Road Cycling - Saddles, comfort and pain....

OK so I slaced off in anticipation of my new bike that would fit me properly.... Now how long should it take with riding 160km+/week to get used to the saddle again? a different one at that? I'm going from a Selle Italia Tri Matic 2 to a C2 of the same brand. I would post links but the website is down until March the 14th :mad:

The discomfort/pain I am experiencing is around the crease where crotch meets leg, where the side of the saddle might seem to rub? where some stitching is? I have some really cheap shorts that doesnt help things, and some Ultimo brand ones - still not the best apparently! So would some decent shorts help along with some time in the saddle? Or would a saddle with the cut away sides help?

Thoughts are of great help if written, so PLEASE respond :D

Brendon

I never adapted to any saddle until I was doing at least 100 km a week. Then it gets comfortable. It took me several years of road/ATB experience to figure out how to adjust the bike adequately for comfort , especially the seat to handlebar distance. These all impact your position on the saddle. There's no bike shop in my area that knows the "rules" for bike fit, but I found them in the literature and used them as a starting point, but it takes a while to get a fit that was good for me. It also took me a while to figure out that my sit-bone distance was a critical issue for saddle comfort. For my bike set up and rear-end set up, I've found the Salle Itallia Pro-link Trans am to be unbelievably comfortable. I used the road bike review site to find out about it and my lbs ordered me one and let me try before buy. It's medium width and is dished as opposed to flat in the fore/aft direction: all things that fit me best. It has a cut-out which i prefer, but like everthing else, it's an individual thing.

Just some guesses, but it could be that your sit-bone spacing might require a wider saddle, or you're saddle has too much padding and therefore too little weight is supported by your sit bones or maybe a cut-out would help or maybe all the above or possibly none of the above.

Al

You need to ride on the saddle for about a month before your asse breaks into into the saddle...even then though, depending on your anatomy your rear may not like that particular seat. So if your like me I tried a dozen seats over the last 13 years including the Flite Trans Am one poster mention and had no luck. Finally dug deep into my pocket book and bought a Brooks Swift TI because I use to have a leather saddle years ago and remembered the comfort. And after about 500 miles the seat breaks in to your rear, not visa versa like the modern "brick" seats of today. Would you like to break your feet into a pair of plastic or carbon fiber shoes to walk around in all day? I didn't think so, yet that's what we ask our butts to do with bike saddles! Leather shoes break into our feet, thus so should saddles.

Don't forget on any saddle you chose you need to at least every 15 minutes is to rise off the seat for about a minute to get the blood flowing again and prevent nerves from going to sleep and eventially damage.

try 1) lubing with baby oil, 2) tilting the seat down one notch.

baby oil, also would a chammy cream be good? I never used to have the need for any, but of late.... yes no?

Thanks for the info. Ill try notching the saddle down a bit if I can... (cervelo seatpost)

Except for the first month of bike riding - when I bought my first real bike in 1994; I have not had any problems, ever since.
As long as one sits on the sit bones, I no longer understand how the soft tissue gets numb. As long as the saddle is correct and you use proper bike shorts.?
The point about chamois cream..I hate icky creams. I hate sunblocks even, if they are too oily. Does not chamois creams feel oily. Do not like the idea of oiling my arse.

Don't forget on any saddle you chose you need to at least every 15 minutes is to rise off the seat for about a minute to get the blood flowing again and prevent nerves from going to sleep and eventially damage.

Is this need to rise off of the seat truely common? I started riding about a year ago and love my bike but I'm still trying to dial in the seat fit. I've needed rise up but have always regarded it as a failure of the seat to fit me.

I may "rise" once or twice per hour on a two and a half hour ride. That counts the snack break about every 45 minutes to an hour. The more you do longer rides, the easier it becomes to sit on the saddle. Rising periodicall is a good idea and helps to stretch the legs too.

Al

I got a new ride last year. My oold ride was really old 30 years old with a vintage Brooks Professional saddle. It gave me numb nuts and hurt on long rides over 3 hours.

Tried several saddles on the new ride and with the cutouts, numb nuts not an issue but still get sore on the sit bones on rides longer than 3 hours. Tried many tweaks as well. Just seems that when I ride al0ot and especially long rides I get a sore butt.

I've had good results with Assos Chamois lube. You might want to try some, or another brand. After a ride or two, I stopped noticing the wet feeling and just enjoyed not being sore.

From your pic of the new saddle, does the logo have seams around it where your older one didn't? I also see seams about where I would be contacting the saddle. How does this compare to your old one? Do any other members here have saddles with seams in the contact area?