Rear-end killing me
 

haven't been riding very long and i love it and proud of my progress. i am riding up to 15 miles with ease. the only thing is my rear-end. after an hour or so my bottom hurts so i have to give it up. the question is is this something i have to hardened to or do i have the wrong saddles [if you think it could be the saddle please tell me how to select one] or am i just a softie or what is the problem? you guys that ride for a day at a time what is your secret? i love biking and would like to work up to maybe to fifty or sixty mile trips or even more. all suggestions will be appreciated.

That says it all - it takes me about a month in the early season to get toughened up again. Is this a new bike for you? If so - you may have a poor saddle on it. Picking a saddle is hard and there is no formula I know of - it is a lot of trial and error to find a style that works for you. I can tell you one thing - bike shorts with a wad of padding is not the answer, the right saddle adjusted properly is the answer and enough time in it to toughen up. Now I'll wait for the Brooks recommendations...

:popcorn

Without knowing about your bike and saddle, we'll be just throwing darts in the dark here...

That said, most often this is the result of a "comfort" saddle. They generally have too much cushion for riding much past 10 or 15 miles. It's like a mattress that's too soft. There's a reason why good mattresses are firm and firmer, and that same reasoning applies to saddles.

The Terry brand of saddles has a nice saddle guide on the back of the package. It helps select the right saddle based on your seating angle (down in the drops, or bolt upright on a "comfort" bike, or in between) and how you ride. And there's a 30-day "Ride it and love it" guarantee. If you can find an LBS who carries them, that can be a great learning tool.

Alternatively, Specialized dealers have a thing you sit on for sizing saddles. Yes, saddles come in sizes. Park your tush on the Sit-O-Meter and it will help you pick saddles the right width for your "sit bones".

Your backside will toughen up eventually (fairly quickly too) if you keep riding. One secret is to not ride for any long duration all at once. Many shorter rides are better than one long ride in the caboose department. Get up out of the saddle once in awhile too.

If you're sore at the start of the ride, then you need to ease up a bit and let your tissues heal. If you're getting seriously sore during the ride, then shorten your time in the saddle. You should also get off the bike every 15 - 20 mins and walk around. Good time to rehydrate and eat 1/4 of your powerbar.

A better saddle may also help. Selle Italia and Specialized make some decent products that is liked by a lot of folks. What saddle you should buy is a personal fit issue. I love my Selle San Marcos but don't like the Flite saddles. Most LBS's have an "exchange" program where you buy a saddle and ride in it once/twice. If it fits, fine. If not then you can bring it back and "exchange" it for a different one to see if that works.

Hang in there, it gets better.

Soft saddles hurt.

Yes, for me soft saddles and too much padding in my shorts hurts. For me it was a combination of hardening my bottom up, finding shorts with the right amount of padding (not much), and the right saddle (Terry Damselfly). My bottom right at my seat bones still gets a bit sore after about 35 miles, but every ride is a bit better. Good luck! And try to have fun with dialing in. Every bottom is different!

Bike shorts really did make a difference for me. Also, lifting my butt out of the saddle every 5 minutes or so helped me. I also changed my stock saddle to a Brooks B17, but that is expensive and not a cure-all for everyone.

Post a picture of your bike.

Another BIG factor is how you ride- are you very upright, or more agressive (leaned forward)?
Upright calls for wider saddles, forward calls for narrower.
And yes- you have to get your bottom used to it.

All that said- if you paln to do long rides (hours), then give serious consideration to Brooks- B67 for upright, B17 for not so upright.

AND- are you riding in padded riding shorts? If not, that's step one... and don't scrimp there-Pearl Izumi Attack shorts are our favs.

A trick to keep the pain at bay- stand up for a few pedal strokes every 15 mins or so- I shift to a taller gear, and stand and pedal for 10-20 pedal strokes- it really helps.

TITS. Time In The Saddle. Good shorts.

Get some bike shorts your butt will love you for it and if you don't want the tight spandex there are baggy MTB types that have the tight shorts sewn it or get the padded underwear from Performance the work good for me your results might vary. Seat time is one factor but getting the saddle dialed in is the biggest deal. Go to your LBS and have them help adjust it for you. True a comfort or even most stock saddles suck and a better saddle is the first logical step. WTB makes some pretty nice jobs that won't set you back an arm and a leg and yes the ever popular Brooks saddle may work for you and it may not. They are hard as a rock when new and take a bit of getting used to I have Brooks on 4 of my bikes and I didn't get the first one until I had ridden a lot of miles for a year and now I love mine. I like what one of the other posters stated about getting one from a shop that will let you return it after a couple of days if its not what you want.

I have two prostate saddles from Specialized and a wonderful old Brooks. I also wear riding shorts and set the seat nose out a 1/4 inch to many room for things.
Work with the adjustments until it feels good also raise up every few minutes.

Don't use the soft seats!!!

Don't assume the posts that advise against shorts are correct - try them. They may not be helpful to some but they are essential for many. I first used baggy shorts with fairly thin liners but soon found that high end Pearl Izumis with substantial pads made a huge difference. I will ride without them if I'm just going a few miles but 10M or more and I won't leave home without them.

Among other adjustments, take a look at your saddle angle. If the nose is too far up, there will be an "uncomfortable" sensation as you lean forward on the bars. (If your a guy, you will know). If the nose is too far down, you will constantly be sliding forward onto the narrow portion of the saddle. That will cause some discomfort. (Including sore arms from holding yourself up/pushing yourself back)

...or you could try a 'bent. I'm on a RANS F5 highracer these days, and can ride as long and hard as I want, and the only part of me that gets sore is my legs. Recovery seems to be quicker too - over three successive weekends recently, I rode a 200km brevet, a 1200km grand randonnee, and a 300km brevet, (all in the mountains) finishing solidly in the middle of the pack on each one. I seriously doubt I could've done that on my df brevet bike, much though I love it.

One word of advice - if you do decide to give 'bents a shot, go for something performance oriented: skip the Sun EZ's, most Taiwanese 'bents, trikes, and generally anything over 30lb. Nothing's more frustrating than trying to go fast on a "slug".

SP
:recum:

Welcome to the world of cycling. Next you will be moaning that you don't have the gears to get up the hills or to catch the fast riders that overtake you.;)

Only way to cure all these problems is to ride- then ride again and then ride some more.

Normal advice is to give time to allow the saddle and Butt to get used to each other---BUT-- I recently ran into a bit of butt pain on a saddle that had been previously perfect. Luckily a bit of adjustment and the saddle is back to perfect again. So- see if your LBS can adjust the saddle a bit better .

Unfortunately- the other side is that you and your saddle are not suited. Don't know the bike or the saddle so cannot make a suggestion.

Give it a while before starting on the never ending search for the perfect saddle- and on the Hills and speed- come back in a year and see how you are getting on then. Just hope the saddle doesn't take that long to fix.

Best advice so far. It's spot on, mate!:thumb:

Oh,yes. Skip the recomendations for special 'bike' clothing. If ya can't ride the bike in normal
street clothing then it's not set up for you. Bike clothing can cover up mis-adjustments.

You might want to check out this site and the links listed on it toward the end of the opening page.

http://www.epicidiot.com/sports/bicycle_saddles.htm

I Had terrible problems with numb crotch and sore crotch, tried more padded saddles, did not work, tried different racing saddles, sella, fizik arione, better but still a problem for long rides got a brooks professional and the problem was solved day one, no break in period needed. now, I have a brooks sparrow on my super bike and put my brooks professional on my stand by. the sparrow is magnificent, again no break in needed, comfortable day 1. I will never usre another saddle. brooks is the best.

Be Warned- Just as many Haters of Brooks saddles after they have bought and suffered one- and Recumbents are not the most popular choice- Even for Comfort.

I didn't recommend a bent, but for other reasons. Westsam is a relatively new cyclists and rides a Trek7200. I see hybrids as low-end starter bikes and since he's not asking yet about higher-level bikes, he's not ready for the sticker shock of going to a good 'bent.

I sure like hearing stories about saddle soreness, though. From my vague recollection, I'd get it every time I increased my daily mileage, regardless of how many dozens of new saddles I tried.