Originally Posted by
yannshukor
Every year I travel home to Nice, on my own, from a European capital with my bike ex. Paris, Salzburg, Naples, etc.
Last year I started off from Madrid, and this year from Berlin; both of these trips took me nine days (~1500 kms).
I ride a Giant Defy Advanced bicycle equipped with disk brakes and Zipp 303 wheels.
My current saddle, ASTUTE Skylite, replaced the original Fizik saddle that came with the bicycle; I was told that most manufacturers equip their bikes with 'lesser' versions of saddles in order to trim the overall cost.
Previously I rode a TREK fitted with a Selle Italia saddle.
My main difficulty during these trips is my back side; which is what led me to your comprehensive article.
The sit-bone area becomes swollen and blistered and understandably quite painful; Compeed and Doliprane/Neurofen are my only recourse
Having adopted a vegan diet I have also chosen to avoid leather based products.
I'm still searching for THE saddle that will allow me to pursue such trips without the suffering.
I'm currently considering a Brooks C15 (or C13 145) saddle
Should I accept that it is the mileage and duration of these trips that is to blame for my plight and will remain thus whatever saddle I may choose ?
Your problems may be due to a multitude of reasons.
The padding in your biking shorts may be incompatible to you, your saddle, or both. I suggest you try a set of bib shorts from one of the bigger, better liked manufacturers (castelli, assos, rapha etc.)
Swollen and blistered sounds a bit weird since usually there's chafing and saddle sores which are infected hair follicles. Blistering sounds more like a burn or a chemical burn or an allergic reaction. Do you use a type of chamois cream when you ride? If you do it may be something in that which is causing the issues. Or if you are not using a chamois cream maybe consider using one.
Also you do wash your riding shorts after every day of riding right? And rinse them properly to remove any and all residue of detergent? Cause residue detergent will do bad things to your skin especially if chafing is involved.
What helped me immensely with my saddle sore issues was swapping my skin care regime. It turns out that the skin on my bottom is really sensitive and requires care with a low ph-washing liquid as well as a base cream moisturizer that is packed with humectants and not moisturizers. Soap and petrolatum were apparently a very bad idea.
Different skin types and different people prefer different moisturizing methods, some work well with plain soap and petrolatum based products while my arse likes glycerin, carbamids, lactic acids, vegetable oils and other humectants. And NO soap!
It could of course be the saddle but I would start by ruling out various other factors since your issue does not sound like a traditional saddle issue.
Always use clean properly washed shorts
Try chamois cream
Let your butt rest every once in a while by pedaling while standing up a minute or so every 10km or so. And in uphills etc.
Check what you are washing yourself with and confirm you are not having an allergic reaction to that substance
Check that your saddle is not too high as that will cause chafing.
Is your saddle wide enough to support your sitbones?
I'm sure others commenting in this thread will come up with more suggestions.