Pain in the butt!
 

I have been riding my bicycle on and off for the past three years or so. maximum ride was probably 20 miles. I still find the stock bicycle seat that came with my bike to be painful even after 5 miles. Should I persevere and hopefully things would improve, or should I consider switching to another (softer?) seat? I also feel that I was to push myself half an inch aft. Thanks.

After 3 years your backside should be "broken in". What saddle do you have?
I've been thru several saddles over the years and have settled on this.

You should consider a different saddle, but not necessarily softer. Too soft may not provide enough support. You need to match a saddle to your sit bones. And depending on the pain, you may want to go with a cut-out or channeled saddle.

Everyone has personal preferences. Some bike shops will have a loaner program.

John

I am using the saddle that came with the TCX 2 bicycle. Here are pictures.

No. Stock saddles notoriously suck.

I've got a B17 on my Madone and its heaven on earth.

I have read that it takes many (hundreds?) of miles to break it in. Was that your experience as well?

Doesn't take that long with me, perhaps 150-200. You can get a saddle fitting at certain bike stores, and they might let you try out a couple saddles. You have to get a saddle width that fits your sit bones. I sat on a ruler and felt my sit bones a number of times to get a good idea my sit bone width. You can also sit on memory foam.
I use a Selle Italia and Specialized Toupe.
But, by far the biggest comfort came when I finally lost a lot of weight.

Early on in cycling, it seems to be a matter of getting used to being on a bike. But sometimes it is a matter of finding just the right saddle and this can take trying different ones. At one point in the early days of my cycling career I thought I would have to give up the bike. I persisted and eventually determined what my saddle should look like. These days, my saddle is comfortable but I make it a point to sit in such a way that the weight is on the sitbones. This in turn means, maintaining a straight back, that the saddle to bar reach is good, and I'm sensitive to saddle tilt. Actually the saddle is perfectly flat. Even a minute tilt changes everything.

Dear Tex:

My personal observations and road to saddle nirvana consisted of the following:

1) get very personal with a razor in your nether regions. The hair can be caught and pulled each pedal stroke which will hurt a lot. Clear that area out with a razor a couple times a week. I do it daily in the shower.

2) I purchased a brooks b-17 after reading about them here with lots of compliments. Personally, it took me about three days to break it in and I have a 10 mile one way commute. At this point in time I was getting close but still resorted to my recumbent after a couple days on the upright. Was so impressed that I purchased a second b-17 for my other upright commuter. (yeah they are expensive but a worthwhile expense compared to the comfort delivered)

3) Get a couple good pair of cycling shorts. Personally, I use the cheap (about $18 bucks) sponeed brand available from china on EBAY and they have a very thick pad but it works for me. at that price, I have a good supply such that I am in a new clean pair every day. In a pinch, I have washed the shorts out in the shower so I had a clean pair for tomorrow when I did not want to do a full load of laundry.

4) lastly, get yourself some chamis butter. this is a super slippery lubricant that eliminates chafing of the skin in contact with the saddle. The guy at the Local bike store said to put about a gallon directly on the shorts but I have found that just a small squirt applied to my skin is sufficient.

Some people say that the chamis butter eliminates the requirement to shave but this is what is working for me.

For what it is worth, I commute 10 miles to work five days a week rain or shine. I use two recumbents and two uprights for commuting so I go about a hundred miles a week. I also try and do as many errands on a bicycle as I can but sometimes you gotta use the car for groceries. I do not put the miles on that some people on this forum do but I am on a bicycle almost every day.


Regards,
Cranky

Nope. I'm comfortable on Brooks saddles straight out of the box (Champion Flyer, and B17). All this talk of having to break it in for thousands of miles is overstated. It will get even better however. It will be way better than that stock saddle that's for sure. It will at least give you enough support on your sit bones, and not wedge up in your taint.

I've ridden my bike for 16 years now (not 16 years straight--I have taken time out to sleep and stuff) and I have no idea what a pain in the butt is in having to do with riding a bike.

Is it forgiving for people whose thighs stick together like myself? Would the width cause inner thighs to chafe? Thanks.

I will check out the LBS to see whether they have that saddle loaner program although I never heard of this before. I will have to measure my sit bones as well! Thanks.

I used to get chafing on narrower saddles (Bontrager, Selle Italia, C17). But the leather on the Brooks is slick. My shorts don't hang up or chafe at all. I was led to believe that a narrow saddle is necessary on a racy road bike. But after trying out a few I finally put the B17 on my Madone, and I wished I had done it sooner. My touring bike has had a Champion Flyer on it for 10 years and has always been great.

The width is in the back of the saddle. The nose is just as narrow as any other where your legs might rub.

You will just have to try it out and see.

Cool. Many thanks for that.

I'm old and used a Brooks for a long time, to me that TCX saddle looks scary. I will say that I moved from my Brooks to a WTB Pure V mountain bike saddle on my road bike. Since it worked so well over rocks and other trail stuff it can surely handle pavement. And I like the channel.

It doesn't have to be a road bike saddle. It just has to give the right support in the right places.

A Brooks or other solid leather saddle will take 100 miles or so to break in. A well fitted foam saddle doesn't need any break in, especially since you have been riding for a while.

John

Hi John, which Brooks did you use? I am 210 lbs and I read that some saddles may not be able to support heavier riders. Not sure whether this applied to the Brooks. Is it high maintenance? Thanks.

I used the Team Pro for years and also at a time when I was well over 200lbs. I lost a lot of weight but since the saddle does not have a channel, it was not as comfortable on longer rides so I swapped it out for a mountain bike saddle.

I can't compare the comfort to a Brooks B-17, which is wider and I think most people think is also more comfortable.

John

One more thing... My prostate has enlarged some over the years. I have been diagnosed with prostate cancer, slow and very early and being monitored. I would think some of that is a factor in using a saddle with a channel.

My brother used a Selle Anatomica (RonH post above) and that is a very good saddle. You will just have to test out some and find one that works.

John

Only with leather saddles like Brooks saddles. Your saddle will never break in.


Step 1. Make sure your bicycle is set up correctly.

Step 2. Look for a decent saddle. :)

Sorry to say this it is not the saddle but the amount of time you have spent on the bike . 20 miles is not a long distance by any measure . I am sure your butts will be fine after you ride 3-4 hours /day , everyday .

No.

Not necessarily.

I was given a saddle that worked well for my father. I simply couldn't ride it because it was too narrow for my sitbones. Felt like I was being torn apart.

Another time, I tried a saddle that came with a tandem Rowan and I bought. It was supposed to be a decent saddle but I could not stand it for more than 20 km.

And I'm a long distance cyclist. :)

I use the saddle that came with my hybrid and often spend 8-10 hours on it when touring. Not sure why people insist on using roadie saddles which are so narrow they have to use padded shorts! Tradition?

Before you buy any saddle, I urge you to read this: https://www.cervelo.com/en/engineeri...f-road-saddles. Also, search the web on 'Hogg Selle SMP' for Steve Hogg's perspective on saddles - not because I agree with him (I do), but because he writes clearly so he's easy to evaluate, at least on saddles. (JMO, of course.)

You will help yourself if you can describe the type and location of your pain more specifically.

Check out the Selle Anatomica with pressure relief cutout. They're designed to be immediately comfortable. Everyone I know who has one loves it. I tried a short test ride on an acquaintance's bike and it was remarkably comfy.

Another friend loves his Brooks Imperial B17 with cutout.

My butt isn't very picky about saddles but I'm about to try something different. I'm leaning toward the Selle SMP TRK. The semi-hammock type design should minimize scooting around to find the sweet spot, yet also enables riding the nose for sprints, etc., while the curved nose should make it easier to slide back into position.

One flaw I've found with my saddles -- both are Lycra fabric over foam padding, very comparable to riding on padded bike shorts rather than wearing 'em -- is the fabric and conventional nose shape hinder emergency moves. Occasionally in traffic I've needed to slide back quickly while braking to maintain balance. The fabric and nose hinder that a bit, depending on what I'm wearing. And my hybrid's saddle is just a bit wider than I need, which also hinders sliding backward for emergency braking. So while they're comfortable, they aren't necessarily the most practical for commuting or riding in traffic.