(I also posted this on the General Biking forum as well)

I have a Giant Ranier Mtn Bike. I bought the bike near the end of June this year. I have been averaging about three rides per week. Most are about 8 miles and a few are 20 miles. Some of the rides have been single track trail, but most have been road bike trail or street. When I bought the bike I had the seat changed out. It seemed very small for me and I went with a Cloud-9 mid size. My buddy railed on me for doing this as he was concerned about the "Dork" factor of a bigger seat. I am 245 lbs (down from 277) and I thought the larger seat would be best.

When I first started riding, I would have this reasonably sharp pain that seemed to resonate from my tail bone. It hurt most when I set down and stood up. I asked the LBS folks and my buddy and all told me that it would go away. Well, I have been riding for over two months now and it ain't going away It is not as intense as at first, but make no mistake, it is still here.

So, is the seat my problem? Should it be bigger/smaller? My weight? (I am working on that)

Help and Thanks,
Jay

It will go away.... :p

Unless something is cracked down there, that's pretty much what you feel when you first sit on your bike. It should go away in less than a minute as you start riding.

After two months of riding that should have gone away by now. Do you wear padded shorts? It sounds like the seat isn't the right size. See if you find some place to measure your 'sit bones.' If not try finding a leather (or some kind of harder foam that won't bounce back too quickly) chair, sit on it with thin undies on, rock back and forth and stand up quickly looking for two indents are. Can also put your hand between your butt and the seat and try to find them. Measure the distance, then look at your seat. Is it wide enough to support your weight? If not you may be riding with the seat pushing against your tail bone which may be causing that.

If it is wide enough are you actually ON the saddle? Do you slide forward when you're riding? May have to be moved forward or backwards.

Good luck!

Let me clear up something I left out. The pain is never when I am riding. It is after for about 12-24 hours, then it goes away until I ride again. And, the pain is not while I am sitting but rather when I sit and when I get up.

Yes, I wear padded shorts.

Thanks for the responses so far.

Jay

Ahh, my wife had something similar. It is more a the top of your crack? Two things helped, first, a better saddle, for her it was a Brooks. Second, she started riding more bent over.

Sheldon

I know someone who had to quit riding regular bikes because she had a pilonidal cyst. This is a condition at the tip of the tail bone. A sack of skin is inside body, probably related to our lost tails from our progenitors.

Anyway, biking irritated the cyst which she didn't even know she had and caused it too get infected. This causes pressure, oozing, and boy it sounded painful.
Have a significant other take a look at the area and see if there is anything going on. If the pain goes away, this doesn't sound like your problem, but it is a data point to consider.

I've been having a similar problem since the Spring. I could do several laps around Central Park but the moment I got off the bike I could barely sit down. This is my third season so I knew it wasn't something that would go away with time, and since I'm riding with a Brooks I doubted it could be the saddle.

After searching Bikeforums I noticed there seemed to be a correlation between tailbone discomfort and suspension posts. So I swapped my old suspension seat post with a new rigid one and I feel better already. .. maybe a little faster too :p

For some reason people always equate a wider seat with more comfort. It is if only doing 4 - 5 miles slowly on a bike trail.

I bet would bet you'll do better with a narrower saddle - makes sense since narrower means less contact with your tush and less to get irritated. Not an expert in men's saddles but I'm sure the guys can recommend some for you. Maybe one to look at is Terry's Men's Dragonfly.

This is a condition at the tip of the tail bone. A sack of skin is inside body, probably related to our lost tails from our progenitors.


I had to smile at this. I imagined the thousands of saddle threads on this forum, and how surprised people would be if they found out it was because it was tail-related!

(OT: I have always been sad that people didn't have tails. I would love* to have a tail...either a really useful little monkey tail that could hang onto things or a big golden retriever tail that could clear a table.)

For some reason people always equate a wider seat with more comfort. It is if only doing 4 - 5 miles slowly on a bike trail.

I hear ya. When I got my HardRock, I looked at the saddle and thought I would never be able to be comfortable on that skinny, little dart of a thing. I figured I would replace it very soon. After a couple of rides, it was so much more comfortable than the large, squishy, gel filled saddle on my xmart bike that I was amazed.

Barring any unknown medical problem you might have down there, you weigh 245 lbs, and you are riding a mountain bike (which leads me to think you are riding with a fairly upright position). This would mean that you pretty much end up with 245 lbs pushing down on that saddle. You might need an even wider saddle to distribute your weight. Wide but not soft. Soft is a killer. You just get too much compression of your whole crotch which leads to all kinds of problems. This is why leather saddles like Brooks work. They have various wider models, and even a B17 is wider than the average racing saddle, but the surface of the saddle itself is firm. I mean, there's no getting around it. If the saddle is not wide enough for your weight and your riding position, it just won't work, because you are concentrating all your weight on too small a patch of plastic or leather.

I had to smile at this. I imagined the thousands of saddle threads on this forum, and how surprised people would be if they found out it was because it was tail-related!

(OT: I have always been sad that people didn't have tails. I would love* to have a tail...either a really useful little monkey tail that could hang onto things or a big golden retriever tail that could clear a table.)

Email me a pic and I'll make you a Mog! ;)