Manchester - Blackpool 60mile bike ride. What saddle isnt going to kill my ar*e

futureal33

futureal33

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Morning chaps,

I have a slight dilemma on my hands (or rather my a*se) that I have put my name down for the Manc-Blackpool 60 mile bike ride in July, and did my first training for it this weekend, of 22 miles, and have literally spent the entire rest of the weekend unable to sit down.

Still, 3 days later, I am in severe discomfort and the thought of getting back on that bike is making me want to sack the whole idea off!!

So I have been looking at saddles...

Im just wondering if anyone can recommend me something that wont destroy my bum, but will offer me (limited) comfort for around 5-6hrs worth of cycling.
What are the drawbacks to big saddles?

I have seen this - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BIG-BUM-G...sure_cycling_bikeparts_SR&hash=item4ab5d05c51

Any ideas/thoughts?

FWIW, I do have cycle shorts and they are great - but given the pain I am still in, they aren't good enough on their own!

Thanks for any help!
 
The first thing to establish is what pain you have.

Is it abrasion pain, in the form of dry/ grazed skin or even sores? If this is the case then chamois cream needs to be used in that area to help lubricate the skin, a pad is not enough. Also if this is the case then the only relief until better is to stay off the bike.

Is the pain a numb, bruised type pain? If this is the case then you will need to look at the saddle itself. Everyone has a different posterior, so what works for me probably won't work for you. Get your self to a bike shop and see if they have a 'measuring' station and/or test saddles.

I know riders that have been cycling for years and are still looking for the holy grail of a comfy saddle.

The other pain you could have is a muscular pain. Depending on how you ride you may have been engaging your glute muscles for large periods if the ride, especially when climbing. This can make sitting down painful in the days immediately after activity.

I would also be interested to know your background in cycling. Have you just thrown yourself into this and riding for 5+ hours? It takes time for your rear end to become accustomed to a saddle. The duration of exercise needs to be built up over time. It took about 9 months for me to endure 8 hours in the saddle.

Another tip I would give is to regularly stand up on the pedals. Having 30 seconds stood up every 10 mins or so helps improve blood flow and relieve pain. This also engages the quad muscles (front of thigh), giving those glutes a rest!
 
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Thanks for the reply Martyn,

The pain is of the dull/bruised variety! It feels like I have severely bruised it!!

My cycling history... well there isn't a great deal to it! I cycle to/from the pub quite regularly (to avoid driving) which is maybe 2-3 miles each way, and I did the Manc-Blackpool event last year in 6 hours, so am aiming to slightly improve that this year.

I did a 22 mile ride this weekend (which is the cause of the pain I am experiencing now) and have another 2 repetitions of this circuit this week, to prepare for the 60 mile ride in July.

I am looking at large Gel saddles on eBay, is the downside to the larger saddles purely that they are heavy?
 
I have a large Gel saddle similar to the one you linked to and although I find it comfortable for the short infrequent journeys I undertake, when I tried to extend my cycling route from the 2-3 miles up to ~10 I also experienced some bruising :lol:-

-what I found benefited me was to slowly increase my cycling range and to do repeated daily journeys gradually increasing the distance - it sounds to me that you have gone too quickly from the 2-3 mile trips up to 22 - try doing say a 6 mile ride daily then gradually increasing a mile or two to extend / see where your limit is - as said above it does take a while for the body to adapt to an extended regime.
 
I haven't cycled for many years but used to do a lot of long distance cycling. In my experience narrow saddles are actually the most comfortable but you have to get used to any saddle and the first few times out will be painful. A wide saddle will be agony on a long ride. Gel cycling shorts are a huge benefit.

The best saddle I ever used was the Brookes B17, although not a cheap option:

This Madison doesn't look too bad.
 
Go to a decent bike shop and discuss saddles. Even better find one that lets you road test them. If you have a specialised concept store near you they will do a saddle fitting. And yes, unpadded pointy saddles are generally much more confortable than the hefty padded type. ;)
 
all a wide saddle will do is push your hips out causing pain in other areas.

best bet is to pop down to your local bike shop and ask to try a few out. everyones behind is different so what works for one wont for others.

personally i found the charge spoon the best ive ever used. pretty cheap too.
 
I have a choice of 2 hybrids I use on my daily commute, both with narrow-ish saddles. One is supremely comfortable and I could probably sit on it all day, the other gets uncomfortable after about 10 miles (40 minutes). The thing is they look virtually identical and I can't pin down why they are so different to ride. I dread replacing the uncomfy one in case I end up with a worse one because looks don't seem to be an indicator of anything.

Wide saddles are horrible though, I agree on that.
 
SickAsAParrot said:
I have a choice of 2 hybrids I use on my daily commute, both with narrow-ish saddles. One is supremely comfortable and I could probably sit on it all day, the other gets uncomfortable after about 10 miles (40 minutes). The thing is they look virtually identical and I can't pin down why they are so different to ride. I dread replacing the uncomfy one in case I end up with a worse one because looks don't seem to be an indicator of anything.

Wide saddles are horrible though, I agree on that.
Click to expand...

different frame geo maybe, causing you to put weight on a slightly different area?
 
Ok, so others have already noted that wide, soft saddles are generally worse on longer rides. True.

The reasons behind this are simple. The longer you are riding the warmer both your body tissue and the saddle become. Thus making both softer and more pliable. This in turn leads to a larger contact point with the saddle, increasing the area of pressure and subsequently potential bruising and tissue damage.

This is why a hard, narrow saddles are better for any kind of distance riding. Instead of your tissue moulding into the saddle the sit bones perch on top. Personally i would class distance as 10+ miles. My saddle is quite soft and it has about 3mm of 'give' when I push my finger in to it. Anything softer than that is a no no.

It is worth testing and finding the right one for you. It is also worth spending the money on a comfortable one (if required) as it is the most important part of the bike. There is nothing worse than throwing your leg over at the start of a long ride knowing the next couple of days are going to be agony.
 
neil_g said:
different frame geo maybe, causing you to put weight on a slightly different area?
Click to expand...

Probably right, my 'summer' bike is a Scott Sub30, 'winter' is a Trek 7.3 FX disc, and the Trek has always seemed harder to ride in a way I just can't pinpoint, much harder than can be explained away by the slight increase in weight and slightly more tread on the tyres. It's got to be the riding position but I don't know what aspect of it is wrong.
 
This is the one I use and I wouldn't use anything else.

ebay 130564730623
 
I have Fizik Ariones on all my bikes. I've done tonnes of 80+mile rides of them.

But the truth is....You did your first proper ride, that's always going to hurt, you just need to get used to riding a bike and harden up your back side.

Another issue is the balance of weight it should be roughly 1/3 feet/bum/arms, when you first start riding you do a load more coasting and sitting up meaning more weight on the bum.
 
There's a lot of saddles available these days that are very comfortable and padded. When I was riding around 30 years ago I had a thin leather saddle which was really hard and not padded at all. I got used to it and after a few rides I found it quite comfy.
 
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