Road Cycling - Worst part aboot riding a century... the sitting

I just did my first century and my legs and lungs felt great but my butt is still aching a week later. Any advice on a new saddle, shorts, or if it's the frame.

having nice shorts in good shape with a good chamois is a good investment.

you also might try some chamois cream, the assos is popular. it feels quite gross at first, lubing up your various areas, but can make a huge difference in the long run if you're prone to saddle sores.

otherwise, move around, shift your weight from time to time.

also, if you're going to be doing lots of distance riding, finding a comfy saddle is important.

if my riding consisted of primarily centuries and touring, i'd have a more comfy saddle, like a rolls or turbomatic or old flite. you see these big saddles on pro bikes fairly frequently because the bikes are light to begin with and saddles aren't rotational weight, so you might as well sacrifice a few g and use something you're comfortable with.

I just did my first century and my legs and lungs felt great but my butt is still aching a week later. Any advice on a new saddle, shorts, or if it's the frame.

I typed this URL on my web browser this mornng and just purchased my second saddle. The first one still works but now that I have a new bike, it deserves a new saddle. What saddle am I talking about?

BROOKS!

http://www.wallbike.com

Could be any of the above really. I find certain shorts I have more comfortable for the long rides. I tried the Assos cream on one of my hundo's this year and it did help. I also bought a Fizik Arione saddle at the beginning of the season. Bottom line is that on a hundo, you really need to have all the bases covered!

I gotta go with the Brooks Saddle. Makes a HUGE difference in comfort.

make that #rd, for the Brooks Saddle.. I haven;t ridden a century yet.. but I've done about 65 miles with it, no problems at all... I used to have a Selle Italia Flite Ti... a nice saddle.. and fairly comfortable.. until about mile 55, then the foam seems to compress, and my butt hurt the rest of the way home...

jeff

Get the Assos cream or Chamois Butt'r. It made a huge difference for me. I got numbness after 20-30 miles before, and no numbness after 100 miles after.

Brooks Swift.

could think about lowering your handlebars a bit? to distribute the weight to your hands and pedals a little more... (but if your hands start hurting, then not a good idea...)

sd

Spend more time standing out of the saddle for a butt break. Try the butt creme too- it really helps make a difference. Do you take a break too, or just try to ride the full century without stopping? I cannot do a full century without a good rest break at least halfway through. I take an hour or two to rest up the legs and my butt, carbo load, etc.

Koffee

Spend more time standing out of the saddle for a butt break. Try the butt creme too- it really helps make a difference. Do you take a break too, or just try to ride the full century without stopping? I cannot do a full century without a good rest break at least halfway through. I take an hour or two to rest up the legs and my butt, carbo load, etc.

Koffee

Actually, I prefer shorter breaks to longer ones. I took a total of about 20 mins breaks on my first solo huno and actually prefer to grab some food and water and hop back on the bike.

I ride a Vetta SL, except for rides over 60 miles. Then, I switch to a Brooks B-17N. Last month I was in the saddle for ten hours and my rear was fine.

Actually, I prefer shorter breaks to longer ones. I took a total of about 20 mins breaks on my first solo huno and actually prefer to grab some food and water and hop back on the bike.
Agreed.

I just did my first century and my legs and lungs felt great but my butt is still aching a week later. Any advice on a new saddle, shorts, or if it's the frame.

I did a 2 day 150 mile ride about a month ago. Had two pairs of shorts, one with gel and the other with just foam. If you are going to spend a lot of time in the saddle, spend the moeny to get a good pair of riding shorts, and a comfortable saddle. Unless you are getting paid to race, the weight of a comfortable saddle will not compromise the quality of your ride.

sometimes this is about the saddle alone- it being too hard, or thinly padded, or the wrong shape for you- but more often bike choice and riding style muddy the waters.

If you have a race geometry road bike and especially if you don't do race- conditioning miles, the design of the frame may be so stiff and unforgiving that every road bump is transmitted through the bike to your body via the saddle. Compounding this might be a riding style where you sit all the time and never give muscle and tissue a change of position, by moving handlebar positions, or climbing out of the saddle occasionally. Often saddles are positioned too high, too far forward or back- for looks and fashion, rather than to complement your body geometry- or with a pronounced tilt in an unhelpful direction. There are a lot of riders using frames and stems which are too long for them. The cheap fix is to move the saddle rather than buy a new stem, frame or both.

Read up on these factors, take unbiased expert advice on cycle fit- then avoid buying superlight fashion seats and get one that conforms to your shape, rather than making you conform to it.

I have completed like 5 centuries. On a century I usually wear my Pearl Izumi's or Santini shorts....Really my butt is not the biggest problem..Think I agree..When the butt hurts make a big effort to stand on the pedals for about 1 minute every 15 minutes.
But the butt is never the biggest problem..Don't use chamois cream..Seems unnecessary... My feet always hurt the most..Conquer that by getting off the bike for a couple minutes every 60-90 minutes for 5 minutes or so...
Whatever hurts..I feel I am resiliant....Within a half hour all the pain is gone...Particularily, should I take a 30 minute cat nap. A good recovery drink seems to help also. If not that, try a beer.

Get the Assos cream or Chamois Butt'r. It made a huge difference for me. I got numbness after 20-30 miles before, and no numbness after 100 miles after.

Bringing backt the thread.

Question I recently have been having those kind of problems, not pain but the rash like stuff. Now I want to consider butt creme but what about washing your shorts, is there residue? or is it all end up in your skin. If people really reccomend it then Im doing it.

One word: BROOKS

I just rode 112 miles last Friday and I can promise that my rear was as comfortable on the last mile as it was the first. I also have a very nicely broken in saddle and a lot of time in it. That helps!

Hey Rush,

I've been using the Chamois Butter for a year or so now... almost only on longer rides... works well, absorbs into the skin somewhat, and does leave some residue on the chamois.. but washed out nicely.

Jeff

More time in the saddle and more centuries?

Honestly, the more you become comfortable with riding long distances and long lengths of time, the less sore you're going to become. I'm very comfortable in my saddle now, but back when I started doing centuries, it did hurt a little. Even then, though, I still wasn't hurting a week later!

More time in the saddle is what you need.

Koffee

Did a century on Sunday and no butt pain at all. A well fitting saddle and good shorts, combined with a lot of miles, should do the trick nicely. But I do have one spot in my left shoulder that gets really sore. Wish I could get rid of that problem but I guess something has to hurt.

I have a Brooks B17N. I've ridden six centuries on it. I wouldn't use anything else.

Agree with Koffee. I did my first Century a month ago. I did everything I could to ramp up my saddle time on training rides, with longer ones lasting over three hours. I believe that was a big help as I had no saddle soreness at all. I used the Chamois Butt'r on the big ride, though I never tried it during the training sessions. Just wanted some insurance. It is comfy and washes out very easily.

Oh yeah, I do have a Brooks B-17 on my OCR2!


Sheldon

I ride up to 70 miles once, twice a month..But, maybe four times a year between 70 and 100...70 seems to not hurt all that much..but that last 30 seems an eternity..guess stuff gets achy..not just one spot but overall fatigue..
I could do a century tomorrow if I had to , but wish I was as fresh the last third as compared to the first two-thirds.
Either force myself to do the last 30 miles more often or maybe some kind of recovery drink/food...
But, should the last 30 miles seems as fatiguing (should one ride 500-700 miles a month), but do not do enough actual centuries. ?

shorts with gel rock

I have a Brooks B17N. I've ridden six centuries on it. I wouldn't use anything else.

Word!

Butt balm, getting off the bike, standing for X minutes every Y minutes, trying to contort your ass region to some better position on a "saddle" that's already working its way up to your spleen - ad infinitum, ad nauseum.

I don't get it. I guess some of these guys think a few extra ounces to carry for the purpose of being able to enjoy the time on the bike is going to kill them. :lol:

Like I've said many times: if you can't carry the extra couple hundred grams of a Brooks, either you should:

1. sell your bike and take up something a bit less strenuous (golf? badminton? a bridge club?), or

2. get your head examined.

:rolleyes:

Ask the tourer's who routinely do hundreds of miles a week. The majority aren't riding on Flite's and Era's and their ilk.

Flat centuries are harder on your butt than hilly ones. I find it much easier to get out of the saddle when climbing. Descents are another opportunity to stand or get you butt off the saddle. The original poster was from Salisbury, MD. Pretty flat over on the Eastern Shore.

You get used to it. No need for a new saddle, gel or crisco in your shorts.

Flat centuries are harder on your butt than hilly ones. I find it much easier to get out of the saddle when climbing. Descents are another opportunity to stand or get you butt off the saddle. The original poster was from Salisbury, MD. Pretty flat over on the Eastern Shore.

I agree - on a century I usually stand to climb even short, easy hills to save wear and tear on my butt.

There's butt pain and there's butt pain. First you should define where it hurts. Do your seatbones hurt or do your soft tissues between the bones hurt. In the latter case you could have a saddle that is too narrow for you. That's what I realized during my first century. I was using a Fizik Aliante, a great saddle with outstanding reviews. Except that after 60 miles the soft tissues between my seatbones hurt so much that I had to take a break. On my second century last month I had a wider and flatter saddle with a central split, the Specialized Alias 143. The only pain I had was from my seatbones because that saddle is quite hard. I felt some pain but nothing excruciating that would have force me to stop. I just switched to a Selle Italia Proling Light Gel Flow that is also wide (144mm) and flat. I still have to do a century with it but so far it feels very good with great support and a softer ride than the Alias. Saddles are very personal, try lots of them until you find the perfect match.