ellaryk

I have starting cycling after years of not. I have a 1982 Raleigh Racer with a racing style seat and racing handlebars. I raised the handlebars about 6 inches so as not to have to ride bent over too much or replace the handlebars.
My issue is seat comfort. My seat has extra padding. I wear cycling pants with crotch padding and briefs that are thigh length to avoid a seam in the crotch.
Yet after 30 to 45 minutes of riding I get irritation in my left crotch. I don't know if it's due to the briefs gathering in my crotch or something else.
So I am looking for advice as to how to remedy this. Do I need to replace the seat with a standard seat? Are there special briefs I should wear?
Thanks in advance for your responses.

Iride01 

By irritation I'm thinking you are saying its rubbing your skin raw.

For me the key to preventing sores in your skin is to make sure the clothes you wear are form fitting and snug enough to move with your skin. A saddle with a lot of cushion on it tends to work against that, as when your leg moves on it while pedaling it is constantly plowing and moving a grove back and forth through the saddle cusioning.

Hair? Not the hair on your head. In your shorts! Yeah, I shave hair short down there. Since winter has gotten here, my hair has gotten thick and long and last ride it was telling me it needed to go. When long thick hair is trapped between good fitting shorts and your skin, it seems to act like hundreds of little roller bearings allowing the skin to rub against those well fitted shorts that good money was spent on. Rubbing causes sores.

Underwear? Don't wear it with bike shorts or bibbs. They just add another layer to cause wrinkles and movement against your skin that you don't want.

Sitting upright.... well that's your decision. Puts more weight on your saddle for certain. But you aren't complaining of pain in your tail bone, sit bones and other areas of your pelvic structure.... or are you? I'd think as you go to 1 and 2 hour rides that you might find that an issue. Being in an aero position isn't just about being fast in that moment. It's about saving energy for the long haul and also takes some weight off your bumm.

70sSanO

I don’t know if your saddle is almost 40 years old, or you put a new one on, either way a saddle with extra padding is not usually a good thing.

If the saddle is also from the early 80’s there are better ones out there today.

John

ellaryk

Thanks. I'm not sitting fully upright. Just less so than with the lower handlebars. That position also takes some of the weight off my arms. So far no problem with pressure on my tailbone.

ellaryk

Any saddle recommendations?

caloso

Yes, it's counterintuitive but extra padding doesn't mean a more comfortable saddle. Also, cycling shorts are not meant to be worn with underwear. The pad goes against your skin. If you have another layer in there to get bunched and sweaty, you're going to have a bad time.

Ogsarg

You didn't mention how long you've been riding but it does take some time to get your rear used to even the best saddle. I'd give it at least a month of regular riding. Having said that, padded seats and being upright generally are not good for butt comfort. A firm saddle that fits, and a good position that doesn't put so much weight on your rear will be a big help.

I would hesitate to recommend a particular saddle since what works for me may be torture for you. Some bike shops have loaner saddles that you can borrow for days or weeks. See if someone near you offers that. Nothing beats trying it on your own bike.

Iride01 

I like Selle Italia saddles and Specilalized. But if you are going to be riding a road bike like a leisure bike, I don't know what to recommend. You probably want a wide saddle with springs on the back and a seat post with a large amount of setback.

If you get to riding more and longer, you will find you get more sores on you with that type saddle though. So then you need to be going back to the narrower road bike saddles, seat post with less setback and drop your bars in the front.

I'm not making fun of you. Essentially that is what I went through when I started back riding my bike from college days again when I turned 50. I then wanted to sit upright. I tried wider saddles and they were comfortable. But very soon after I was getting into longer, harder and further rides. It required a saddle much like what the bike came with originally and ever since my bars have been dropping lower and lower..

ellaryk

Thanks for all the advice. I will try these suggestions and see what works for me.
Sitting more upright was more for my back than my butt. And I'm not fully upright. With my hands on the top of the bars I sit at about a 60 degree angle. If I drop to the lower part I'm at about a 45 degree angle. But I hear what you're saying and will keep it in mind.

70sSanO

I hate giving saddle recommendations because everyone is different, but I use a mtb saddle on all my bikes. For me it is a WTB Pure V. I road a Brooks for many years and that is a well loved saddle, after the first 100 miles... lol!

John

berner

There is a possibility that by pointing the saddle a bit left or right you may find relief. I had that problem for a while but in the last few years, it has gone away.

philbob57

Does your stem have a line marked something like 'minimum insertion'? If your stem is too high, riding the bike is unsafe. Unless you've got something like a Nitto Technomic stem, your bars probably couldn't be raised 6" without getting too high or, rather, without inserting too little of the stem into the head tube.

mack_turtle

saddles are very personal, so no one's recommendation is going to be useful here. start with getting the bike set up so it fits you "correctly," which is also quite subjective and individualistic. star by making sure the frame is the right size for your height and the bike is designed for the type of riding you're doing. if it's a dedicated road racing bike and you need to raise the handlebar by six whole inches to make it bearable, you've probably just got the wrong bike. in that case, making it fit better could be more trouble than it's worth.

what specific bike is it, what size is the frame, and how tall are you? how and where do you plan to ride it?

Vaughan51

Raising your handle bars 6" seems like a lot - you may want to check to see if there is a maximum line marked on your bars.

Check out YouTube they have a couple of easy checks to determine sit-bone width. Do one of those tests at home and you will be able to determine what you need for a saddle width. Following that you can see what is out there in the price range you want to spend. Most of the major brands (those having a large share of the bike market) will have a saddle in the price range you want to spend.

Shp4man

None of my bikes have drop bars anymore. Some of them are more aggressive than others. The most upright position one has a Selle Royal Odina on it. Not bad. It's true that you just have to experiment with different saddles, there's no magic saddle for sure.

jppe

I don’t know if you’ve ever tried a cycling cream but I can’t ride without it. They’re numerous types out there but chamois butt’r is my go to.

https://www.theproscloset.com/produc...kaAnV8EALw_wcB