General Cycling Discussion - Need help with saddle pain . .(over-weight rider)

I'm about 220, 5'6" (yes, I know, I need to loose some weight, but in the mean time... ..)

I ride a mountain bike. After about 15-20 miles, my rear really gets sore (I'm riding a Terry saddle). Any tips on how I might reduce the pain? I've ridden about 500 miles this spring/summer.

Different saddle? (bigger/smaller? gel?)
Change seat position up/down, fore/aft, tilt?
Handle bars. . .raise/lower?

Or is the only remedy to quit whiming, toughen up, and loose some weigh?

How big is the saddle and where do you get sore? I know that when i ride my moms exercise bike, it has a huge comfy seat, but it hurts my ass like you wouldnt believe and its because its too big and its not a saddle...i dunno if that might be the problem

At 6'2" and 310lb I'm a big guy too. I found a cannondale saddle that is a road bike saddle and its on my mountain bike. The mountaint bike saddle hurt too much. It took some miles to get used to the narrow saddle but it was worth it :)

Gel saddles, while seeming like a great idea, just aren't. They have a few problems
like the gel bottoming out (no pun intended) so you sit on hard plastic. The gel over
time gets dried (sorta) and loses plasticity.
Not sure how much milage you are putting in daily, but I'd recommend
a Brooks B17, there are tons of threads about Brooks saddles here at BF.

Hope this helps,
Marty

Your saddle may need to have the nose angled down a bit. Do you wear bike shorts?

I'm 6'1" and 240. If the saddle you have came with the bike, most likely it's junk. Get a saddle, not a seat, they're narrow and allow the legs to peddle better. It does take time to get used to one. It took about a month of riding 4 to 5 times a week before I got used to the Flite saddle I bought. Wear bike shorts if you're not now, they help too.

Mark

Most inexperienced bicycle riders think that they need a big wide saddle. If you raise such a saddle up to the point that your knee is nearly straight at the bottom of the pedal stroke, here's what happens.

As you push down on your pedal, the back of your theigh hits the angled part of the seat. As you do that repeatedly, it pushes you forward so that you are effectively only riding on the narrow nose of the seat. If you are trying to ride in a reasonably effective position, a narrower saddle will actually give you more support area.

I'm a big fan of Brooks in general ... if you haven't, try one!!
Also, maybe just get your position to take a little more weight off your tush. Obviously you don't want sore arms/wrists ... but if you can ease up your rear end it could help. As others have said the forward lean will decrease rubbing that moves you forward too far on the saddle. that may help too.
Good luck. Keep up the exercise!!!!

as others have said a narrow firm saddle good shorts too. I accidently lowered my saddle a bit and it was a world of difference in butt comfort. my legs like it a bit higher but my butt sure don't (G)