On 2018-07-28 13:13, jbeattie wrote:
On Saturday, July 28, 2018 at 12:47:52 PM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:
On Friday I talked to a woman who rides very little because the
saddle causes her pain after a short time. Most likely this is a
combination of factors, the hardness of usual road bike saddles
plus the fact that road bikes have no suspension whatsoever and
hard tires.

MTB saddles are often a little cushier. Then there are thud-buster
type systems but that's more for hard MTB riding which she doesn't
do. Maybe there are similar systems for road bikes?

Are there recommendations what could be done without breaking the
bank and without switching to a slow beach cruiser?

Recumbent? One of those stair-master bikes? The first question is
"pain where?" It could be a million things relating to saddle
position and saddle type. A lot of times, the tractor-seat saddles
make things worse and not better. What your friend needs is to hook
up with a bike shop willing to let her try saddles and with sales
people who can make reasonable recommendations.


Yes, good point. Next time I talk to her I'll suggest that.


... My favorite local
shops have generous saddle return policies. My son -- who can buy
whatever he wants on pro deal -- bought an OTC Shimano Pro Stealth
saddle from Western Bikeworks for discounted retail, and that saddle
has a 30 day free return policy. He loves it. IMO, its an odd design
with a short nose. The moral of the story is that you don't know what
works until you try. Suspension isn't the solution -- you just end
up with a sore ass and a pogo-stick.


On my MTB which I ride with close to max allowed tire pressure I found
that a somewhat cushier WTB leather saddle increase my miles from start
to "butt hurt" to above 30 on rough trails. And it doesn't hurt that bad
so I can ride on for a while.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/