Originally Posted by
adrien
First off, saddle. You're not sharing yet where it hurts / doesn't, when, and whether there are clear wear spots that would help from a hint point of view.
Right now I'm using a Brooks B17 Narrow that has about 150 miles on it (so it's got a ways to go before it's broken in) but the issues were the same on all of my other saddles too, even after a fitting. On the B17 Standard that I put 4,000 miles on the wear spots are on the sit bones and on the tip. I upgrade the seatpost to a Thomson set back and changed the angle, which has helped with the perineum pain, but most of the pain now is still outside of the sit bones. I've tried, literally, 25 saddles (Fizik, WTB, Bontrager, Brooks, most of the Selle lines) over the past three months and the only one that I've found tolerable is the Brooks and of theirs only the B17, though I found it a bit wide hence why I'm giving the Narrow a shot now. Fizik makes some great saddles but now in a width that will work for me since, according to the Bontrager sit bones machine, I have 146 sit bones.
Originally Posted by
adrien
Second, your desire for gel. I'm 60% of your size, but I truly hate gel. Of the serious cyclists I know, exactly none of them have gel anything. It tends to mask fit issues, rather than truly address them.
I'm willing to give anything a try so why not. I've tried all of the non-gel bibs/shorts in my size and, outside of Hincapie, none of them lasted for any appreciable period of time and some of them were straight up trash. I had a gel insert stitched into a pair of shorts last year and they actually felt great but I lost them moving. If riding around on a pillow stuffed with $20 bills would work I'd give it a go since my heart, lungs, and legs can easily do 100 miles in a day but my saddle region can't. I've refused to do any of those silly gel covers but if this pain doesn't go away I may have to if I want to do more than 30 miles in a day.
Originally Posted by
adrien
Third, you told us your weight, but not height. Some bibs are much better for tall folks (Hincapie comes to mind).
I'm 6'3" and Hincapies are what I would love to buy again but they no longer make the 3XLs. The actual bibs of their I have are still in decent shape but the padding is pretty much gone at this point. I suppose I could replace the padding but I'd rather just buy new bibs if I can find them in my size.
Originally Posted by
adrien
Fourth, Assos is the best I've found. If you're worried about renewal on the trail, you can carry extra in a ziplock, or get the mini-packs of Butt'r. Heck, even a tube of hand lotion will help. But you shouldn't be going through it that fast.
Assos is what I've liked so far but even it doesn't last very long during the summer. When I ride my fat bike or do 30-60 minutes on the trainer it does a fabulous job but over the past month or so (since it's gotten hot here) it doesn't last more than, at best, 10 miles.