There are plenty of documented times when bike maintenance should have been done, but didn’t get done, resulting in a not-so-good ride. There are other times when I’ve done some slightly crazier offroad riding and broken parts, which is to be expected, and that is all in good fun.

But this time the blame falls squarely on crappy bike parts.

The Start

I was heading off on a ride early in the morning, I started at 4:15, which was a little later than planned, but that’s par for the course.

The destination was the 600m peak of the hill between Shrding and Pinglin on the 106A. To get there I had to head off towards Nangang, pass by Academia Sinica Road then head on.

Now, the most obvious way to Shrding is by going over the 109, but I wanted to try something new. With Google street view on hand I planned a decent looking route over a smaller road that would achieve the same elevation, but add some variety to my ride.

A Little Lost

The main turnoff to the road up the hill was where the Google car had decided to go the other way, so I was on my own to figure out which roads went where.

I made it through the first intersection unscathed, keeping to the left and avoiding a detour to a deadend in the middle of nowhere. But my luck would change.

Later I was faced with a similar choice.

The road to the right didn’t seem to have any more lights while the road that dropped sharply to the left was well lit. So I took the path down.

Grab a Fistful

Something I love about roads in Taiwan is that there is no maximum grade. If that’s where the road has to go, then that’s where it has to go.

Back in South Africa there were some steep hills, but they were all limited in how much they would challenge my breaks when needed.

So on the way down this “little” road down I ended up braking so hard that I had to carefully alternate front and rear brakes to give them time to recover from the glazing over that occurs during heavy, continuous braking.

And…

It was the wrong turn…

just a dead end…

should’ve taken the other turn, so I had to slog back up after trying to check my location on the map (BTW a map on your phone is only really useful if you have a GPS to pinpoint your location, duh, I don’t have a GPS).

So up I went, kept following the road, the lights returned and then I started heading down.

The Bang

Riding in the dark requires and abnormal amount of trust in the state of the road you are riding on.

Very few bike lights will light up enough road to allow for evasive maneuvers when travelling at 30kmph+

So I was following the road as usual, keeping to the parts of the road I could see, or at the very least not riding off the edge of the road.

When I spotted a construction team I had to change tact and move left into a darker area….

Whack…

Slide…

Quick recover…

Although my front wheel made a big move to the right I did manage to stabilize and continue.

But something wasn’t right. The saddle felt strange. I put it down to the seat being shifted slightly during the little incident that just occurred. I continued, and finished a wonderful ride to the top of the big hill.

Holiday Time!

So I headed back to the office and went off to the Taipei main station for a slightly early holiday (on a Thursday, a got the day wrong in the video).

Disassembling my bike outside the bus terminal and shock and horror I see my seatpost is bent, no quick realignment of the saddle needed, but a full replacement of the seatpost. And this is the third one I’ve had that’s bent, just none of the others have bent so far.

The insanity is that until more recently Giant have insisted on installing 27.2mm seatposts with a big old shim, whereas the inner diameter of the seat tube is actually made for a 30.9mm seatpot without a shim. Dumb, dumb, dumb, raise the skinny one to a height suitable for me, put my fat ass on the saddle and the poor seatpost doesn’t have a chance.

Well, all should be good and well in seatpost land from now on.

Here’s hoping.

My butt hurts.

To put it bluntly that is the challenge I am having right now as I increase the distance of my long rides. I’ve never really had this problem before, but now it’s getting to me.

Racing vs Randonneuring

The biggest difference between these two is the speed and the time on the bike.

Racing is faster paced and only lasts, at the maximum, a few hours. Randonneuring stretches many hours or even days and is done at a much slower speed.

The pressure on the pedals and standing for speed keeps bum-to-seat time to a minimum. The downward push on the pedals also gives an upward push away from the saddle, relieving pressure on all the sensitive bits.

Randonneuring is almost all in the saddle. Hard bursts are not recommended, and neither is standing for greater speed. So the body’s full weight is planted on the seat all the time.

This creates new pressure on the sitting bones and the other bits around there.

My Pain

On longer rides, in fact rides of over three hours, the greater pain for me is the pain of sitting on the seat for so long.

This is a major problem.

Going longer and harder is getting easier through changing techniques and methods, but the saddle soreness is not.

And my current seat is not going to cut it.

Super-Comfy Seats

So I’m looking for seats.

The Brooks B17 and the Selle An-atomica both came up in this discussion on comfortable bike seats and this review of the Selle An-atomica. But this mention on the daily randonneur got me looking at the Selle An-atomica.

Selle An-atomica Titanico

The Selle An-atomica site has a long schpiel about how it has been designed for absolute comfort. And it looks quite convincing.

The seat is called the Titanico and the model designed for heavier folks (over 82kg) is the Clydesdale version. It offers extra material to cope with the extra load.

It features the Second Skin Watershed Leather which is leather that doesn’t need to be constantly treated. I’ve never owned a leather saddle, but I’m guessing they need treatment to keep the leather from going soggy in the rain.

They also have this video of it in action (not the prettiest sight, but shows a lot)

So I think I’m sold and this will quite possibly be the first thing I buy for my bike as an upgrade.

But…

The Price

A local shop offers it for NTD5200 (US$150) which is nearly one third of the price I paid for my whole bike.

I was planning on getting a second-hand STRIDA for some commuting for a bit less than that, but I think I’ll scrap that idea as the seat should make a huge difference on my rides. That difference is far more valuable to me than the commuting advantage as I do most of my travel by public transport anyway.

So, time to start saving, although I’m choking a bit it should be a great investment and, like my other expensive purchases in the past, pay for itself through sheer longevity.

When I get it I’ll report back on how much of a difference it makes, although anything would beat out my current saddle I’m watching for the long ride comfort.

Have you got a favorite seat? And why do you like it?