Saddle sore solutions?

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?

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

On Sat, 28 Jul 2018 12:48:03 -0700, 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?

Probably not. I think that most people that ride very much have a
whole drawer full of saddles that didn't work. My most favored saddle
is very hard but contoured. Changing to a similar saddle with more
padding and a bit less contour is far less comfortable.

Leather saddles are expensive and heavy and initially very, very,
uncomfortable but once broken (molded to your butt) very comfortable.

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. 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.

-- Jay Beattie.

jbeattie writes:

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.

And saddle height. It can be a girl thing as well.

A lot of times, the tractor-seat saddles make things
worse and not better.

+1

Some people think they are comfortable because of the
way they look, or possibly the way the alternatives
look. But IMO they aren't comfortable at all.

Suspension isn't the solution

I suppose it could be theoretically but saddle height
and type are the first things to get right.

--
underground experts exiled
http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573

Emanuel Berg wrote:
jbeattie writes:

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.

And saddle height. It can be a girl thing as well.

A lot of times, the tractor-seat saddles make things
worse and not better.

+1

Some people think they are comfortable because of the
way they look, or possibly the way the alternatives
look. But IMO they aren't comfortable at all.

Suspension isn't the solution

I suppose it could be theoretically but saddle height
and type are the first things to get right.


You need the shop to measure you for the right size saddle as well.

--
duane

Duane writes:

You need the shop to measure you for the right size
saddle as well.

Well, let's not exaggerate the complexity of this.
For commuting and everyday road biking you can go to
a mall and examine their inventory. One of them will
do for the vast majority of customers, and
aren't expensive.

People like to think everyone has a unique body!
I mean, I suppose they do in the the mathematical sense
but for practical purposes we are we are all very much
the same, otherwise for example physicians would have
a hard time if every routine fracture in a bone
suddenly had a unique solution!

Don't let this inhibit anyone from getting a comfy
saddle, of course.

BTW no one has mentioned the saddles with a hole in
the middle. Does this actually help females sit more
comfy or is it just another bogus idea to sell
merchandise? Because again the vast majority of female
riders have the same stuff as the men and this doesn't
seem to be an issue to anyone.

--
underground experts exiled
http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573

On 7/29/2018 10:39 AM, Emanuel Berg wrote:
Duane writes:

You need the shop to measure you for the right size
saddle as well.

Well, let's not exaggerate the complexity of this.
For commuting and everyday road biking you can go to
a mall and examine their inventory. One of them will
do for the vast majority of customers, and
aren't expensive.

People like to think everyone has a unique body!
I mean, I suppose they do in the the mathematical sense
but for practical purposes we are we are all very much
the same, otherwise for example physicians would have
a hard time if every routine fracture in a bone
suddenly had a unique solution!

ISTM that people do have significant anatomical differences that
influence saddle comfort. At one point a good friend sold me the very
nice saddle that came on his brand new Santana tandem because it was
terrible for him. It's still great for me, at least 15 years later.

Nobody is surprised that people have to try on shoes in order to find
ones that are comfortable. I think the same situation applies to bike
saddles. Sure, there are similarities between people's butts. But given
that you'll spend lots of time in heavy contact with the saddle, it's
not surprising to me that different saddles work for different people.
BTW no one has mentioned the saddles with a hole in
the middle. Does this actually help females sit more
comfy or is it just another bogus idea to sell
merchandise? Because again the vast majority of female
riders have the same stuff as the men and this doesn't
seem to be an issue to anyone.

Again, I think it depends on the rider. My wife seems more comfortable
with a saddle with a center hole or valley. Other female friends are
fine without it.

--
- Frank Krygowski

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/

On 7/28/2018 3:48 PM, 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?

http://bicyclinglife.com/PracticalCycling/Sore.htm


--
- Frank Krygowski

On 28/07/18 21:48, 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?

Contact points are a very personal thing and bear no relation to
cost[1], I would first make sure it is at the correct angle/height etc.
Then borrow some old saddles of someone. Everyone has a collection, and
see if any of them are more comfortable, and work from there.

Bottom line, if a 10 dollar saddle is comfy, be very happy, if a 300
dollar saddle is comfy, spunk the 300, because nothing else will be
comfy :-(


[1] I use M324s on all my bikes, Brooks B17s and one Colt, Ergo GP1s for
flat handlebars (good quality cork on the drops). Will never change
from this, because, the only way is down.