How many hours do I have to spend with a sore a$$ before I decide I hate the saddle?

- new road bike rider

Usually one 100 km ride tells me all I need to know.

A 60 mile ride probably isn't going to tell you if you got a good saddle or not. You have to play around with adjustments. Even nose up/down a millimeter can make a difference. May take a few rides. Of course of you're a new rider any saddle will hurt your butt for a while.

You are a new road rider. I say you should work on the saddle for a full two weeks or so, and follow lazyass' idea re moving things around thru adjustments to see if things get better. As he pointed out, as a new rider, your butt is gonna hurt for a while. You can't escape that. And another thing, don't cheap out on riding shorts. Personally, every ass-hatchet of a saddle is tolerable to some extent with a good pair of shorts.

First and foremost can we establish you're wearing a chamois... you'd be surprise how many people I see complain about their road bike saddles and then I ask them if they've gotten specific clothing necessary for cycling and they're like durrrrrrrrrrrrrpppppp.

10 hours

+1

And, get fitted to your bike. Your saddle to body position will likely change and have an effect (one way or the other) on comfort.

Some tips:

-- make sure the saddle is wide enough for your sitbones. You need to sit on your sitbones, not on any other parts down there. But don't go too wide because that will cause extra friction.

-- don't use soft gel saddles. A harder saddle is better because you can support yourself on your sitbones rather than sinking into the gel and creating all sorts of friction.

-- don't be afraid to adjust your saddle ... tilt, fore/aft, the direction it points, etc.

-- make sure the bicycle fit is correct.

-- develop a strong core so that you can sit properly on a saddle, with good posture. You should not be putting your full weight on the saddle ... your feet can take a little bit of the weight.

-- get a good pair of cycling shorts. And don't ride in your underwear.

-- keep riding. Yes, it is going to hurt at first. You might want to do shortish ride every other day for a while, but go out for a walk, climb some stairs, work on your core, etc. on the day off the bicycle. The better your fitness, the greater the chances you'll find a comfortable saddle.

Thanks for input... I've got good shorts. I need to improve core strength. I'll "toughen" up for next 2 weeks then re-evaluate.

+1109 Listen to the Machka

First saddle? About two weeks (4-6 rides).

Saddle testing? 2-3 hrs. Adjust the saddle every 20-30 minutes, if you haven't found a reasonably good position after trying 5-6 adjustments its not gonna happen.