Help with saddle pain
 

Okay I ended up buying a k2 astral 3.0. I really like the bike and when I road it for a test ride it felt pretty good. But now that I have ridden it daily for a little more than I week I find my saddle hurts.
The saddle is a k2 fitness/road saddle.
It is not this saddle, but it is very similar to the look and design of this saddle:

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/...slisearch=true

I am wondering if I should look at a new saddle or if I should give this one more time, or if something else might be going on.

Any help?

did you get a bike fitting? the saddle could simply be adjusted poorly. post up some photos and maybe you'll get some pointers...

Also, are you wearing cycling shorts?

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?p=6477761

How far are you riding? If much distance, are you using shorts with a chamois? Or jeans? Or what? If you already have good shorts and have been fit to the bike, it's probably time to start trying new saddles. Once you find the one you like, stick with it. Saddles are REALLY personal. One mans throne is another mans torture chamber.

They fit it, but did meantion I could stand to have the seat raised up a bit. I wear jeans to ride. Now understand that we are not talking about a rubbing or skin pain. I mean it hurts deep inside. Like on my bones area. so once I am off the bike it doesn't hurt, it feels almost like I bruised something. I don't ride far, maybe 3 to 10 miles depending.

Give this a read. As well as this.

Assuming everything is properly adjusted, you may just need to give yourself time to get used to it.

Maybe you're putting too much weight on your saddle. How do you know it was hurting? Did the saddle tell you?

On a serious note, you probably meant your ***** hurts. I may love a saddle that you hate....and you may love a saddle that I hate. There's no short cut for this. You have to find a good LBS that does exchanges. Buy one saddle, ride it for a week and see how you like it. If it's killing you, exchange it for something else. It's really trial & error.

I have a Bontrager saddle that came with my bike. I hated it to death. I personally like my Fuji saddle that came with my other bike. But once I broken in my Brooks saddle, there's no turning back. I'm sticking with my Brooks. It makes me feel like I'm sitting on the sofa while I'm on my bike.

Good job describing your pain - this is from pressure on your taint, not from chafing.

[quote=Zarich;7683783] They fit it, but did meantion I could stand to have the seat raised up a bit. I wear jeans to ride. Now understand that we are not talking about a rubbing or skin pain. I mean it hurts deep inside. Like on my bones area. so once I am off the bike it doesn't hurt, it feels almost like I bruised something. I don't ride far, maybe 3 to 10 miles depending. [/QUOTE]

I would start here. Raise your seat 1st. That's a cheap solution and will take some pressure off your sit bones.

Then, I would buy a good pair of cycling shorts with a quality chamois. If I wear jeans on the bike or even ill fitting or cheap cycling shorts, I have problems.

Next, start trying out saddles. A lot of newcomers are reluctant to spend money on a saddle or a chamois, but this is the best money you will spend on cycling. WELL worth the expense.

How high should that seat go? I thought it was pretty high to begin with which is why I told him to leave it.

Check out the "saddle" link above from MadCapsule

If you're sure that the pain is on the bones down at the base of your pelvis and not the soft area between and slightly forward then there's a few things that'll help.

First of all is since you mention it's more of a deep ache the answer is just to ride more. My own muscles around those sit bone points ached at first too and still do a little after longer rides. With time and riding they'll toughen up and become more dense in that area as your muscles both tone up and develop more muscle around those points.

Second is to not use the saddle as a place to relax. A properly sized saddle is not a nice place to rest at the best of times. If it was wide enough and soft enough to rest on then you'd find that it was in the way and too clumsy for effective riding. Try to share the weight between all three contact points, the bars, the saddle and the pedals. When "resting" while coasting along I tend to support a lot of my weight on the pedal that is down and only a little on the saddle. That'll let the blood flow around those hard contact points and ease the final post ride ache during this transition and later on longer rides.

Jeans are horrible things to ride in for more than a short errand run. The material grabs and pulls at your legs during the pedaling. This has nothing at all to do with sit bone pain but I thought I'd just jump onto the bandwagon for suggesting proper riding pants or at least switch to shorts.

Finally there are some preferences about saddles and fit. That Specialized chart is excellent for at least showing how the width relates to the person and riding style. It sure fits in with my own progress from casual upright rider on a wider and softer saddle to my current tastes where I like a mid-narrow and very firm but not stick like saddle and tend to lean forward at around a 30 to 40 degree back angle.

The saddle you linked to is certainly a serious rider style of saddle. Depending on how wide your pelvis is and your riding style as it develops you may or may not "grow into" this saddle. The lines of the saddle look pretty good from the picture but it can be hard to say. Oddly I find I prefer quite a rounded top saddle rather than one that is flat. On the flatter saddles I've found that the turn over the side feels too "sharp" on my inner thighs while a rounder shape just works far better at not putting this point load pressure on these muscles during riding. My favourite saddle of all time is the basic and terrible looking Ritchey Vector. It's not easy to find these any more so I'm glad I've managed to squirrel away 4 of them in total.

+1

I'm surprised it took so long to get this response. Nobody can just jump into biking without butt pain. It's a rite of passage.

I disagree.

Saddles are like shoes and if a comfortable one that fits properly is chosen in the first place then this "world of hurt" can be avoided. You wouldn't buy athletic shoes expecting blisters, corns and foot pain so why expect it from a saddle.

Choosing the right saddle is at least as important as tyre choice and gearing.

Well I went out and did some test rides.
I find my saddle is more comfortable if I move back on it.
But if I move back on it my arms are straight so no bend in my elbows unless I lean forward more. So now I am wondering if I should move my seat forward or if I should get in the habit of sitting back further. I can definetly feel when I sit back further that I am sitting more on my sit bones and there is less discomfort.

Thoughts?

but you can't go from being a non runner to a runner without a few blisters on the way...

I read on these forums about a 5degree down angle so I added that to my saddle and will try that out. My saddle was perfectly flat.

I wanted to update. I road home about 3 miles from work. The 5 degree angle made a HUGE difference. Now the discomfort is slightly different. First off it no longer feels bruiseish, but now feels kinda hard. I can definetly feel my sit bones. Secondly I get a little discomfort in my groin. So I am wondering if I should dip the nose even further.

Bite the bullet, go to a good bike shop and ask to test saddles for comfort. It sounds as though your current one is about as comfortable as a brick.

Having come out in the "sore butt is normal" camp, I want to say groin discomfort definitely is not. Angling the saddle down more could make that worse. A new saddle could be a good investment.

Hmm. So maybe I shouldn't have angled the nose.
Have you guys ever returned a bike? I was wondering because I have only owned this a week and a half and feel like if I am starting to have to swap out parts I got the wrong bike.

It is normal to swap out parts. No bike will come perfect for you from the factory. You can go and buy a $4,000 bike and will probably end up hating the saddle on that as well.

I never really thought about the saddle tilt; I just adjusted it until it felt optimal.
After doing a lot of reading about bike fit recently, I went out to the garage and
measured my bikes. Both the road bike with a Selle Italia Flite, and the mtn/tour
bike with the Brooks Swift, have the nose 1cm lower than the rear.

Okay so parts swapping is normal?
I moved the nose back up. It still has a minor downturn. But it is now almost flat with a minor downturn which is how the bike shop had it. The only thing the bike shop didn't do or even look at was the fore / aft. I read a bit about that and found my seat was set back about an inch to far. I didnt have that square knee thing going on at the 3 o clock mark. So I moved that forward. I also dropped the seat a little cause after reading I felt it a tad too high. I now have a slight knee bend or so. Maybe too much.. not sure. Going to ride into work tomorrow.. 9 miles and see. Hopefully no groin discomfort. Didn't get the discomfort before when my seat wasnt tilted just the bruising feeling. maybe I am rocking in my seat. Ill give it a whirl. I am gonna keep trying and if I can't get a good fit I will swap seats. I really love the bike other than that. It is fast, light and smooth for the most part.