Seat angle

[Rich Powers]

I was watching the Asheville video- looks like a great event. I’m sure we could lure 10’s to the DesMoines metro some  weekend for a ride. :-) Corn and beans are a pretty sight you know….

Anyhow- my mind wondered to the range (one?) of nose up  brooks saddles in pictures. What am I not understanding? No judgement. Could I make that work? When working with friends that are new riders- they seem to want to have a too high of a saddle height and tilt it down. 

Comments or feedback from those that nose up works for? 

Killing time as a passenger traveling to a Shriner’s event. 

Rich

In DSM

[Mackenzy Albright]

brooks saddles have a bit of a curvature due to the shape of the leather and frame. In my experience, when you sit in a more upright position your sit bones sit further back on on the wider area of the saddle. Due to the hammock shape of the saddle you nose it up a touch to maintain a somewhat flat seat position to avoid slipping forward. 

not this way for everyone - there's variables like pelvic tilt, bike fit, core strength, and general preference. But a lot of people using b17's on relaxed bikes tend to nose up. 

[John A. Bennett]

Tilting the nose up prevents sliding forward when you're riding upright bars. 

It feels the same as an English equestrian saddle, once you get the hang of it. 

https://www.allpony.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/PartsSaddle2Web-1024x889.png

John in Portland

[J]

I've also found that as a Brooks breaks in/softens up, I need to tilt it up a bit more to maintain riding position/comfortable pelvic tilt. I don't ride upright. I'm sure it varies for everyone

[Valerie Yates]

J -- same here. It looks funny (especially in pictures) but is much more comfortable and stable feeling to have the nose pointed slightly upward. Not true of other saddles. 

[Joe Bernard]

I run mine way upward - Rich @ Riv style - and the weird thing about it is how not-great it feels at first..then it's perfect! My rec for anyone interested in this is to start your saddle pointed up higher than you think will work, then keep riding after you think it's ridiculous. You may decide by Mile 5 that this is the way to go. 

[R. Alexis]

I would be game for a trip to DMOIA. I am not that far here in Fremont, Nebraska (just outside Omaha) and have done the trip through many times to Chicago. Would be nice to meet or see some list members again. I thing there was some mention a while ago either on this list or iBOB about a possible gathering in Omaha or Lincoln, Nebraska. 

As for Brooks set up, I have two B-17 saddles on by Bridgestone XO-1 and MB-1. I think I have both level or with a slight tilt. I always wondered on those bikes I see with the Brooks saddle tilted way up. Will see how things shake out once I get more riding on it. 

Thanks,

Reginald Alexis 

[ascpgh]

Rich, I find different saddles present the spot your sit bones rest upon while riding in slightly different manners unique to each make and the model you've chosen. 

I find the overall attitude of the saddle in side view distracting from the sit bone contact point, either the rails or balance of the seat's structure appearing to be at an angle to that, creating the overall appearance often derived from the nose of the saddle.  

My Brooks Professional on my Rambouillet looks a bit "nose up" but in reality that is what makes the sit bone contact point level. Probably also involved is the amount of drop or hammock between the cantle and nose that I find most comfortable, adjustable with the tension hardware in the front. Brooks saddles are often seen in some pretty stretched, hammocky states requiring an exaggerated nose-up attitude so rear of the center of droop, where sit bones rest, isn't too steep of an angle requiring effort to hold that position on the seat. 

 

I have a slotted Rivet Pearl on my Coast Rando with the same flat sit bone position but it looks different in overall profile. The slot eliminates the need for the drop or hammock, that happens albeit slightly when I sit on it. The slot prevents a midline ridge of tension from forming when sitting. The two sides are able to respond to sit bone load, nominal distribution of that and not have the lesser loaded area in between stay up high, your perineum being made an unhappy bearing surface. 

I'd advise a realistic assessment of where you contact the saddle with your sit bones, start with that specific part of the seat being level, wherever you need to be in the fore and aft, up and down adjustments then give it a try and fine tune, regardless of what the overall saddle posture looks like. I move front-back a lot while riding before I stand to pedal so I use a 2 1/2 to 3" segment as my visual for the place I'm trying to make level when setting up a saddle. I cut a 3" bit of 1"x2" (actually measures  3/4" x 1 1/2") to put on that place on the saddle and used the level in my phone on that to assess how well I eyeballed it.

Andy Cheatham

Puttsburgh

[Pam Bikes]

Not sure which nose up you noticed but I was there.  People always comment on my nose up but as everyone else has said, you sit on the back part where it's flat.  I ride the smallest frame, a 47 mixte, and the seat post is all the way down and the rails curve so to get any setback, I push the saddle on the rails and it tips the nose up.  But I don't sit on the nose.  I sit on the aft part where it is flat.  It's quite comfy this way.  

[Patrick Moore]

All of my saddles have and have had at least slightly nose-up postures, but like saddles themselves saddle position is very personal.

I've used at least 8 different Brookses of different models and at least in my case all but the Pro required a much higher nose than other saddles, even than other leather saddles (Ideale, Fuji)

One peculiarity of Brooks saddles, even more so than other leather saddles, is that (again, at least for me) a precise tilt was necessary for such comfort as I could get with them. I say "was necessary" because I gave up on them after finding that, tilt aside, they were not comfortable -- except for the Pro. The most comfortable was the Pro which would have been wonderful except that this saddle was so finicky about tilt that I was adjusting the tilt every 100 miles; I finally sold it on after a 8 or 12 months because I could never find that perfect angle.

This is how I tilt my Flites -- I now have Flies on all my bikes:

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Patrick Moore

Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum

[Patrick Moore]

I forgot to say that all my bikes presently have drop bars but even with bar ~4 cm below saddle I still want the saddle tilted as shown.