Newbie Saddle Soreness

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DaveQB
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Re: Newbie Saddle Soreness

Postby DaveQB » Mon Jul 28, 2014 5:17 pm

tcdev wrote:Shall do, thanks. I suspect I'm on the wider side; 3rd ride 20km+ and still not enjoying it yet... :(
I thought I was too, but found with some (rough) measuring I have thin sit bones. So several quick measures like I suggested to get an idea/ballpark number.
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tcdev
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Re: Newbie Saddle Soreness

Postby tcdev » Thu Jul 31, 2014 3:25 pm

Still yet to measure my sit bones, but I did buy a pair of knicks yesterday - wow! What a difference a chamois makes!

My last ride was dominated by backside pain - felt every crack and lump in the track. This morning it was no more than a 'discomfort'.
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Shadyone
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Re: Newbie Saddle Soreness

Postby Shadyone » Tue Oct 07, 2014 8:45 pm

Rather then start a new thread I thought it best to continue on here....

I've been riding for about a month now, starting off on a 40km Saturday morning bunch ride form the LBS and have added an extra 1 or two rides in during the week. I cant say that I have unbearable pain after 90minutes but I have plans on doing a 90km ride in 4 weeks and am concerned about my current saddle.....especially considering that for the first time last night after about 20km I felt a little cold in the 'nether region', stood up to grab a handful for a re-adjustment of the tackle and ouch! The knob was bordering on numb/painful/burning sensation. The saddle had seemed to cut off the blood supply to my old fella. So off to investigate a new saddle.

I've got 2 pairs of nicks, Netti and Bontrager which I assume aren't bottom of the range. I was wearing the Netti nicks last night which are new. I have the standard saddle on the Giant Defy which is branded on the bottom of the saddle as a Velo 1205.

I've followed the youtube instructions on how to measure my sit bones. I did the cardboard/chalk thing 4 times and got 120mm, 105mm, 112mm & 114mm. So I guess I'll do my calculations based on 112-114mm. I recall I need to add around 25mm to this to find a saddle width.

Where do I start look at actual saddles? and considering my restricted blood flow issue should I look at a saddle with a big cutout? How do I go about trying a saddle out? Most of the LBS I've been into only stock a couple of saddles and i assume i'd need to try it out for at least 90mins.
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RonK
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Newbie Saddle Soreness

Postby RonK » Tue Oct 07, 2014 9:26 pm

If you're going numb you're probably sitting on the narrow part of the saddle. Start by checking that the saddle hasn't slipped back and fix if it has - this is very common.
Otherwise try moving the saddle forward 5-10mm.
Last edited by RonK on Tue Oct 07, 2014 9:32 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Jesmol
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Re: Newbie Saddle Soreness

Postby Jesmol » Tue Oct 07, 2014 9:31 pm

Go to a specialized store and get a trial saddle.

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AKO
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Re: Newbie Saddle Soreness

Postby AKO » Wed Oct 08, 2014 10:31 am

Shadyone wrote:Rather then start a new thread I thought it best to continue on here....

I've been riding for about a month now, starting off on a 40km Saturday morning bunch ride form the LBS and have added an extra 1 or two rides in during the week. I cant say that I have unbearable pain after 90minutes but I have plans on doing a 90km ride in 4 weeks and am concerned about my current saddle.....especially considering that for the first time last night after about 20km I felt a little cold in the 'nether region', stood up to grab a handful for a re-adjustment of the tackle and ouch! The knob was bordering on numb/painful/burning sensation. The saddle had seemed to cut off the blood supply to my old fella. So off to investigate a new saddle.

I've got 2 pairs of nicks, Netti and Bontrager which I assume aren't bottom of the range. I was wearing the Netti nicks last night which are new. I have the standard saddle on the Giant Defy which is branded on the bottom of the saddle as a Velo 1205.

I've followed the youtube instructions on how to measure my sit bones. I did the cardboard/chalk thing 4 times and got 120mm, 105mm, 112mm & 114mm. So I guess I'll do my calculations based on 112-114mm. I recall I need to add around 25mm to this to find a saddle width.

Where do I start look at actual saddles? and considering my restricted blood flow issue should I look at a saddle with a big cutout? How do I go about trying a saddle out? Most of the LBS I've been into only stock a couple of saddles and i assume i'd need to try it out for at least 90mins.
My experience was similar when I first started. My flag pole and sand bags would go numb after about 30 minutes of riding. The problem disappeared totally when I switched to an SMP Dynamic. I believe it is the cutout that makes the difference. As Jesmol suggested, try a few different Specialized test saddles. I recently tried a Specialized Romin as I was getting pain on the left sit bone which I thought was related to the SMP. The Romin was a comfy saddle but my sit bone pain I have since found out is due to some sort of growth on around the sit bone area. I may purchase a Romin once I get the issue sorted.
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Shadyone
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Re: Newbie Saddle Soreness

Postby Shadyone » Wed Oct 08, 2014 7:10 pm

Thanks for the replies... new saddle here I come.

another question , if I find a comfy saddle and then buy a new bike (which I will do shortly) can I assume that the saddle will be just a comfy on the new bike?
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Re: Newbie Saddle Soreness

Postby tcdev » Wed Oct 08, 2014 7:29 pm

To just follow up on my progress... I've clocked about 650km now, in just under 3 months. Trying to ride 3 times/week, averaging 90 mins/ride. I also added a memory-foam seat cover, just because they were going cheap and I thought it couldn't hurt.

Did a 20km ride today and didn't even feel it. From memory 30km - my usual ride - results in some very mild discomfort towards the end of the ride, but I think even that is starting to dissipate. My last 50km ride was still agony for the last 10km, but that was a big ride after a week or more lay-off - probably a silly thing to do in hindsight. I expect over the next few weeks that a 30km ride won't even register on the backside discomfort scale.
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Re: Newbie Saddle Soreness

Postby Mulger bill » Wed Oct 08, 2014 8:09 pm

Shadyone wrote:Thanks for the replies... new saddle here I come.

another question , if I find a comfy saddle and then buy a new bike (which I will do shortly) can I assume that the saddle will be just a comfy on the new bike?
I'd say there's a 95% chance of this as long as you can duplicate the relative positions of the 5 contact points
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ValleyForge
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Re: Newbie Saddle Soreness

Postby ValleyForge » Thu Oct 09, 2014 1:02 pm

The Ground Effect baggies are pretty good.

Sadly though I've never had a sore peri (perineum - the bits you sit on). I blame years of high-school rowing for turning it into leather.
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cp123
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Re: Newbie Saddle Soreness

Postby cp123 » Thu Oct 09, 2014 9:26 pm

let's hope its nothing more sinister...


http://uproxx.com/sports/2014/10/accord ... f-cycling/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; heh heh

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V17L
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Re: Newbie Saddle Soreness

Postby V17L » Sat Oct 18, 2014 6:59 pm

I found steve hogg's article very informative for saddle comfort and fit.

http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/bik ... bout-smps/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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ValleyForge
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Re: Newbie Saddle Soreness

Postby ValleyForge » Mon Oct 20, 2014 5:07 pm

cp123 wrote:let's hope its nothing more sinister...


http://uproxx.com/sports/2014/10/accord ... f-cycling/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; heh heh
Complete crap description, but the nodules are well known in horse-riders, motorcycle couriers, paraplegics.... And cyclists.
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