C-Forum

hi guys

Ive noticed that my straps are not sitting on my thighs well. they tend to slide down quite easily and i cant get snug. also, they arent high enough on my thighs to keep my butt down in the saddle, making it nearly impossible to roll the boat.

the problem is because the angle created by my shins and thighs is too great. its like 45 degrees or so. to correct this, should i add foam to my knees, thereby making that angle more acute, or should i chop an inch off my saddle to lower my butt, making the angle more acute and allowing the strap to sit higher on my thighs.

thanks

matt

How is the back of the saddle? Is your back resting on it ir do you have space in between. Maybe you could add a bit of foam to the back of the saddle to try an push you closer into the thigh straps.

OR

Try a bulkhead.

Many possible remedies..
Use your foot pegs to keep yourself tight into the straps.
Or, move the strap anchors back.
Or, lower the saddle if you can handle a lower height, It'll help with the high center of gravity as well.

I would lower my saddle, which will also give you the advantage of lowering your center of gravity. If you build up your kneeling pads you will tend to raise your center of gravity somewhat.

If that doesn't help I would take a look at the position of your thigh strap anchors. If you are going with a single pair of straps I would use the recommendations for placement given by Mike Yee. The inboard anchors should be somewhere just aft of the nose of your saddle just an inch or so forward of your groin. The outboard anchors should be no further back than your ankle bone, and down about 10-12 inches from the top edge of the hull. Not everyone will have theirs placed exactly so, but it seems to work for most people.

I have found that a double strap system with a pair of thigh straps and a pair of knee straps does much better to keep my rear end or my knees from lifting off.

Of the 2 options you mention, lowering your saddle height certainly seems like a better and more common solution then raising knee pads.

But, I think you're thinking too much about your "leg angle". Thigh straps can be made to hold down a wide range of body types and leg angles. Good ideas mentioned above about pushing yourself forward more.

And more than likely what you'll need to do is relocate your anchors. Is the anchor at your crotch close enough to your saddle? Are the anchors at your hips far enough back? Sounds like your straps probably just aren't installed to be aggressive enough for you and your legs - you need thigh starps and you only have knee straps. For double straps, maybe you can keep the anchors now for knee straps and add new onesfor better thigh straps.

Pat.