Bike Snob - Anonymous [62]
Always Keep Your Saddle Level
The symbol of peace is the olive branch. The symbol of communism is the hammer and sickle. And the symbol of the fixed-gear bicycle fad might as well be a bicycle saddle with its nose pointed directly at the ground.
As much as I believe that comfort is paramount, and that people should opt for what works for them over what other people think should work for them, the truth is that if your saddle is more than a little bit off-kilter, something is wrong. Actually, few cyclists keep their saddles dead-level. Many prefer a slight upward or downward tilt. However, if the nose of your saddle is actually pointing directly at your front hub this means there is a problem and you’re simply compensating for it. This problem could be that your bars are too low, so you have to angle the saddle down in order to spare your poor, suffering taint. It could also mean that your saddle is too high and you’re angling it down in order to be able to straddle it. Or it could simply mean that you’re using a saddle that doesn’t fit you well and you should try something else.
Indeed, the quest for the perfect saddle is an important—dare I say mythological—one for a cyclist. It is a voyage of both self-discovery and self-crotchal discovery, and it’s one that can take minutes or years. You could buy your first bike and be perfectly comfortable, or you could try saddle after saddle for decades, only to discover that the saddle that’s best for you was made briefly by an Italian company in the seventies. Either way, it is a process of trial and error and of experimentation, but after a while you do come to know which shapes work and which don’t. And if the only way you can get your saddle to fit comfortably is to angle it down like a wind sock on a still day, you should probably try a different one.
Misconceptions:
Rock It First; Rationalize It Later
While some practical ideas eventually just become rules of thumb, other choices specific to a certain group of people can ultimately evolve into fashions. Here are some current cycling fashions that Don’t Always Make Sense:
The Messenger Bag
Along with fixed gears, the messenger bag has become extremely popular. In fact, it’s become so closely associated with cycling that many people automatically think it’s the only type of bag you should even consider for riding. It’s rare these days that a new rider will purchase something else.
Messenger bags for non-messenger use is nothing new, and they’ve been popular with non-cyclists for decades. They actually crossed over to the mainstream well before messenger-style bikes did. This makes sense, because messenger bags are durable and they hold a lot of stuff, and they’re a much better fit for the typical urban person than a leather briefcase.
However, for on-the-bike use, messenger bags aren’t always the great choice everybody thinks they are. This is because they’re designed to swing around from rear to front quickly and without being removed. This is great when you’re stopping every two blocks to deliver a package; but it’s not such a great thing when you’re just going from one place to another and you keep having to push your bag back around every five minutes. If you’re not constantly going in and out of your bag, you very well may be much better off with a regular backpack.
Still, urban cyclists will continue to choose the messenger bag. Actually, the messenger bag has become less a bag than another article of clothing. People often opt for the most capacious messenger bag they can find, but since they’re not delivering packages these bags just remain mostly empty. And empty bags don’t swing around; instead, they simply wrap around your body. Really, a better name for messenger bags might be “hipster capes.” The U-lock still resides in the back pocket, and the keys still hang from the waist. And the messenger bag is wrapped around the shoulders, and the shoulders are hunched over ridiculously narrow handlebars. The result is riders who look like James Brown at that