Hardly any cyclist should be completely spared from this situation. Especially at the beginning of a cycling career, or after changing the sitting position, they are there: seating problems. Then the search for the right saddle begins. Agony and choice then often go together. Finding the right one in the almost confusing variety of shapes, lengths, widths and upholstery variants is not that easy. "There are a few clues that can be used to narrow down the selection," Christian Nitschke tells us. The 30-year-old knows what he's talking about. After all, as a triathlon professional – and he has been for the last six years – you spend a lot of hours in the saddle. In addition, he now also sells saddles to men and women. We spoke to him.
Hello Christian! As a triathlon professional, you unwind thousands of kilometers every year. How do you avoid sitting problems?
As you mentioned above, it is not easy to avoid sitting problems, especially at the beginning. Most of them “first” ride the pre-assembled saddles and then, with a few exceptions, quickly realize that something doesn’t fit. It was the same for me. Especially the transition from a racing bike to a real time trial bike caused me big problems at the beginning. Luckily, some manufacturers have specialized in this niche in recent years and offer saddles for triathletes and time trialists. Sitting problems can only be solved with a good saddle that really suits you. Unfortunately, very few manufacturers have understood that there is no "one fits all" solution. Everyone is just anatomically different.
What consequences can an unsuitable saddle have and how can you tell that a saddle fits?
Very often there is unpleasant pressure in areas that one would rather have relieved... Chafing has always been a big problem for me personally. If you then put pressure on these areas again the very next day, it very quickly leads to inflammation of the hair roots, which can grow into very unpleasant abscesses and then make cycling impossible for a long time. Unfortunately, I had to gain a lot of experience with this. I now know that these chafing spots are caused by sliding back and forth on the saddle. You keep changing positions, almost out of necessity, because nothing feels comfortable.
Back pain and numbness are also at the forefront of saddle-related problems. No matter how well you adjust the seating position, if the saddle doesn't fit, the pain will still come. It is also very interesting that cramps, which can have many causes, are often related to the wrong saddle. If the pelvis cannot fold forward in the time trial position, there is a lot of tension on the posterior chain of muscles and as soon as you get off the bike, the cramps in the thighs are there.
It is easy to see that a saddle fits. You feel comfortable even after several hours, nothing becomes numb and, above all, you sit "as if glued to it". There is no need to keep changing positions.
In recent years, special triathlon saddles have increasingly entered the market. What is the difference to conventional ones?
The biggest difference between road bike and time trial bike is the different load on the seat area. On the triathlon bike, to achieve better aerodynamics, you rotate forwards and downwards with the help of the triathlon handlebars or attachment. In the seating area, with normal racing saddles, the load is then shifted precisely to the very sensitive perineal area and genitals. However, these areas must be relieved in order to remain a happy cyclist in the long term. Otherwise you'll start rocking side to side again to get the pressure off the perineum, or back and forth to relieve the genitals. Then we quickly come back to the problems described above.
Not to mention that every slipping back and forth effectively costs time in the competition. You use power in the truest sense of the word, which is then missing for propulsion. The American aerodynamics luminary John Cobb coined the phrase "comfort equals speed". There's definitely a lot of truth to that.
Good triathlon saddles also enable the initially described pelvic rotation through a slight indentation perpendicular to the recess just before the middle of the saddle, in order to avoid a rounded back and too much tension on the rear muscle chain. This small indentation also makes it possible to keep the seat height constant when you straighten up on a climb from the time trial position and slide backwards slightly. The perineal area is relieved by a central cut-out and many models relieve the genitals by being in front of the saddle nose, so there is no pressure at all. The contact surfaces are then on both sides of the sensitive perineal area and behind the genitals. This area is usually much less sensitive. Good ventilation of the seating area is also important, since the removal of sweat can very effectively prevent chafing, especially in hot weather.
Finding the right saddle is often like looking for a needle in a haystack. What criteria are there to at least limit the selection?
A number of factors play a role here. The most important question that always comes up at the beginning of a consultation for me is the question of the bike. Are we dealing with a racing bike or a time trial bike? Many athletes are also unhappy with their saddle on the racing bike, but in most cases "only" the pressure has to be taken off the perineal area to prevent unpleasant consequences, such as pain when urinating. Prostate problems, a very common cyclist problem, can also be avoided with a very large cut-out. The saddles for racing bikes are usually a bit narrower, because in the upright position you tend to have problems with chafing on the inner thighs.
Next comes the question of the elevation between the handlebars and saddle or trailer and saddle. It also plays a decisive role in which saddle you will be happy with. In general, one can say that a large cant in many cases requires a slightly wider saddle. Now I can usually narrow it down to two or three models. If I then get a bit of information about height and weight, my tip is in many cases very good.
When it comes to female athletes, there is another important point to consider. John Cobb also published a very interesting article on this topic a few years ago. Here he divides them into two groups, which are divided roughly 50/50, which he calls "innies or outies". The female genital area is similar to the navel, which is either on the inside or on the outside. It is the case that the "innies" need rather narrow saddles, while the "outies" are happy with wider models. It is by no means the case, as has been claimed for a long time, that women generally need extremely wide saddles! If you want to deal with it in detail, you can find the whole article translated into German on my website. Even if this topic is often hushed up, it is really worth looking into if you, as an athlete, are fed up with an uncomfortable saddle.
In any case, I have had very positive experiences if you deal openly with this topic.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating – does that also apply to saddles? Or is it possible to avoid having a dozen different saddles lying around in the basement before you have fitted the right one?
I can only recommend anyone who is not sure to test it. At the time when I had my problems, there was unfortunately almost no opportunity to do so and I ended up with the right saddles rather by accident, since the company was a sponsor of TeamTBB at the time, which I was a member of for four years. For my customers, I always recommend a conversation in which I can ask about the above points. So I can limit to a few models, which can then be tested against a deposit. This saves you having to buy 20 saddles before finally finding the right one. After all, hardly anyone buys a running shoe without a test run. In my opinion, the saddle is the most important connection point with the bike. Then you have to make sure that it suits you.
Profile Christian Nitschke:
Birthday: 04/28/1985
Pro since: 2010
Greatest successes: 5 wins in a row at the Ostseeman Triathlon in Glücksburg, as well as my personal best time of 8h17min over the long distance in Cologne.
Text: Christine Waitz
Photos: Christian Nitschke, Ingo Kutsche
