Fifty Plus (50+) - Seats and Tailbones

Hello All-

My wife and I are riding more each weekend on our new comfort cruisers...14 miles last Sunday.

My wife is having some seat trouble. Several years ago she injured her tail bone (Tai Kwan Do). It gets sore after a few miles. I had bought a wider (square style) seat, and experimented with the tilt, but this does not give enough relief. She feels that maybe flatter handlebars may help by bending her forward and having less tail bone pressure on the seat.

Has anyone else suffered this and found a solution?

Thanks much!

Try a womens specific seat. There are many options out there, that differ in design, size, and amount of padding. What is her current handlebar/stem setup? You can try things like longer/shorter stems, ones with more/less rise, as well as different handlebar options, which will depend on the bike. Helping the solution will mostly depend on her riding position as far as how bent over she is, and how far she is reaching.

Experiment until you find the right setup that allows her to be comfortable

I would start with a gel seat, and some padded biking shorts. She should also be sitting a little forward, and not directly on her tail bone.

edit: also I think it would help to stand up periodically during the ride, especially when she starts to feel discomfort.

Perhaps a saddle with an large cut out may help; then again I tried a Toupe race saddle and it hurt my tail bone... Perhaps it is the positioning for and aft? You need to sit on your sit bones NOT on your tailbone, so any pressure there should become unconfortable.

I was going to recommend a split style saddle, but thats going to vary between riders as far as comfort goes, as shown by vsopking's response.

http://www.ride-this.com/index.php/wtb-vigo-pro-saddle-crmo-black.html?source=googleps

This kind of a request pops up from time to time. I ride this saddle and wonder if it would help the TAILBONE problem. It is split all the way through the back. Make sure that the bike saddle is mounted level. I find this to be most comfortable for me.

Tai Kwan Do eh, what women won't resort to for keeping their man in line. Behave yourself!

[QUOTE=Daspydyr;11726967Tai Kwan Do eh, what women won't resort to for keeping their man in line. Behave yourself![/QUOTE]

I'm not so sure. It sounds to me like she got her tushie kicked.

Hate to suggest it but the best way to get pressure off the tailbone is to get a bike that stretches you out a bit. That long forward stance on the bike has helped me cure a butt problem that I have had for several years.

Mind you- it can put pressure into a different part of the anatomy that your wife may not feel like talking about.

Terry, The Original Women's Bicycle Company, is well known for saddles. This particular one is especially for recreational riding: "more upright riding positions, tailbone relief" $45
http://www.terrybicycles.com/saddles/womens/detail/21412/current/cite-x-gel-saddle-1
You can't beat the guarantee. Ride it. Love it. Or return it.

+1 on Terry Saddles. Made for women by women.

If she can't find anything she likes, try Specialized women's saddles.
--> http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCEqSelectSection.jsp?scid=1020&pscid=1009

Hate to suggest it but the best way to get pressure off the tailbone is to get a bike that stretches you out a bit. That long forward stance on the bike has helped me cure a butt problem that I have had for several years.

Mind you- it can put pressure into a different part of the anatomy that your wife may not feel like talking about.

I have to agree with Stapfam on this one. I know that when I ride any of my more "upright" rides, my tailbone can get a bit tender after 45 minutes or so. Ideally, you want the weight on your "sit bones" (i.e., ischial tuberosity) instead of the "tail bones" (i.e., coccyx).

+1 on Terry Saddles. Made for women by women.

If she can't find anything she likes, try Specialized women's saddles.
--> http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCEqSelectSection.jsp?scid=1020&pscid=1009

+1 on the Specialized women's saddles. I have the Dolce gel on all three bikes - road, touring and mountain bike. I've tried Terry Saddles and they were fine but not quite as comfortable as the Specialized Dolce.

176805

Hate to suggest it but the best way to get pressure off the tailbone is to get a bike that stretches you out a bit. That long forward stance on the bike has helped me cure a butt problem that I have had for several years.

Mind you- it can put pressure into a different part of the anatomy that your wife may not feel like talking about.

I agree with Stepfam here. The tail bone is located to the far aft. Getting into a less vertical orientation will rotate the tail bone up and out of the way. That way it will not bear weight or take pressure.

Another thing is to get away from big huge saddles. A big saddle can be like sitting on a chair and if you are vertical, the tail bone will take a beating.

If you rotate so your trunk is more horizontal, your tail bone will rotate up. Also on a narrow saddle, the ischeal (sp) processes of the pelvis will bear your weight and none will be on the tail bone. I know a big huge saddle looks comfortable. Years ago, I had a bike that came with a really hard & really narrow Italian racing saddle. I thought that it was going to be nasty. But it was already on the bike and what the heck, I gave it a try. It turned out to be far more comfortable than the cushier looking saddles I had been riding. The fit of the saddle is the tricky part.

Wow...thanks for all the responses...I will look nto the ladies saddles...I also think a less upright riding position will help.

Wow...thanks for all the responses...I will look nto the ladies saddles...I also think a less upright riding position will help.

My money is on the "too upright" theory. Stapfam et al. have it correct I think. A longer stem could be called for to get the needed forward rotation. Making this adjustment will likely mean a period of sore hands and/or arms until she adapts. One of the mentioned saddles may also help... a wide saddle will probably tend to become problematic as you rotate forward and become more stretched out. Ultimately the comfort/cruiser bike may even need to be abandoned, but that remains to be seen.