# How do you measure sit bone width?



## aBicycle (Jun 13, 2012)

?????????????????


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## jonesjus (Mar 26, 2007)

Go to a Specialized or Trek dealer and ask to use the ass-o-meter. Yes, seriously. It's a gel thing you sit on.


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## TraxFactory (Sep 10, 1999)

sit on a memory foam pillow, measure fast.

use a tailors measuring tape...sit on your hands and feel for them bonz....measure....

get creative...


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## thickfog (Oct 29, 2010)

I've used cardboard too.


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## wschruba (Apr 13, 2012)

RipRoar said:


> sit on a memory foam pillow, measure fast.
> 
> use a tailors measuring tape...sit on your hands and feel for them bonz....measure....
> 
> get creative...


This is pretty much the easiest to do yourself.


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## DavyRay (Apr 13, 2012)

thickfog said:


> I've used cardboard too.


Good idea. Otherwise known as corrugated fiberboard.
Corrugated fiberboard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## Noclutch (Jun 20, 2010)

Sit on a slice of bread on the kitchen floor floor, naked.:thumbsup: Measure dimpled impressions center to center.
Avoid breads with whole seeds or nuts :eekster:. Discard bread afterwards, or at least toast it


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## aBicycle (Jun 13, 2012)

This should be a sticky.

Cheek to Cheek - Sit Bone Measuring Tool


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## ElDuderino2412 (Oct 24, 2012)

jonesjus said:


> Go to a Specialized or Trek dealer and ask to use the ass-o-meter. Yes, seriously. It's a gel thing you sit on.


This. My specialized dealer does it for free, and give free loner saddles to test ride.
......Or you can just take a pic of your butt and we can take turns guessing.


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## AZ (Apr 14, 2009)

ElDuderino2412 said:


> ......Or you can just take a pic of your butt and we can take turns guessing.


Or not. :eekster:


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## skullcap (Nov 4, 2010)

RipRoar said:


> sit on a memory foam pillow, measure fast.
> 
> use a tailors measuring tape...sit on your hands and feel for them bonz....measure....
> 
> get creative...


Put a piece of aluminum foil on the pillow and you don't have to be fast.

Agree that this should be a sticky. Beginner and General forums, both.


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## skullcap (Nov 4, 2010)

I went out and captured a couple of good resources for measuring your sit bones and choosing a comfortable saddle.

This article does a good job of explaining the whats, whys and how fors (particularly important for guys):

The Quest for the Perfect Saddle

And this video has a good demo of how to do the measurement yourself at home:


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## eclipse24 (Jan 14, 2012)

After trying cardboard, I stopped by the local Specialized shop and used the ass-o-meter. Purchased a 155 Phenom and I'm a happy camper.


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## Burt4x4 (Feb 21, 2013)

Noclutch said:


> Sit on a slice of bread on the kitchen floor floor, naked.:thumbsup: Measure dimpled impressions center to center.
> Avoid breads with whole seeds or nuts :eekster:. Discard bread afterwards, or at least toast it


HAHAHA LOL Awesome


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## bloodyknee (Jul 29, 2008)

Highly recommend everyone to use an ass-o-meter and get their correct width. I thought mine would be narrow since I have a small frame. Turns out I don't and once I got the right width saddle, I stopped getting saddle sores. Amazing what the right tool will do for getting the job done right.


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## aBicycle (Jun 13, 2012)

I tried using that ass-o-meter I linked to. All I got were the impressions of my butt cheeks.

Another thing you can do is take a piece of foil, fold it a couple times into a long strip, press it against your sit bones while pulling it tight and then measure the distance between the indentions, where your two digits were, on the foil.

I hope doing it that way was accurate. Could any of you for whom the ass-o-meter worked try this and let me know how the measurements compared?


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

_I_ don't. I do guess-and-check.

Turns out there's actually some subjectivity to the measurements anyway. Who knew?? The structure we nickname "sit bones" is long and a little slanted. When I ride with my hips rocked forward, I land on a narrower-spaced region than if I sit bolt upright.

Not that I don't think it can be handy. But for someone who's already riding bikes, you should be able to get a decent sense just looking at the measurement of your existing saddle, and considering whether it's wide enough or not.

There is "too wide." I tried a 143 mm Specialized Avatar a while ago, and it put some pressure on the nerves to the outsides of my sit bones. Kinda sucked. I'd wrapped the rails with electrical tape, on a tip from the sales clerk at the shop, so return was no problem.


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## bulerias (Oct 16, 2012)

AndrwSwitch said:


> _I_ don't. I do guess-and-check.
> 
> Turns out there's actually some subjectivity to the measurements anyway. Who knew?? The structure we nickname "sit bones" is long and a little slanted. When I ride with my hips rocked forward, I land on a narrower-spaced region than if I sit bolt upright.
> 
> ...


I just tried an Avatar two days ago and had the same exact experience. I had to tilt the nose way up to keep it from biting my sit bones. I guess if you use it on a slammed road bike it would work but for mtb use it's probably not optimal.

I'm dubious about the assometer system anyway. I'm theoretically a 143 [where do these increments come from anyway?] but I always end up with 130 Italian saddles. And I'm always dubious about them until I have a few months on them.

Despite all the flack about the Fizik Gobi, it's what ends up going back on. Plus I can sit all over on it rather than have to fuss about for the engineered sweet spot. And a narrower saddle is less in the way, dropper or not.


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## Zachua (Jan 21, 2008)

sooo did buying a saddle that fits your butt bones really make a big difference? I've always just rode whatever saddle came with my bike and never had much issue. I have hardly any butt...I suffer from a symptom known as "back with a crack."


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

I have narrow hips and relatively narrow-spaced sit bones. So for my first several years of riding, on a couple of different cheapie racing shells, I assumed that the whole "right saddle" thing was overblown.

However, I've also had some saddles that didn't fit me, usually because of funky shell shapes with too much convexity on top, and most recently I tried the one that was too wide.

So yeah, I think it makes a difference.

If you're happy on the saddle you've got, don't fight it.  My favorite is one I bought back in 2000, before I figured out that there were saddles that I really disliked. I'm bummed out that I can't find them anymore.


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## kingbozo (Jan 31, 2004)

Noclutch said:


> Discard bread afterwards, or at least toast it


:thumbsup:


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## Wolfcri (Apr 17, 2010)

RipRoar said:


> sit on a memory foam pillow, measure fast.
> 
> use a tailors measuring tape...sit on your hands and feel for them bonz....measure....
> 
> get creative...


Lol @ measure fast


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## MTBeing (Jan 11, 2012)

Noclutch said:


> Sit on a slice of bread on the kitchen floor, naked.:thumbsup: Measure dimpled impressions center to center.
> Avoid breads with whole seeds or nuts :eekster:. Discard bread afterwards, or at least toast it


I need to find a time when I can do this when my wife's around but not my kids. She's gonna lose her friggin' mind. Probably the ultimate WTF moment.


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## jeRdrgz (Mar 9, 2013)

I measured mine @Miami Bike Tech. Great Service


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