chefisaac

thanks craig. Damn... I was just at the bike shop I bought it from and its a two hour drive one way

kevin_stevens

So what's the best approach to HTFU in this regard? Wait for the first set of bruises to go away, and then get a second set? Keep grinding away daily? Do shorter rides up to a pain point and stop? Is there an accepted regimine to get the process over with quickest?

KeS

dehoff

Chafing is pretty much limited to irritated skin. The soreness when sitting on a hard surface and when rubbing the area sounds more like your soft tissue needs to break in, like in CraigB's thorough explanation.

If I slack off from the trainer in the spring the first 25 miler will leave me a little bruised and I'll feel it on the next ride, but will usually be OK after that.

dehoff

It really depends on how fast you want to get past it. I've typically found that the ride immediately after the 'bruising event' is the worst, and you'll recover fairly quickly after that. If one wanted to they could probably gradually increase time/mileage and experience only very mild discomfort on a few occasions, but IMO I don't want my butt to be the limiting factor in getting miles in on my bike. I had a rigid mountain bike about 20 years ago that had a carbon fiber seat on it. No leather on top, no padding, just rails and carbon fiber while riding on singletrack. That seat left me hurting for about a week the first time I put in some decent miles.

CraigB

What's always worked for me is to just get out and ride. Do what you can, but don't give up and turn around right out of the gate. Even early in the season, when my butt is at its most tender, the second ride might start a little painfully, but it will stop within a few minutes. Others may not get such speedy results. It might take three or four rides. Once you're past it, though, you'll look back and think it was no big deal.

CraigB

I agree with dehoff's suggestion that it probably isn't chafing, if for no other reason than the sit-bone areas shouldn't be sliding around on the saddle (or inside your shorts), which is really the only way for chafing to happen. It's pretty easy to tell chafing from tissue bruising just from the way they feel. The former is a skin abrasion/irritation issue and the skin itself is where the pain will be - you'll feel pain from just touching the skin alone; the latter is deeper under the surface and isn't really felt until pressure is applied in the area.

kevin_stevens

Ok. Just didn't want to be making things worse/longer.

KeS

chefisaac

I do not think it is the sit bone becasue I sat on a hard surface last night with my hands under my butt and no hurting. It does hurt if I rub it. So perhaps chafing or brusing.

I rode 9 miles yesterday and it hurt for sure.

Things I will use to remidy this: 1- will get new pair of cycling shorts. I talked with a guy yesterday and he said that cycling shorts are like shoes... the more you use them the more they will wear out. I have had this pair for a while and use it when I am at the gym doing cardio.

2- will try a cream of some sort

3- ride more.

chefisaac

just ordered new bibs and fricton freedom. How much friction freedom do I need to use?

sstorkel

Chafing can also occur on long rides in hot or humid conditions. At some point, the chamois gets saturated and loses its ability to wick moisture away from your skin, which makes you more prone to chafing. DAMHIKT. With poor shorts, or the wrong saddle, you can also get chafing at the top of the leg due to repeated rubbing against the edges of the saddle.

sstorkel

Well, at least you're going to cover all of the fixes except the most obvious one: the saddle itself. In my experience, ass hatchets like the one you're riding only work for professional racers with cast-iron butts...

None? With a good pair of shorts and the right saddle, you shouldn't need chamois cream for most rides. Certainly not for a short 9-mile ride...

chefisaac

I will be looking at saddles later this week.

sstorkel: 9 miles to you might be different then me. I am just starting out, over weight and outta shape.

CraigB

I agree. In fact, I've never used any kind of chamois treatment. I know a lot of people swear by them, but I've never found them necessary. YMMV, I suppose.

chefisaac

What do you end up looking for in a saddle? I think of it like its buying a pair of shoes..... you can try them on and it might feel great now but hurt later.

jethro56 

That they say Brooks B17 on the box.

chefisaac

lol. thank you

RandoneeRider

After getting my sit bones measured.... I paid $88 for a Specialized wannabe gel seat. VERY forgiving in position and angle, I put my butt through hail for 400 miles before buying a B-17 Imperial (w/central cut-out).... LOVE it! But setting the angle, height, fore & aft of the B-17 is time consuming and labor intensive, gotta be patient.

chefisaac

jethro: was there a break in period for you with that saddle?

chefisaac

rando: was there a break in period with yours?

And how did you all settle on the type of brook saddle?

jethro56 

The brooks was instantly better than the bontrager hybrid saddle I had. I only have 1500 miles on it so it's still breaking in. It just keeps getting more comfortable or maybe I'm just more of a hard ass.

chefisaac

jethro: I am going to philadelphia either today or sometime this week to take a look at the brooks saddles. Hopeful my butt will be thankful!

kenoshi

Make sure you become intimately familiar with this:

https://sheldonbrown.com/saddles.html

Then get yourself properly fitted, you can DIY but it helps a lot to get a professional opinion. I got fitted at a specialized dealer, and I love my Alias. I used to have a lot of issues with saddles/chafing and sore knees/low power output/sore wrists until I got properly fitted in terms of seat height, seat position, and seat angle...Now I go on metric centuries without any issues at all...No chafing, numbness, etc.

I hope this is obvious, but make sure you wear NOTHING underneath your bike shorts.

Oh yeah, if ur up for it, there's always the https://www.sheldonbrown.com/real-man.html

chefisaac

kenoshi: thank you for the post and link!

cyclist2000

I've read this and I haven't figured out if you are totally new to riding or not. But I on one occassion I tilted my saddle slightly upward (someone had noted that my saddles look like they are angled with the nose too low) and I suddenly had painful riding experience I got about 6 miles in my normal 20 mile ride and headed back not knowing how I would ever make it back. A very slight adjustment can have a lot of effect. Before getting a new saddle try tweeking the angle, this may help. If your new to riding then it may just take some time to harden your butt.

I am not new to riding, I have been riding for 35 years with many miles and a yearly tour. So after the above incident I readjusted my saddle to how it felt good to me and not how it looks to someone else. In the past, I have been able to ride centuries and week long tours without much discomfort.

About the handlebar tape, all the bikes that I have assembled at the couple of shops that I worked at along time ago came with the bars wrapped.

As for Brooks, I have a Brooks Team Pro that I have gotten this past winter rode with it on my trainer and outdoors when the weather got better. I have 400+ miles on it and it doesn't feel too much different from when I got it new. Not sure if it is broken in. But it feels about the same or a bit more comfortable than some of my other saddles.

chefisaac

just got the b17 brooks. Great people at the bike shop in Philadelphia. They really spend the time with you to explain stuff.