is this saddle causing the pain in my b******s

trevtherev

This is the saddle I use on my genesis day 01







At the end of the week after commuting to and from work my b*****ks ache!!...it must be the sadde?? I have over the past few months posted a few threads re saddles and indeed tried a few ie charge spoon...but they have impressed me little. I am of the opinion that to really get to know a saddle I need to test/buy and use over at least 1 month and with that in mind i was thinking of trying the fizik arione which is on special offer at merlin, http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/?fn=produ ... egoryId=40

all the reviews and opinons on this saddle appear favourable. The problem is it is such a personal thing...all I know is that this present saddle is causing me pain/ache and i presume I need to change ( do you agree having seen the pictures?) My new bike the giant defy 1 will also do commuting/cycling duties but I will still use the genesis day 01 on many an occasion and as my b****cks ache the saddle must need replacing...

HonestAl

Ive an Arione on one of my bikes and it's fine. Couldn't be much farther from the shape of your currebt seat though!! Tricky taking advice on saddles cos your backside / nadgers are probably a bit of a different shape to whoever's dishing out the advice eh?

giant_man

Bit of an armchair you've got there Trevtherev, I think it looks comfortable enough for anyone. Maybe the pain you're experiencing is down to your position and not the actual saddle. It doesn't look worn out to me anyway.

The shape of your saddle is completely different ie it's not a 'racing' type saddle, more a leisure type, if you see what I mean. I don't know what that type of saddle feels like must admit.

You could try the Arione, you could try any other saddle, but there's no guarantee it's the saddle for you. It's the cyclist's never ending quest; to find the right saddle for your arse, and it can be frustrating. I have tried a few myself this way but am fairly happy with the Spoon on one of my bikes and the Fizik Aliante on another. How long did you try with the Spoon btw? Your recent thread was only about a week ago if I remember correctly, that means you didn't give it much chance. Perhaps you should have persevered with the Spoon, who knows?

andrewjoseph

Is the saddle tilted nose up slightly? looks to be in he pics but it's hard to tell.

what short are you using? tight fitting padded shorts will keep things in place.

The Jack

It´s important to keep your saddle absolutely straight. Otherwise it all depends on how you are built. There are no saddles that work for absolutely everyone.

100%

As everyone has said, saddles are a very personal thing.

There maybe some useful tips here though:

http://www.cptips.com/saddle.htm

neeb

Does that saddle have lots of padding? (difficult to tell from the photo). Excessive padding is NOT good for your delicate bits, as you sink into it and the padding bulges up and exerts pressure in other places... You want to get a saddle and a position so that your weight is firmly supported on your sit bones (the two bony bits in your arse) and there is very little or no pressure on the parts in front of that. You could try a saddle that is slightly higher at the back, narrower (but not so narrow that your sit bones aren't supported), and with only very thin padding if any. But as has been said saddles are personal... The fizik arione looks very uncomfortable to me, although I've never tried one and I know a lot of people get on with it very well.

Saddle position is important - if the saddle is too high up or too far back that can cause these sorts of problems. But having the saddle too low or too far forward will cause other problems....

DoubleTop

Never seen a saddle that big in my life - amazing more like a tractor seat. Not sure what a saddle that big would do to any ones balls.

andrewjoseph

DoubleTop wrote:

Never seen a saddle that big in my life - amazing more like a tractor seat. Not sure what a saddle that big would do to any ones balls.

Really?

take a look at some of the selle royal saddles, I'm sure some of these should be on 'the top shelf'!

neeb

I think there's a bit of a "fish eye" effect going on in that first photo that is making the saddle look wider than it is; wide angle lens close up....

trevtherev

i would agree....as i took the pic!

Headhuunter

Try tipping the nose of the saddle forwards a bit to alleviate pressure on the perineum and your balls. You need to be resting your weight on your "sit bones". Alternatively, I can't see the bars but you could try dropping the bars height to more evenly distribute your weight across the bars and the saddle, if your bars are too high, all your weight will be on your backside/balls. Or replace the existing bar stem with something longer.

terongi

I know we are all different shapes and sizes etc, but it might be useful for me to share my experiences with you.

I used Fizik Arione wingflex saddle for a while. Fabulously comfortable. Feels like your are gliding. Never any bum pain on long rides.

Then I got strong pains in the groin (on and off the bike). Got it checked out. Nothing serious thank God, but specialist diagnosed non-bacterial prostatitis. That means my prostate was inflamed for mechanical reasons (eg something to do with my posture, rather than a disease).

Very likely, he said, it was long term pressure on my perineum (the bit between sack and crack). Fizik Arione has a raised central section so you perch on your perineum while your sitbones and thighs glide effortlessly on the flexy wing bits.

Doctor recommended I try a saddle with a cut out middle section.

I tried a few different ones. They all stopped the gonad pain. I tried going back to the Arione - pain returned instantly.

I now have Specialized BG saddles with cut-outs on all my bikes.

Like I said, this is only my own experience. My riding mate swears by his Fizik Arione and has had no problems.