brickpepper

Just throwing it out there for anyone just getting back into it or anyone experiencing the saddle "discomfort' and/or "numbness" issues... Since resuming riding last month i have had some miserable rides and was making little progress. Mostly due to soreness of the old sit bones and a lot of numbess/discomfort where no one wants it. I was really grinding and efforting to just get little 15-16 mile rides in and was numb "there" for hours and even a full day once after. Much different than my riding days of yore...
Tried many things: adjust my body postion(s), adjusting saddle angle/height etc.., adjusting handle bars...all to no success or change really at all.
FINALLY: Broke out the wallet (but didn't even have to go to deep) and purchased a "Selle SMP TRK" saddle + a pair of Bontrager Baggy Style Padded riding shorts.
Holy Cow!!!! Huge difference!!! HUGE
Rides doubled with no effort first time out and increasing every ride since...AND no numbness whatsoever and very little sit bone discomfort and then only at the very end of the ride when it probably should hurt...but even then its very mild and dissipates quickly...kinda like that "good hurt" that lets you know where you've been and what you've done.

The Selle saddle has a nice wide cut out that goes all the way up through the nose and the nose takes a nice dip downward. This gives the effect of little to no pressure on the perineal area and man does it make a difference. Add the riding shorts that add a little support to "things" in addition to some padding for the sit bones and....well anyway, it works for me...works very well and has made a ton of difference...

My unqualified advice: Get a saddle similar to the above and a pair riding shorts (both together were under $100) and smile while you ride...a lot further... a lot more comfortable... Then when your core improves and you get "back to fighting shape" you can re-saddle appropriately...But this is an awesome starter or heal up set up...for what its worth.

Burton

Just my opinion - a pair of padded bicycle shorts by themselves or under anything will make a bigger difference than ANY bicycle seat on the market. I regularly ride 50kms plus with a full CF seat on a road bike. That's ZERO padding in the seat. Take away the cycling pants and things would be a lot different - largely due to perspiration and resulting chaffing issues.

tom cotter

Congrats on finding a solution that works for you! When it comes to anything related to riding comfort that's as good as it gets! Selle has a great line up of saddles. Your post shows you don't have to spend a small fortune to solve a big problem.

triumph.1

I don't know how many seats you went through before you found a solution, but it is fantastic when you get there.

FishyJeff

Here is a question for people not as dumb as me:

Cushy bicycle seats are bad, right? Serious cyclists say that you "sink" into the padding and it ends up causing more discomfort and it ends up being more uncomfortable on longer rides than a hard seat.

So why then, are cushioned bicycle shorts okay? Padding is padding, right? Am I missing something?

My current saddle (whatever saddle comes stock on a Giant Roam 2) is reasonable, but I do experience some numbness on longer rides. I appreciate the recommendations here and will definitely try padded shorts...just curious why they work when padded seats would not.

Jeff Wills

In general, the padding on a thickly-padded seat will compress underneath your sit-bones (the "ischial tuberosities"), which allows the rest of the padding between the sit-bones and compress the soft tissue there. The padding on shorts is usually much thinner and doesn't compress.

IMO, a little padding on the seat is good, but too much is bad. I had a heck of a time with upright saddles (I've ridden a recumbent bike for decades), but I found that the shape and padding of WTB saddles fit my particular butt.

Garfield Cat

Its about balancing between the two types of padding. For the road bike riders who race for a living, they would rather have minimum padding on the saddle and then compensate with shorts of various types of padding material. The padding on the saddle is different than the padding on the shorts. Higher density, less give.

FishyJeff

Makes sense. Thanks!