Saddle-sore

big lewy

I am a fairly stocky 80kg rider of a Dawes Galaxy tourer which comes equipped with a Selle Italia XO Gel Saddle. This is fine for the daily commute to work, but on longer rides i get a lot of perineal discomfort from this saddle, which begins after as little as 10-20 miles! While not being so severe that I have to stop, I certainly limits the enjoyment of these longer rides, and so before the summer season of charity rides and sportives kicks in, I would like to get this sorted out. I have played about with my ride position to no avail and obviously wear a pair of padded cycling shorts which merely delays the onset of these symptoms.

Clearly there are many saddles out there to choose from and I thought something with an anatomic cut-out area and a bit more foam padding would be the thing - but clearly it is very difficult/impossible to give them a good test before you buy.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

Martin

Harveytile

Try the Bonty range of saddles, they give a "comfit guarantee". Basically if it's not working out in 14 days (or something like that) then you can change it for another at no cost. A few bike shops seem a bit miffed when you do ask for a change but that's bussiness and the deal so give it a go.

McBain_v1

Saddles are a very personal thing so I'm not sure - the best advice seems to be "try before you by" and make sure your shorts are up to scratch as well. All of my saddles are Selle Italia (SLK, Gel Flow etc), and yet others feel that Selle saddles are the absolute pits and swear by Fizik etc.

morrisje

I tried many different saddles as I had so much pain in my undercarriage after 30 miles. The one that fixed everything for me was the Fizik Arione. I've done a number of 100 mile rides with one and haven't even thought about sore parts.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... delID=8392

FSR_XC

Specialized saddles come in 3 widths and the good shops will be able to help with the best option / fit for you.

I believe my local Specialized Concept store have some test saddles that they will let people try out, before buying. They gave me 2 saddles when I bought my bike (same size just one more comfort, one more race orientated) for me to see which I wanted.

blorg

I'm going to come in and swear by Brooks saddles. For a Galaxy, the B17 would be the natural choice. I have one nearly a year now and while comfortable from day 1 I now no longer notice it is there. Pretty cheap for a Brooks too and the workmanship is identical to the more expensive saddles (I have a Swift and a Swallow also.)

I have used both Bontrager and Specialized BG on long distance cycles and while they are very comfortable on shorter cycles I find they get uncomfortable after around 50km or so.

blorg

big lewy wrote:

Clearly there are many saddles out there to choose from and I thought something with an anatomic cut-out area and a bit more foam padding would be the thing - but clearly it is very difficult/impossible to give them a good test before you buy.

You mention "perineal discomfort" - anatomic cut-out could certainly help with this but "more foam padding" would be the _absolute opposite_ to what you want, it will only put more pressure on the area. Is your saddle tilted nose upwards by any chance- flat or nose slightly downwards could also help (although you can get into slipping forward issues there- have to get used to balancing your weight more off the saddle and on the pedals/bars for this to work.)

Sfelt

big lewy wrote:

I am a fairly stocky 80kg rider of a Dawes Galaxy tourer which comes equipped with a Selle Italia XO Gel Saddle. This is fine for the daily commute to work, but on longer rides i get a lot of perineal discomfort from this saddle, which begins after as little as 10-20 miles! While not being so severe that I have to stop, I certainly limits the enjoyment of these longer rides, and so before the summer season of charity rides and sportives kicks in, I would like to get this sorted out. I have played about with my ride position to no avail and obviously wear a pair of padded cycling shorts which merely delays the onset of these symptoms.

Clearly there are many saddles out there to choose from and I thought something with an anatomic cut-out area and a bit more foam padding would be the thing - but clearly it is very difficult/impossible to give them a good test before you buy.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

Hi Big Lewy I top your weight by 13 kgs and also have problems. I have ended up with the fizik arione saddle and most importantly dropped my saddle height 1cm, it really made the difference, also I spend a few rotations out of the saddle every minute. Oh and dont forget the Assos Cream Ahhhhhh Bliss.

drenkrom

If by "saddle sore", you mean "sore a$$", look around for a new saddle and insist on the possibility of a swap in case of discomfort before you dish out money. Any shop that won't do this is not worth doing business with, in my opinion.

If by "saddle sore" you mean the classic definition, which is a bacterial skin rash, checking out some new chamois might help, but chamois cream is a necessary investment. Forget the upmarket ones, like Assos and Elite, as you're paying too much for packaging and a name. Udderly Good is great and cheap. If it's good enough for a milk cow's udders, it's good enough for my butt.

blorg

I meant to mention Selle An-Atomica for their anatomic cut outs on traditional leather saddles- this company started by modifying Brooks saddles but now produces their own. In response to their enormous success Brooks is trialling their own cut-out saddle, not sure if it is in production yet though (there is a thread somewhere here of people who have one, giving feedback to Mr Brooks.)

Andy140

At 89Kgs I have tried a number if saddles and found the Prolink Gelflow from Selle Italia to be the best
http://www.selleitalia.com/eng/index.html