Contador uncofortable on his saddle?

[turtlesoup]

why was he sliding up and down his saddle so much? bad fit for him or something? Is there some advantage gained by the action? P&P said it was due to his effort but i dont put any value into what they say.

 

[Dutchsmurf]

He always rides like that. No idea why, he just does.

 

[Menndo]

That is something that can happen when you are doing a big effort like in TT and maybe his bike wasn't really fit for him or it was because of his position. If you look at Andy or other riders as Menchov, they did it too, but it was less noticeable.
It is very unconfortable to ride like that and a waste of energy going back to the saddle once and again.

 

[Publicus]

He always does that.

 

[Parbar]

They were talking about this on Eurosport--said Andy had ribs on his saddle to try and minimize the sliding.

 

[scribe]

Moving too much suggests a less than comfortable performance.

 

[Publicus]

Moving too much suggests a less than comfortable performance.

And yet it doesn't affect his performance since he does it all of the time. When he won at Annecy last year. When he finished 35th today.

So while it might mean that for other riders, it doesn't seem to mean that for him.

 

[scribe]

And yet it doesn't affect his performance since he does it all of the time. When he won at Annecy last year. When he finished 35th today.

So while it might mean that for other riders, it doesn't seem to mean that for him.

He is amazing. Even in discomfort, he shows that he is an indomitable champion.

 

[David Suro]

Road racers typically tilt the nose of their saddle down a bit while on their TT bikes. This helps to reduce the pressure on the front of the saddle area. But, it can create a situation where there is forward sliding and the rider must push himself back into the ideal position frequently.

Tri-racers have special saddles with soft, compressible sections on the nose of the saddle. The soft sections are made of gel and covered in lycra, kind of like the saddle covers you can buy at Wal-Mart.

Having non-skid stitching or ribs on the saddle to reduce sliding makes sense.

Unfortunately, when the pros go to the wind tunnels to determine ideal TT position, dynamic comfort is often sacrificed for the sake of aerodynamics.