I wanted to post a bit about an experience I've had lately to see if anyone else here can relate, or provide some insights into: to preface, I'm a relatively new Riv owner, a longtime cyclist in his late 40's with no previous history of back pain (knock on wood), and someone who has always ridden saddles at a level angle, at or slightly above bar height.
As most of us on here do, I enjoy looking at photos of different setups for all the many different Riv bikes produced over the years. One thing I've noticed about a lot of folks' setup - especially the ones that are more upright, and especially the newer models that are stretched out and upright (Clem, Platy, Gus/Susie, Joe, etc.) - is that many riders tend to tilt their saddles nose-up slightly, and some at rather pronounced angles. I recall reading some posts recently published by Rivendell that essentially recommend positioning the saddle this way on these types of bikes. So, after getting my Gus built up back in the beginning of October, I took the recommendation to heart, bolstered in part by all the evidence of many, many photos showing owners enjoying their saddles set up this way. I tilted the nose up at an angle that seemed appropriate, set my saddle height, and off I went. It felt ok, but I always felt like I was sliding down the backside of the saddle, and my body did feel like it was trying to get used to the upright position of the bike. Since then, I've been riding my Gus a lot. Many different types of terrain and varying distances. It's a joy to ride of course, and has been extremely comfortable otherwise from the get-go. i love it. However, something else started coinciding with my time on Gus; a nagging lower back ache that seemed to be at its worse following a ride, and continuing for a day or two afterwards. I recently took 5 days off the bike and experienced no back pain during that time. It was then that I started to wonder if it was all related to the saddle angle. This past week, I started experimenting with setting my saddle up the same way it is on all my other bikes. The only difference with this bike is that the bars are much higher in relation to the saddle on my other bikes. After a couple of days riding with the newly level saddle (including a 30 mi ride yesterday), I'm experiencing no back pain like I was before. Maybe it's too early to count out coincidence, but something tells me it's not. So this leads me to question the whole upwards tilt thing as it relates to these types of Riv models and how folks ride them. I know everyone is different, and there's always going to be those who prefer upward tilts, downward tilts, extreme fore / aft, etc. but what exactly is it, physiologically speaking, that skews towards the preference for the upward saddle tilt for an upright riding position? I'm certainly no expert on bike fit, but is there a logical justification for it, other than just personal preference? Has anyone else here had a similar experience? I'm going to keep it this way for a while to see if my hunch continues to bear fruit - fingers crossed. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/77760ed8-8c23-4135-8586-afcdf11af9b3n%40googlegroups.com.
