seam pain
 

I've been riding a mountain bike but had a busy couple of yrs n needed motivation, and my buddies all ride road bikes so I sold my bike and went down to sunshine bike shop and got fitted for a new giant defy 3 , figured the step up from the 5 would be better. COMPONENT wise .any way first ride 10 miles then gave my tween 4 days off pain!!! Hopped back on tue pulled out another 8.92 I've got bike pants that's padded. N good padded gloves .n bike seems set right according to my bike guy .but as I was trolling thru other post a guy said that if I get seam soft tissue pain be careful n one guy said that's where ur sewed together at down there lol .I saw a biker the other day and he had a split in his seat .so as I ride more I know I'll toughen up some .but what's the benifit to that seat ........I'm 311lbs n I feel that giant wouldn't put a bad seat on a grand priced bike .much less I know it's smaller than my mountain bike was .any thoughts ???
Ps thanks in advance
Bruce a
Oh and I'm going to order me some chamois padded riding shorts

everyone has different sit bones and usually stock saddles suck. There are usually 3 width sizes and different size cut out or no cut outs. I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend talking to the shop where you got your bike and see if they have a saddle demo program. If they don't, talk to another shop. Most cost $30-60 to buy into it and the cost goes into the purchase of which ever fits you. They should have a measure device, gel pad that you sit on and it will determine your width. From there you pick n choose cutout or not and shape/looks. You can blindly pick a saddle but they cost $80-200 a pop and if it doesn't fit, you have to sell at a loss and try another.

Yah and invest in good shorts/bibs. 1 good pair is better than 2-3 cheap ones.

Totally agree with what jsigone said. I did research for a while before I bought my saddle. I get extreme pain and my bird falls asleep. I have a noseless Adamo saddle now and boy does it a make a difference. Do you homework though, don't spend blindly. I have 2 Adamo saddles, the last one I bought was over $200 on sale!!! I wouldn't be on any DF bike if I didn't have it though. Good luck, pain taint something I like.

The split, or nose less attempt to take the pressure off the precious nerves and blood supplies...

I love my Serfax RX... Can ride for hours. I hope you find a saddle that works for you.

Agreed.

Don't waste your time with this. The only company that makes such a device is Specialized and it is calibrated specifically for their saddles. In my experience, their measurements don't work terribly well for their own saddles and I would expect the results to be worse for non-Specialized saddles. Your best bet is to physically take your saddle to a shop, determine what's wrong with it, and then buy something that's noticeably different than the one causing you problems. As you suggest: it helps to work with a store that offers a saddle demo program or a liberal return policy.

I heartily agree that good shorts or bibs are a must. I disagree with the idea that you need to spend big money to get good shorts. I find that the $37/pair Falconi Deluxe bibs from Love2Pedal work great for me. When I got back into cycling, it made more sense for me to own seven pairs of Falconi's than a single pair of Assos FI.Mille bibs. Don't get me wrong: I own Assos FI.Mille bibs and they are nicer than the Falconi's... but they're not 6.75 times nicer, as the price difference would suggest!

Thanks for the replies. My seam hurts so bad .IL power thru it tho..... pants will be here wed n I'll address seat very soon. . If it keeps up

BTW .I talked to a seasoned veteran at a local eating dig and he said it should be a 3rd .3rd n a 3rd boy I thought it was push some n spin n stand a tad .I was wrong

This is not true. My Trek dealer has one that measures for all saddles ( it is not free) and they have a traditional one that is free that can be applied to any brand they have measurements on.

I sorta agree on the shorts thing although the padding does seem to last longer on the more expensive shorts before collapsing. What you want is a 6 panel pad for the most comfort.

Factory seats suck period. A seat that fits you will be the most important investment on your road bike. It is also the most difficult thing to get right. Find a bike shop (maybe yours does ) that can measure your sit bones and will let you demo seats before buying. You should expect to potentially spend 150.00 - 200.00 for the right one.

I'd address the seat before shorts. If you're getting pain or numbness, then you need a new seat. Stock seats are usually horrible, because it's the first and sometimes only thing almost everybody changes so why put a $100 seat on a bike that's just going to be swapped anyway? It's very important to have the right seat for you and everybody's right seat is different. Some people love the Brooks B17, while others absolutely hate them. I ride a Specialized Avatar 155, while a lot of people hate that seat. Even within brands, some people like certain seats over others. The Soecialized Romin is very different than the Avatar. You need to make sure you get the right size for your sit bones, then find the right seat FOR YOU.

If there's a measuring device that works reliably, I've yet to find it. Remember: every saddle maker measures their saddle widths slightly differently and nobody (other than Specialized?) really correlates saddle width with sit bone spacing. The best you can do is measure the width between your sit bones and then hold a ruler up to a locally available saddle to see if it might work. Even then you're taking a shot in the dark because things like saddle length, saddle curvature, cut-outs, edge design, etc. make almost as much difference to long-distance comfort as the width does.

6-panel is a designation applied to shorts, not pads. I own both 6- and 8-panel shorts and haven't found any major differences between them. In theory, an 8-panel design can conform to your body better but a 6-panel design has fewer seams. As long as the manufacturer uses flat-lock stitching and something other than barbed wire as thread, you probably won't have any issues with the seams. Modern fabrics stretch and recover well enough that I haven't noticed any difference in fit between 6- and 8-panel designs.

Chamois designs are all over the map and I haven't found any way to reliably predict which ones are better than others. I have a pair of $150 Castelli Endurance bibs and their high-tech chamois doesn't seem appreciably better than the chamois in my $37 Falconi Deluxe bibs. My $250/pair Assos FI.Mille bibs lack the 3D sculpting, gel inserts, and other fancy features you typically find in high-end chamois design but they're fantastic. Not 6.75X more fantastic than the Falconi's, but a nice luxury if you can afford them...

There are plenty of stock saddles and inexpensive saddles that work well. As far as I can tell, there is absolutely no correlation between saddle price and comfort! I tried a $200 Specialized Toupe, sized using the Specialized Ass-o-meter measuring device, and it started giving me saddle sores before the end of my 20-mile test-ride. Worst saddle I've ever used! At the other end of the spectrum, one of my favorite mountain bike saddles is a $40 WTB Rocket V. My general rule of thumb is that if a saddle is downright painful, then it's never going to work for you and should be replaced. If the saddle is merely uncomfortable, however, then may eventually end up working if you spend some time getting used to it. This is particularly true when you first start riding (or start riding again after a significant layout) or when you start riding a road bike for the first time.

Well today I went back to my giant shop and got my handle bars raised tilt wise 1 click .and changed my seat to a giant connect ..from my seat that came on my bike n then got it raised a tad . Giant chamois padded pants will be here this wed n got me some chamois butter. N Sunday I'll ride 15 miles so let's hope... I could tell a big difference in my seat from the second I got on it ..so I guess the ride will tell