YungBurke

So ive been getting some serious sores whilst riding my fixed gear. I am getting them in cycling shorts, and I have never had problem with my multispeed bike. I assumed that the issue was the seat (nasty motobecane stock seat), so i swapped my seat from the road bike and got a new seat for the roadie. No luck! Im thinking the issue may just be I need to get used to my increased leg speed on the fixed gear. Has anyone else had problems?

j3ffr3y

I've never had sores, but try riding it ss, to see if the problem is with the fit of the bike due to different geometry/positioning instead of the constant pedalling.

Tomo_Ishi

sore where?

hairnet

You pedal faster on your fixed gear on the street?

kergin

Do you sweat a lot? Shower after rides?

cord13

let them heal before riding then new seat. its probably from being in the saddle all the time. once they've developed, you need to let them heal before you start riding again, otherwise they won't go away.

TheRealNicola

Sounds painful.

YungBurke

I mean its a CX bike also so its 38x16 and I like that for climbing in Atlanta, but have you never gone down a steep hill on a fixed gear? Sometimes my cadence ends up around 120-130 just "coasting" downhill so to speak. Also my legs are constantly moving which is not something I was used to.

I dont think its a geometry issue because its a more relaxed position as opposed to the road bike.

Retem

shower after ride use gold bond when not wearing bike shorts be sure to use bag balm or some other sort of salve when you are wearing bike shorts stop shaving your nether region

I prefer gold bond when I am in my regular clothes and under wear it keeps things comfortable
and I use hydrocortizone/ diaper rash cream when wearing cycling shorts and going on long rides

when you shave you nethers it also heightens the chances of a folicular infection as you have already broken down the outer layers of the skin not to mention riding can turn regular ingrown hairs into really nasty boils


just my $0.02 YMMV

hairnet

Yes, I have gone down some very steep hills and hit cadences that I never otherwise would think I would not be able to pedal. But I also always pedal on my road bike (I try to be very conscious about not coasting), I generally only coast when I have to take turns, corner, and come to a stop.

I've only had one saddle sore and that was from a crummy sitting position and saddle

bicycletothesun

If you shave your privates make sure you are applying a good amount of powder to the area. Also: DO NOT wear underwear while riding in cycling shorts. I've come across too many riders doing this. Shower immediately after a ride so that there is no sweat buildup and reapply the powder. If you have sores now it's best to let them heal before doing anymore riding.

tonski 

I'm joining the "let the sores heal before riding again" gang. I got them so bad I could hardly walk, I ended up wearing a sock around my little guy for 2 weeks before the sores went away.

hairnet

sig'd

Fugazi Dave

Bag balm, for your sack and your sores.

cyclefreaksix

Lower your seat. Sounds crazy, I know, but give it a shot. You don't have to lower it by much, say 3mm or so. Ride it for a week and see if that helps.

queerpunk

Saddle sores are evil. You're just going to have to identify what's causing the sore, and how to deal with it. I realized that one of my sets of bibs causes some, shall I say, scrunching where my left leg meets my taint. Pedaling causes friction there. If i use those bibs I apply generous amounts of chamois cream to that area (I use Chamois Buttr, because we have a bunch of it around from a sponsorship that my partner had; some people prefer specific brands. I haven't used any others).

This became necessary when I got this terrible saddle sore about a month ago. It was a hard, red lump, painful to the touch, but I raced on it, grimacing throughout (even did well, too - maybe the pain was a motivator)... this made it worse.

Boil some water, add generous amounts of Epsom Salt and some Tea Tree Oil, soak a cloth in it, and apply as a compress to the area - this stuff will fight the infection, remove some of the inflammation, and maybe pop the sore. I did, and I was good enough to go out to the track later that day and race again.

Since then, I've been using chamois cream much more often, and keeping a weather eye on my nether regions to make sure that something won't sprout up again.

Also being diligent about cleaning my bibs.

I should note that a saddle sore is different from saddle soreness, but both are painful. Recently - due to the heat, and due to riding my track bike to the track via some roads that I came to learn were torn up for re-paving - I had what I have come to call sandpaper-butt. Seriously painful chaffing, almost a damn abrasion, right on the skin of my ass. The sweat, the chamois, and the pounding from the rough road all conspired to cause me some serious pain. Once again, the Chamois Buttr was the ticket here - slather it on down there, it's like lotion, it will save your ass. Literally.

mephisticuffs

Did 60 mile ride today and was wearing cut off jeans and boxers and have a little chafing but I think thats expected. It doesn't bother me when sitting on the couch, but on a hard wood chair-FORGET IT!
It is super sensitive but no "sores" ...maybe you have anal warts....Wait this thread is just gross!
im out

beeftech

https://www.rivbike.com/article/misc/saddle_sores
A great read.
Saddle sores suck...
Try being a messenger and getting one.
Lowering the saddle a wee bit (a few mm), and getting a properly sized saddle for my sit bones helped a TON.
See if your LBS has one of those cool Specialized Body Geometry butt sizers.

Dion Rides

I get them with certain shorts and don't with others. I don't get them in my Performance brand bibs, but I do in my MTB shorts with I'm riding the fixed with them. Then again, I don't get them with those same MTB shorts when I'm wearing them on my MTB.

I believe it's a matter of not being able to get out of the seat as much with the fixed gear and coasting. On my MTB I spend half the time sitting and half the time out of the seat, so maybe that's why I'm not so affected by it on my freewheel bike.

Do you use a chamois cream? That helps me a lot.

elTwitcho

I think saddle selection can likely help a lot with this, or I've just been really lucky. I've done a lot of 300KM weeks where I don't wear bike shorts or only wear shorts for 60 of those kilometers and so far no sores. Selle San Marco Regal FTW

hairnet

cuz on a roadie you can coast and keep your panties from bunching up.

CliftonGK1

Since I do a lot of long distance (200k - 400k) I'm pretty familiar with all manners of avoiding, and treating saddle sores and chafing issues.

Since you're already wearing cycling shorts, first thing to determine is what's causing the sore.
Is it a chafe at the groin from the chamois pad rubbing at the side of the saddle?
Look into a pair of shorts with a smaller/thinner padding.
Is it at the contact point of your sit bone?
Saddle could be too high (as already mentioned.) It could just be that you need to use some chamois creme to reduce friction between you and the fabric.
Is it perineal?
Saddle angle is likely to blame, but an overly large chamois pad can contribute. Look for padding with a center channel, like the PI P.R.O. 3D/4D pad.

I find that for rides over 30 miles, especially if I'm going to be sweating a lot, chamois creme is a must. On the cheap, you can get away with using Udderly Smooth hand creme from the drugstore. It's inexpensive and reasonably thick so it isn't dissipated by a little bit of sweat. A step up in price is Chamois Butt'r, which IMO, isn't too much better for about triple the cost. An hour or two of sweating and it's pretty thinned out. Assos is the top-dog of chamois cremes, and it's a bit of getting used to since the combo of witch hazel and menthol is sort of like lighting your nards on fire and then putting them out in a bucket of liquid nitrogen. The consistency remains reasonably thick even after an hour or two of sweating.
If you're really having problems, ride for 10 or more hours at a time, or are currently nursing a saddle sore but can't keep from riding, then you might need to go for some of the more hardcore solutions.
Lantiseptic Skin Protectant. Put it on the affected area and use chamois creme on shorts as usual. Another option is Amerigel.

I've been disappointed with just about every chamois creme except Assos, but I'm not going to spend the money for a case of the stuff, so I've formulated my own long-distance chamois goop.
1 cup Udder Butter hand creme
1/2 cup Petroleum Jelly
1 Tablespoon Aloe Vera gel
10 drops Witch Hazel
5 drops Menthol essential oil

Resistant to sweating, only needs minor reapplication about every 3 hours, anti-bacterial (menthol/witch hazel) and emmoliant (aloe vera).

veganwar

Fore and aft adjustment of the saddle can also be an issue. When I switched from bullhorns to risers after a bike accident, I went from being stretched out to fairly upright and my saddle went from being nearly centered on the rails to pushed to the back of the rails. It took me a while to figure this out - baggier shorts probably caused the problem to get worse - and you just need some time out of the saddle to heal.

In addition to the recommendations already made, I strongly recommend showering after you ride and then applying shea butter to the sores. You want the good quality stuff that will spread on smooth and probably avoid the ones with perfumes in them. If you can't shower right after riding, do what you can to clean the sores. Even some clean water patted dry with a clean towel can help. Or use Witchhazel to clean if before going to bed or if it has been a few hours after you showered.

blamire

Shimagnolo

I never realized how serious a saddle sore could be until I got this story from a nurse I was riding with this year:

She was on a century with some other women, and around the 80-mile point,
one of them began complaining mightily about saddle soreness.
The rest of them kept telling her to HTFU, and they all finished the ride.
The woman wound up in the hospital with intravenous antibiotics for the infection from the sore.