cyber.snow

I am in the market for a new saddle as my sit bones and perineal areas get really sore after about 40 miles and the second day seems even worse. I did buy a saddle from anLBS that was supposed to be fitted, but my front end will go numb after about an hour, which means lots of standing up or breaks. I have talked to other tourers who claim not to have that problem.

Any suggestions?

bradtx

cyber.snow, With perineal and sit bone discomfort you may very well need another saddle. With all of the different body types and riding positions, it's impossible to make a suggestion.

A very general rule of thumb is the more upright your position on the bike, the wider the seat pan of the saddle. Perhaps a photo of your bike's saddle position can help.

Brad

jefnvk

Nope. What works for me likely won't work for you. My favorite saddle was a cheap plastic one that came on a bike that most people here would shun and immediately replace, but it fit my bottom perfectly for the better part of 20 years.

My new favorite was one that happened to be on a cheap touring bike I bought, which I was just going to toss and replace with the preferred by everyone else Brooks, until I actually rode it for a bit. Ended up searching out another one secondhand, as they are no longer made, I liked it so much.

I do know, though, that no matter how cheap it is in the discount bin or how little you know about saddles, probably don't buy one designed for TT

chrisx

Is the seat level?
park the bike on level ground, check that the noose is not elevated.

What kind is it?

Tourist in MSN

I find that numbness is solved with only getting out of the saddle for brief periods of time, maybe 10 to 15 seconds each time, as that is enough to get blood flow moving again.

Happy Feet

A thing I do on all day tours is push the bike and walk for a few minutes each hour.

It uses the muscles differently which adds some circulation to the groin.

On long day rides I just stand and crank every once in a while.

dksix

I have bought several of different shapes and sizes for bargain prices on eBay, which helped me hone in on what likely will work better for me. One of the saddles I bought was a cheap Giant take off (under $10 shipped IIRC). Horrible on my road bike, really horrible but on my MTB it's like a Lazy Boy.

Leebo

Specialized has a way to measure the width of your sit bones. Try some different width ones?

raybo

You might find this detailed article about bicycle saddles useful: Saddle Comfort for Cyclists: The Best Bicycle Touring Seats - CyclingAbout

seeker333

1. Ride out-of-saddle regularly to relieve pressure. Every hill, every couple minutes, etc.

2. Try adjusting saddle height and/or angle in small increments - too high or too low can exacerbate skin friction/damage.

3. Your posture and bike setup affects load on body contact points (butt, feet & hands). A very upright position takes load off hands/wrist/elbows/shoulders but puts more on posterior. Consider how this may relate to your saddle sore issue. Bike setup adjustments are quicker and less costly than other options to mitigate saddle discomfort.

4. Try a "taint lube" like Bag Balm, vaseline, cornstarch, WM generic neosporin, chamois buttr, etc.

5. Wash shorts thoroughly and often, especially if you already have saddle sores. Carry spare shorts. If not currently using them, try some bike shorts with chamois.

6. Buy a large Tote bin and start a bike saddle collection. Seriously, try different saddles. Some work better than others. No one saddle works for every person.

indyfabz

Terry Men's Liberator Gel, for what it's worth, which is probably not much since, as noted, saddles are highly personal.

DTG

+1

You can't ride sitting down the whole time. When I ride centuries, every 10 miles or so I come out the saddle, not including climbing.

B. Carfree

Saddle sores aren't always about the saddle. There can be hygiene causes; I'm sure you can figure out if that is in play. However, ime the most common cause is simple fitness. For any given posture on a bike, there is going to be some load shared between the feet on the pedals and the body parts on the saddle. The lower your power output, the more of that load is placed on the saddle. That load will both irritate the skin, which can cause infections where the skin fails, or it can damage the underlying tissues, which can cause numbness and other wonders as well as lead to the world's nastiest version of a saddle sore in the soft tissue over the sits bones.

The key is to get fitter, which is rather difficult when you are too damaged to sit on the saddle at all. If it's gotten to that point, I would suggest getting off the bike for a few weeks and doing some other fitness work (weights, swimming, running, hiking). When you get back on the bike, start with shorter rides, ride as hard as you can and get out of the saddle often to allow the blood to circulate where the body is being compressed into the saddle. Eventually, you will be strong enough to sit lighter on the saddle so as to avoid developing saddle sores.

As far as saddle selection, the extremes are hard saddles that only contact the sits bones, which risk putting too much pressure on those two points of contact and damaging the soft tissue between the skin and bones, and plush things like leather saddles. The upside of leather saddles is that they spread the load across everything. The downside is that they spread the load across everything. All those nerves and vasculature that are in the perineum are kind of important to not compress. If you are going numb, there is some compression going on there, which can lead to permanent loss of function. Somewhere out there is a saddle that balances where the weight/load is placed for you. Good luck finding it.

elcruxio

I do have to point out that in no case is numbness normal or acceptable when riding a bike. Just because a lot of people experience it doesn't mean one should risk the organs which are at the ends of the nerves and arteries being compressed.

I've tried a lot of different saddles over the years. While normal saddles work for some, none of them work for me. The latest I'm trying is a Selle SMP Well, which is an improvement, but perhaps a bit too narrow and the issue Selle SMP's have is that they may still be too traditional (cycling, where everything new is bad and only inventions at least 100 years old are acceptable). It has a very convex shape making the effective width far narrower than it would be if the saddle was flat (and here lies the tradition problem, why can't it be flat?). Also the seat is extremely hard even if Selle SMP markets it with 'ample padding' which in turn causes saddle sores, at least for me. But it does help with numbness somewhat and is not in general a bad seat so that's going on my MTB.

The saddle I now have on order is an ISM PL 1.1 ie. a noseless saddle. Can't say anything about it yet, but according to everyone it should completely remove numbness. But so does a traditional seat that's pointing 45 degreed downwards. So because the saddle is missing the nose I'm a bit worried of how it will perform with supporting the upper body. However since it works by supporting the pubic rami like the SMP and not the ischial tuberosities I'm guessing it'll work just fine.

So you know, don't be afraid to try a less traditional saddle shape since some of them really do have a working concept behind them (SQ-Lab, Selle SMP, ISM, Cobb etc). Whether that concept then works with you is up to you to test.

deaninkl

I think all bums are different.., I can only say that my Brooks B17 is totally comfortable, I was a big skeptic of the old leather till I tried one... wow it really works. Now its the rest of me that aches first.

elcruxio

^ The fastest I've ever gotten numb was with a brooks. It was almost instantaneous. I mean comfy, sure but also extremely numbing.

john_mct

As noted multiple times, what works for one will not work for all...I'm lucky in that I found the Charge Spoon perfect for my bum, ridden several centuries touring on it and a few big MTB days. Bonus is it's relatively cheap, light enough (especially compared to brooks et al), and pretty styling. If you have a specialized dealer nearby they have a saddle trial program I believe but you will pay for it. Comfort is certainly worth it over the long haul though.

djb

lots of factors that come into play with this issue--amongst others (and not in order) very small seat position can often help things; your bike shorts; wearing underwear under bike shorts (not a good idea); your seat to bars distance: seat height etc

basically, general recommendations on an online forum might help, but you probably need someone who is an experienced rider to see how your setup is, and even then its not looking at the possible clothing issues.

no simple black/white on/off easy answer for your issue.

good luck getting some proper, face to face help with it all. No fun to have sore bits.

GamblerGORD53

I've been using Brooks Flyer saddles the last 5 years. They are comfy for a while then less so for a while, back and forth. Then my sweaty cotton golf clothes started giving me pimples right on the sit spot. On my only tour in SE Asia I found a memory foam seat cover in China. Haven't had a problem since. But it wears through my pants faster now. They also need a dorky shoelace around the nose to keep from squirming around so much. They are only available online from China and take 5 weeks in the mail. I used to actually like those heavy plastic mattress seats.
Still need to stand up lots.

79pmooney

cyber.snow, see if a local bike shop will let you test saddles and return ones that don't work. Many shops are doing that now. A shop here in Portland takes it a step further. It has a "library" of two dozen saddles hanging on a wall display. You purchase a $25 card that allows you to take any saddle out for a week just like a library book, as many times as you like. Find a good one and they sell you a new, boxed one and apply your $25 toward the purchase.

As said by others above, out butts and riding styles are all over the place. You have to find what works for you.

And on that note; when you put on a new saddle, go for a ride with all the wrenches to tweak it (both seat pin and saddle clamp. Stop as many times as you need to but keep your changes systematic. Bring tape and/or a tape measure so you can mark or measure where you are before you change it so you can go back. For saddle tip up/down you might want a 2 bolt seatpost. These allow you to rotate the saddle forward or back say 1/4 turn, then allow you to go back exactly to where you were before. (With many single bolt posts, you lose all reference as soon as you back off that bolt. A level, straight edge or garage door you can write on will be needed to keep track of tilt changes with a single bolt post. (Another advantage of two bolt posts - if you get saddle sore, say on a tour, you can change the tilt - maybe a lot - to get off the sore, keep riding and a few days/week later rotate the saddle back to exactly where it was before.)

To sum - keep looking, keep trying things. Be systematic, but when it is obvious this saddle or approach doesn't work, go to another. Ask experienced riders for input, especially after seeing you ride but take their input with a healthy grain of salt. (Just like here, the bring their baggage with them. But unlike here, they get to see you ride.)

Finally, there is no "rule" that works for all. Not on saddle width, shape, height above pedal, back from the bottom bracket, reach to handlebars or tilt. (That last one - you will hear many times that saddles must be level, as verified by a carpenter's level. I don't ride a level seat and never have. At least not for longer than it takes me to get a wrench.)

Ben

cyber.snow

A couple of quick notes. First, thanks everyone for your inputs. Second, my areas get sore, but I don't have sores. I did go take a close look at my saddle location. I found that while the saddle was level, it was pushed all the way back to give more space to the tool kit under the saddle. Following several people's advice, I will remove the tool kit and figure out another place to put it, that will allow me to move the saddle forward. I also noticed that the taller stem I used moved the handlebar up and forward about 3/4". Would it also make sense to return to the short straight stem but use a riser tower? That would make the effective length of the top bar back to the original distance but 3 inches or so higher?