Originally Posted by
corrado33
For ~2 years now, I've had problems with saddle sores. My commute is only about 5 miles, so I figured that I could just ride sans chamois and be fine. Well, my butt didn't like that. I've have persistent saddle sores every time I forget to wear my bike shorts. So, I went out and tried the Fizik saddle that was right for me. (Flat, skinny saddle.) That didn't help. I still got saddle sores.
I finally got fed up. I went to wal-mart, bought their skinniest, "soft" seat and tried that. It STILL gave me saddle sores, although it took much longer.
Anyway, finally fed up to the highest extent, I went out and bought one of those gel pad seat covers. Low and behold, it works. I no longer have to wear bike shorts on my commute and I no longer have saddle sores. I couldn't be happier. (Yes, I tried adjusting my saddle as well.)
Back in the seventies and eighties and even depending on the bike into the nineties road bike saddles came traditionally in only one form, HARD. The saddles were mostly made of very rock hard material including in some cases wood. The saddle was then covered with a skin thin and skin tight leather or cloth like cover. So, you either rode with a good riding shorts, (whose chamois were much thinner then), and through proper fit and constant use got use to the hard saddle. You really could do that. One common trait though that for many didn't go away when they rode the bike was finishing the ride with their package anesthetized.
Since the majority of riders on road bikes in the old days, (recreational and exercise riders) weren't going be properly to fitted or use the bike enough to get used to the hard saddle plus being combined with the minimal padding chamois short the gel saddle pads were THE standard in the old days. They sold like hot cakes. Most everyone had them.
So it sounds like you made a good choice. Hey man, if it works for you the heck with anyone that says or thinks different about the issue!
