried several saddles in the same position and landed on only one saddle which fit (Selle Italia, with a large channel, cant remember the model but can check later). I still get numb after prolonged seated efforts. The fitter used lasers etc. and shims to set my position but no pressure mapping and limited video capture. I need a session with James - and for Corona to eff off!

Always informative, thanks guys

Great work chaps - Made perfect sense👌🏻

before i could not ride more than 2h on my trainer from numbness. adjusted saddle forward+tilt, minor cleat position, lowered bars two spacers down and moved bars over 0,5cm(was not centred). did a 4,5h zwift ride with minor numbness. thx guys!

Great vid mate. How do sit bone measurements taken whilst seated on a flat platform change when bent over a bike?

Always great information, thx guys

Great content as always! A question for a future episode, how do you determine stance width? I guess you can film yourself, but is that accurate enough? Any other methods?

I am currently riding a Specialized Romin and love it. Like James the Toupe was one of my favorites until after about 6k miles, the web in the back cracked, and the saddle would literally fold in half. Question: I have a friend who says that he develops saddle discomfort whenever we ride at a slow pace (One of our riding buddies is suffering from a lung issue, he's 71 yrs old, can only average around 10 mph, but I don't care because he always plans awesome routes). How do I convince him that his bike is not properly fitted to him? I have have told him numerous times to watch Bike Fit Tuesdays and try to explain that no matter how fast or slow you ride, if the bike is properly set up, you shouldn't have pain regardless. I even explained to him that I don't have pains regardless of how far or how fast/slow I ride. I have tweaked my position using James' advice over the last two years eliminating minor issues....Thanks

The weight of the rider plays a vital role, too. Having lost 24 pounds, I all of a sudden like a saddle on a bike I used not to enjoy at all.

Hi! Where do you guys stand on ISM? I changed to a PL1 a week ago, still getting used to the change, now curious what you guys think?

Have you guys (you and señor James) been over chamois? As in how the chamois interacts with bike fit and what to look for when choosing a chamois? Always love the content

The saddle James was running to at the end of the video has the ultimate cutout.

Love to follow this. Is any "episode"/discussion regarding saddle tilt? My retul bikefitter recommended me not tilting my saddle. The problem is when I try to get really low (almost TT position on a road bike) then I feel that the saddle is poiting upward. I would love you guys digress on this tilt thing.

Class video. I've just started getting saddle problems.... but we're in lockdown and can't get a bike fit... 🙈

Great content. I´ve been struggling with saddle pain for a couple of weeks and this video helped me a lot. Cheers from Brazil

Great videos. I've just got a new bike with a new saddle, but my seat bones are totally agony after 25 miles, I've got no numbness, and the new saddle looks very similar to my old saddle apart from the foam is less. Could this be down to just the difference in foam? Or could the new seat width be too narrow? My seat bones are sitting on the slope bits of the saddle? Any advise would be appreciated as I dont want to waste hundreds chopping and changing saddles/ cheers

Well I’m looking for a new saddle and of course your videos pops up. Let me tell you this without getting into too much detail but after using a triathlon saddle with no centre relief I got some very particular side effects which were not good at all. I will be definitely sourcing out a saddle with a centre channel. Dudes if you don’t think you’re doing your self harm using a saddle without a channel think again.

I got into cycling almost 2 years ago. There are a lot of videos that talk about fit, but I never hear how each part is supposed to feel. How should i hold my body? How should my hands sit and how should they feel in each position? What does good cleat position feel like?

That’s a Selle Italia SLR Boost on your bike? I really liked the larger cutout when I used a SLR Superflow but I didn’t like the fact it curved up at the back & wasn’t flat. I think the new Flite Boost has both the larger cutout & is flat 👍🏻

I have a question: I have two bikes I ride regularly with similar geometry. I've had them both set up identically via a bike fitter with a fancy piece of kit that enabled him to copy from from bike to bike. Both have the same saddle (A Fizik Arione) however one is much more comfortable than the other. I noticed recently that the saddle of the comfy bike has become twisted a few degrees to the left - presumably through my riding it (height-wise it's still good). By 'twisted' I mean the nose is pointing to the left of the stem rather than along the length of the bike, (tilt-wise it is horizontal). The other bike has an aero seat post so its saddle cannot twist. I cannot get as comfortable on the aero bike - instead I get sore hot spots and some numbness, particularly when riding indoors. Having seen this vid refer to asymmetric riders I'm wondering if that is what is going on here. Have you ever come across this before? What is likely to be the exact issue and would I be better off working on fixing my asymmetry or trying to find a way to twist the saddle on the bike with the aero seat post?

Awesome episode. Did you guys already make an episode about seatpost setback and saddle position? If not, that would make a great topic for me.

Most of the time I had problems with saddles it was due to the material having to much cushion or gel insets. Is a harder saddle always better? Also on my preferred saddle from your beloved Fizik brand, which for me is nice and comfy I destroy my bib shorts like every 4-6 months. The stiching is completly rubbing away at the nose of the saddle on both sides.

I’ve had comfort issues for years, more lately after returning to cycling after a long Haiti’s after back surgery. While looking for a saddle to replace my hard B17 Champion Specials it was advised to measure sit (sitz) bones. Mine are narrow, about 191mm, add 20 and get around 120mm. What I noticed was that my sit bones are not symmetrical. I have no idea how to deal with this. Maybe the Selle Anatomical saddles that seem to allow each side to move independently may be a solution.

i tend to do a lot of riding without proper cycling shorts and found switching from the stock Giant Contact saddle to a San Marco Aspide that has a cutout drastically changed comfort levels. However when riding with cycling shorts i can't feel a difference between them.

The dreaded 'F' brand make the comfiest saddle I've ever ridden! I absolutely adore the Aliante. I also get on well with a Specialized Romin and Brooks C17.

I bought a road bike saddle on ebay of all places. It was a wicked saddle and I thought I got a great deal. It was comfy and light too. However, upon later inspection I noticed that the saddle sat slightly off-centered on my bike. Turns out the rails were off-centered with the saddle/seat section (bad quality control or a reject product). It was off JUST a bit, like barely an 1/8 inch to one side. I didn't notice this until I started getting these strange saddle sores first time in years on just one side of my 'area'. Only because of this off-center issue, It caused me major grief. In just two days I developed these awful, disgusting saddle sores. YUK! You gotta make sure your saddle sits perfectly aligned/centered on your bike, or you will get saddle sores.

Interesting video. I spoke with a well regarded bike fitter today and he told me it was not worth doing another fit until I found a saddle that stopped numbness. I have tried many over the years with cut away but if I am in the saddle for more than 30 minutes it is all numb down there. I was looking at the Ramus and Infinity saddles to help with this. Any thoughts? I think my underside is quite pronounced and I have never found a cut away that fully cleared the important stuff. No fit or adjustments have ever really made a difference. The closest to eliminating it was the old Selle Anatomica Titanico X

Yet again, total sense!

What do you make of the Brooks type of saddle? They tend to be heavy, but they are genuinely different to the multitude of "padding on a very slightly different plastic shell" saddles from the various brands...

Could power balance difference between legs be a sign of a too high saddle? I am already feeling that i am sitting quite low. Also i have my Specialized Power saddle level and 6cm behind the crank but still feel like i am thrown in the front of the bike. My bars arent too low either.

Have fought with this discomfort for years. My shop guy kept putting the saddle back where it belonged (fit wise), and did suggest a thicker padding. Turns out I needed to drop the nose below 0.

What would you say is the most common issue if the cheek bones are just plain hurting on both sides?

can you do a video on clothing, looking at base layers, jerseys, gilet etc as I see people wearing a base layer and then 3 jerseys looking type clothing on top before a gilet and I'm unsure what some of the clothing out there is?

what is James' opinion on T-shaped vs Pear shaped saddles? Pros and Cons of each? How about side to side curvature as well?

I ride a shallow Fabric saddle - if Im getting soreness on the front edges of the "wings" should I move it forwards?

I’ve been riding lots for over a year. Lots of 100+km rides and still the moment I get onto a bike my sit bones are screaming at me. Unless I am sitting straight up.. I’ve had two bike fits and they thought my reach was too short. Thoughts? Considering giving up cycling because of this steady struggle. I’ve tried so many different saddles in every width aswell

My sadlle is the Selle Italia SLR Boost. What's the correct seating area for that one? (it's not really flat if you look at it from the side) Thanks

I long time ago gel saddles were around ,did they work?

How important is saddle material? Such as leather compared to a synthetic of some sort. I prefer something that is a little easier for me to be more dynamic on instead of anything that’s going to hinder that. Is this accurate or am I far off? Thanks!

im currently using the dreaded f-brand arione saddle and have genital numbness when i ride. so i would like to ask if its possible to tweak the fore-aft/tilt/height to get any improvement or is it better if i just get a saddle with cut out?

Can you do a feature about saddle fore and aft position? do you recommend the plum line technique?

Question for Bike Fit Tuesdays: I always run my cleats as far back as possible and I got well fitting shoes in terms of length and width. Still I always get feeling of "pedaling with my toes" rather than feeling the pedal pressure somewhere behind the ball of the foot. Why is that? (I think I got quite long toes if that helps)

I just corrected my saddle height. Legs feel a lot better. I'm not sure to move my saddle forward or backward? I have ridden then I get the sore neck and shoulders, it feels like my hands are not comfortable on the hoods. I'm a size 54, but I dont have long arms. I dont want to move all the way forward because I thought that moves the weight to the front of the bike. I can control the bike fine. Steering and shifting braking good. But the hands and arms dont feel right. I hope this makes sense. Thank you😎🤙

Help. Ive got the bucket of saddles. Ive tried 6 specialises ones on rotation too. I get numb hands, and swapping saddles varies between numb unmentionables and excruciating sit bones. Had 3 bike fits from various vendors, last one a velogicfit which stated I basically have the right position. Where to from here?

Dreaded F word saddle on my new R3 Cevlo, was not happy with it , and after a 3rd bike fit , fix was.... checked saddle height, motion capture, rotate the stem angle to 6° up, rotated bars up 5°and cleat wedges, Ergon saddle , much happier, but still some hip discomfort after 2 hours hard bunch riding , full gas! I'm 65, old racer, haha, any suggestion, James? Chèers..

A few years ago I tried a no name saddle on my commuter hybrid, and it made my junk extremely numb. Fast forward to 6 months ago, when my regular saddle died, I tried that same no name saddle, no problems. The only difference is the swept back bars I am now using.

I set myy saddle is a little lower than what im used to riding and i even used the shortest stem i have which is 70 mm long but my genital soft tissues still hurt. I use a fake ec 90 saddle that is kind of wavy but it does have a decent sized cut out could this be a rare case where the saddle is the problem?

I’m a believer in a wide cutout or none at all. Hear me out... Take something narrow, like a butter knife or a CD. Wrap your chamois around it. The width is about the same as a narrow cutout. I don’t know about anybody else, but my soft tissue is wider than a butter knife. Narrow cutouts aren’t for pressure relief; they’re for selling more saddles. They’re “marketing cutouts.” Why? Because a big cutout looks weird and no cutout lacks the feature claim. So people buy narrow, marketing cutout saddles. Older guys, like me, can get more swelling down there. But we still want to be able to get low into a headwind. The larger the cutout, the better, in my book. Next go narrow in overall width to avoid chafing and to allow good blood flow to the legs. Finally, like James says, get something flat so you can move fore and aft a bit without the saddle pitching you forwards.

On the off chance that you can recommend a bike fitter in the US > Colorado > Denver, I'd love to know who they are. After watching these videos, I can't say I trust anyone I know of already.

so i don't need a expensive fancy brooks seat for long distance rides ?

Great advice thanks

What about cycling shorts. What impact do they have on the comfort?

Frankenstein body question for you guys: I've got a right leg (which is also my dominant leg) that's a touch shorter than my left leg (1/8"). I rode for years without realizing it. As a result, today, I (subconsciously) sit with my pelvis twisted so that my right hip is further forward than my left hip. I guess this is my brain trying to make my right leg longer. The thing is, my brain has over-compensated so that, on the bike, my left leg (the longer one) ends up being (functionally) shorter than my right leg! The output of this is that I get saddle soreness on the left side, and this is my immediate issue. Saddles with cutouts (Fizik Argo) work, but on longer rides, I end up sitting close to the edge of the relief channel on the left side which causes pain. My question is: Should I shim up the left leg (to try and alleviate the saddle soreness from over-reaching) or should I shim up the right side (which is my shorter leg off the bike) and hope that over-time my hips untwist?

I wish I knew these things before... List of things i probably would of done differently... Smaller frame... Longer stem... And kept the saddles my bikes had...

How do you choose a saddle that matches your bike aesthetically but also provides the right amount of comfort? Or is that an insoluble question?

I'm 6-2 260 lbs. (188 CM 118 KG) Everything is hard to fit. My feet are 16W (US) . After watching this I think my seat may be slightly too high. Also I am going to get a saddle with a bit more pressure relief opening too. Doing a 350 miles trip next month!

And I had just convinced myself that I need a Fizik Aliante R3 Open Saddle...

Cool Seiko SKX, I own one too!

Same Shirt Tuesday’s

Me: hears intro Also me: starts dancing like the skeleton

James : “if you consider that human beings might be a symmetrical ...” Me : symmetrical, what are you on about mate. I’m built like a badly made sausage not a Japanese Racing Snake :-) He does know what he’s on about though and when I’m not so fat, have some money again and can travel, I’d go to get his advice ... When I was younger, I briefly became a golfist. Enjoyed it ..l but saw a load of others taking it up, 3 weeks later they’d spent about 4K on some fancy golf bats to “improve their game” I figured £50 spent with a pro who knew what he was on about would maybe be better ... and it was James strikes me as the same thing

Be careful with gel saddles, the gel sometimes get pushed aside and you will sit on the hard plastic below, the same with seemingly "soft" saddles!

Hi James, I find out I get saddle issue after 2h, on shorter rides I don't get any problem, is there anything I can do? I am sure that my saddle high isn't too high. BTW I find out that I tend to point out my toes and the right rear side of my right foot (only right foot) will suffer from that, I put the cleat as far as it goes,will move the cleat closer to the cranks help, or anything I can do? Also by moving the cleat back really help, but I get a lot of two over lap, but when I move it forward my toes start to grab when putting down power, any suggestions for that? Great vid as always, hope everyone stay save.

what watch model does he have? is that a seiko?

Nice series! Would be great to have a discussion on stance width/q-factor. And crank length!

Very interesting summary of saddle interaction. I have just one question would set up your saddle flat, using a spirit level placed nose to tail or situated along the narrow / nose part?

Hello , how anterior pelvic tilt afects saddle position fit ? if any , ty

I've always done better on the saddles on the cheaper end of the model with a bit more padding. Is that just covering up bad fitment or could it be my tender buttocks prefers a bit of padding?

I had my piece go numb. Turned out, it was due to circulation problems due to my heart. -- Saddle wouldn't have remedied it! Paying attention to my elevated resting (!) HR was the cue that send me on the right path (first to a doctor).

What about el cheapo chinese carbon saddles of AliExpress? I'm quite keen to try them

Always helpfull 👍👍👍

I get sciatic pain down my left side. Would that be a hip rotation thing?

James: problems are not caused by your saddle! Everyone else: but still... which saddle do i need? something is amiss here :)

What about the flatness or curve of a saddle across its width?