My rear is taking a beating
 

I just started cycling. I understand there is a break in period for my butt, especially since mine doesn't have much fat to begin with. That being said, I have been on a few 10+ mile rides in the past 2-3 weeks and my butt (specifically my "sit bones area") is extremely sore. I have tried to ease into it, but it just doesn't seem to be working. It is what is keeping me from riding every day, or every other day. I have proper bike shorts with the padding. I have a pretty hard seat, but I understand that softer seats would not be good for me so switching me seat is out. Any tips?

10+ miles in the past 2-3 weeks??? Not enough riding. Do more miles, ensure the saddle is properly adjusted. Plenty of sources out there on how to adjust saddles. Get to it...ride more...report back.

Judging by your avatar, your butt hurts because of Saturday's football game. Has nothing to do with the bike...:innocent::D

HTFU is a popular answer around here but there are 3 main questions that can help you find the right seat. I agree with conventional wisdom that you just need to keep riding, because it's true. BUT you can also feel better sooner on a properly fitted seat.

What's your height & weight?
What seat are you riding now?
Where specifically does it hurt? - Sit bones, between them, forward or aft?

It may be a saddle issue, but more than likely your butt is going to have an adjustment period with any saddle. When I first started not too long ago, I switched out my stock saddle for a specialized (measured my sit bones - and got the right size). It still would get sore after a rides for the next 200 miles or so. Now, my butt is the last thing to get sore on a ride. I guess I got lucky and found a saddle that worked for me farily quick. But ride more then make some adjustments....repeat.

You don't ride enough, ride more. Your butt will get used and it'll stop to hurt.

A few 10+ mile rides... maybe 70 miles total? I know around here that is not a ton but I cannot do more thanks to my butt...

Saddles are like shoes. Very individualized. A couple of weeks doing 10+ miles, 3x per week seems to have worked for me to determine if my butt works on that saddle.

So, get a bit more saddle time ("A few" is kinda vague), or start looking for a different saddle. What kind of saddle do you have now?

Tell me about it. Hurts to be a cougar fan right now...

"I understand there is a break in period for my butt"

Why not just leave it at that? ;-)

Ride 1 mile today, 2 miles tomorrow, 3 on Thursday, rest on Friday, 6 on Saturday, ride 10 miles on Sunday, and repeat on Monday. Then report back!

What kind of saddle do you have? Some butts prefer a softer more heavily padded seat and others prefer very firm saddles. Most of the saddles that come on entry level bikes are pretty bad. I have actually bruised my sit bones on a bad saddle. The poster above, though a bit dickish in his delivery, was right about spending more time in the saddle. Your body will gradually aclimate to the saddle.

arse soreness can be caused by a host of reasons.

1. too upright/poor position
2. bad saddle-arse interface (try some other saddles)
3. ride more, it takes several hundred km to acclimate an unaccustomed arse to riding
4. htfu ... and like it

Give it a few more rides, but saddles are individual. I've tried to do use saddles w/ little to no padding, but found that the Terry FLX or Selle Italia SLK work really well for me. Still race saddles, but work better for me since I have no natural padding on the rear and the tendons get inflamed w/ saddles like the Romin, Toupe, Aliante, Antares etc. I also think complete split saddles are the bomb because they move with each pedal stroke and you don't even know they are there.
Terry:
http://www.terrybicycles.com/Saddles...ens-FLX-Saddle
Selle Italia:
http://www.performancebike.com/bikes..._1032507_-1___

Here is my saddle, a Ritchey Comp:

http://www.amazon.com/Ritchey-Comp-S.../dp/B0043VQAAG

That is a 130mm saddle. Are you under 5'9" - 5'10"?

If the width is right, then the saddle is the wrong shape or too hard / thinly padded for you right now.

You can sit on a machine at a Specialized or Trek store to measure your sit bones to know your width for sure. Additionally, some LBSs have good return/exchange/demo policies for saddles because they know it is difficult to find just the right one. You will probably be MSRP, but if you don't end up with saddles that you aren't using it should be a net win.

My Butt has been sore too & I am waiting for the break in period to be over to start shopping for a new saddle. How long was the break in for you more experienced riders?

I am 6'4.

It seems quite unlikely to me, although technically possible, that a 130mm saddle is correct for your sitbones. In your first post you said it was sitbone pain but I suspect as you increase ride duration you would really feel it in the middle too, because at your size it is very likely you need a 143 or even 155mm saddle.

My previous post talked about where to get measured and hopefully to demo saddles.

You will likely do better with a 170mm saddle. A 150 at the least. Many bike shops have a bin fiull of "take-off" saddles that they will let you experiment with until you find one that works best for you. Then you'll still have to suffer a little discomfort until you get used to it.

+1. Current saddle sounds too narrow for your frame. I have a slightly used 155mm Specialized Alias available...

Please pm me with your asking price. I tried pming you but I dont have 50 posts yet...

Yeah, the saddle you are using is probably too narrow. If so, your sit bones are resting on the sides of the saddle, and are being pushed apart which is causing the pain. You really haven't ridden enough for your sit bones to be too awful sore. If you go from 0 to 100 miles they can hurt fairly bad, but after a couple weeks of low mileage your sit bones shouldn't hurt enough to prevent you from riding unless something is wrong with your saddle.

This is what I figure. I expect soreness and some pain, but not so much that it hurts the entire day and prevents me from riding. I will check out my LBS for a saddle fitting...

wait - are you sitting on your saddle? you're not supposed to put weight on it. just float over it and use it as a control point. support your weight with your feet/thighs, like riding a horse. keep your hands loose or your shoulders will hurt.

wtf?

No. Just no.

Facepalm.