Ouch !!!

SoreArz

Just bought myself a mountain bike to try to get myself fitter and more active, (must be a mid-life crisis !!)

Now I haven't ridden a bike for 15 years plus, as I have either been sat in the comfort of my car or on the motorbike.

I did about 10 miles yesterday, and I have got the sorest backside this side of the Mekong Delta !!!

The problem I have now is that I want to go out on the bike again, but my rear is too tender, is this common?

What can I do about it? I asked the wife to massage the area (!), but that got a swift ignoring to !!

The seat on the bike is made from concrete with Stanley knife blades for extra strength, is it worth getting a new seat?

But I don't want to spoil the look of the bike with an armchair of a seat.

Please help before my legs get longer and my body gets shorter as the seat cuts me in half

nicklouse

Mr Arz, it will take some time for your rear to remember what it is like on a saddle but do not worry it will become less uncomfortable with time.

You are using some padded shorts?

big_southern_jesse

You do have to build up time in the saddle to get used to it, and gradually it will get better until you don't notice it. Saddles do obviously vary a lot, so might be worth checking your local bike shop and trying a few different ones.

Have you got a pair of padded shorts? They're definitely the way to go as you get back into spending time on the bike!

miss notax

Padded shorts are the way forward

Thewaylander

Armchair seats aer worse,

Get some padded shorts(great help) then its a case of saddle hardening... ride and ride, I did a few rides this bank holiday weekend, and on monday when i went out, my first sit down had me howling and jumping out the saddle, after 4-5km,I was numb though and it was all good!

KonaMike

Yep padded shorts are great,you can wear them under your clothes if you dont fancy the lycra look !!

Thewaylander

I got cool fox shorts that are fairly baggy knee length look good with pads, and no lycra, use them nicely for trail riding.

tjm

If the saddle feels ok when you just sit on it but made you sore after a 10 mile ride then I'd say you were just silly doing a 10 mile ride straight off after a 15 year break.

However, if it alway felt uncomfortable then I'd be looking at other saddles. Don't take others advise on "what is a good saddle" because everyones backsides are different. Get down to a decent bike shop and try them for yourself.
One major factor is the width of your sit bones and hence the width needed on the saddle.

I've tried 4 saddles recently (including a charge spoon which come highly recommended) and found the only one I can do more than 5 miles on is my tatty old Velo saddle I got 15 years ago. All the new ones (inc the spoon) felt like they were cutting me in half.
In the end I got a bit of corrugated cardboard and sat on it on a hard surface - you can then see the dents left by your sit bones - it turns out all the new saddles I tried were too narrow for me so I need to go and try some wider ones.

Specialised dealers should have a fancy jig that allows you to measure yourself and then match that to their body geometry saddles - I've never tried this but my brother swears by his.

Toby

HixX

It doesnt take too long for you butt to toughen up, padded shorts are a Godsend even when you do get used to it.
Will you be changing your board name when it gets better?

Marjory Stewart BAxtor

I find the harder the saddle the sorer you are after a ride. if the saddle padding yields to your mussle movements you get saddle sore and friction burns and smoke coming up between your legs and a condition I like to call `boiled spunk`, so hard saddle is always good.

ride_whenever

That's odd, the harder the saddle the more comfortable i tend to find it, i seriously want one of these