Saddles with holes in, do they work??

Spikedhope

I've been looking at changing my lovely Fizik Arione to something like a SPECIALIZED AVATAR.....I do love the Arione, but after 200km....sometimes me nether regions are as sore as hell. So,...has anyone used saddles with holes in the middle like the Avatar??

gcaster

I have a Selle Italia Gel Flow Flite (the flite with the cut-out) and yes, I had a similar problem and now the nether regions don't come back sore!
I'd definately recommend a cut-out saddle to any guy!

Monty Dog

The only time I tried one it hurt like hell - I could feel the two hard edges of the cut out. Besides. you should be sitting on the back of the saddle, not resting your weight on your perineum - sort your saddle position and get your pelvis angle right

BikeDynamics

Hi

If you are sore, then you are moving around a lot on the saddle which means it is probably in the wrong place or at the wrong angle.

If you are numb, a saddle with a hole in it will do wonders for you.

If you are numb and sore, I'm surprised you can do 200K's

Best of luck

www.BikeDynamics.co.uk

Marko1962

Do check out the Spec Avatar if it's on your short list, I bought it because of the cut outs after getting numb bits with the saddle that came with my Focus. The Avatar works by taking your weight through your sit bones and it does this very well. In my case it was very uncomfortable after 30 miles or so and looking at the saddle profile it is quite flat on top with little padding and no discernible flex.... didn't work well for me even though its a nice looking saddle. It's in my garage if anyone wants to take it off my hands

What I bought next is ideal for me, it has gel padding, a cut out and a more rounded profile that has a degree of flex in it that suits me well, no numbness. The saddle? A sella Italia Flite Gel flow with hole...

I'm not recommending you go out and buy this saddle in particular, my bum is probably a lot different to yours, I'm just mostly warning you about the flatish profile of the Avatar and that it may not suit the mileage you put in...

maddog 2

I don't use a hole, but I do have a groove 8)

I'd never go back to something like an Arione. I've tried one and it was awful straight away. The pressure should be on your sit bones, not the soft tissue (at all). It's amazing that saddle designers took so long to realise this.

weedy1

I'm on a toupe and so far its been much better than my velo sadlle that came with the bike.

I did mess about a lot with position to try and get my pelvis angle better but in the end the saddle was too narrow for me.

So I always ended up with too much pressure on the perineum. Most of the time it wasn't sooo bad as I was getting some support but if I hit a rough bit of road It just felt nasty!

For me the edges of the cutout don't dig in at all so its nice and comfy but I will say it could do with a tad more padding.

Spikedhope

Hummm...never really thought too much about the position of my hips to be honest. The saddle is positioned dead level, and I believe the height is correct...but I have been thinking of increasing the height by about 1cm. As for moving about on the saddle...well, again not really thought about it, but then again on a long run...you kinda feel the need to move about a bit don't you?? Plus are hips, arse position changes if your gunning it, or on a hill climb...so, moving in unavoidable right?? But ultimately I do feel that I have too much weight on my perineum....so, I have gone and bought a saddle not 30 mins ago with a 'groove' !! Not a hole!! :-)

Thanks for all the feedback so far...feel free to add more!!

mattsy666

lack of core strength is also a major factor in saddle issues ... if you have a weak core your body will move up and down more as you pedal, especially if you spin a high cadence in a low gear, creating a 'bumping' effect ...

gcaster

Monty Dog wrote:

The only time I tried one it hurt like hell - I could feel the two hard edges of the cut out.

I know the SI Gel Flow Flite's hole doesn't have any hard edges around it which is great, you don't notice the hole being there at all, which ultimately is the point!

mattsy666 wrote:

lack of core strength is also a major factor in saddle issues ... if you have a weak core your body will move up and down more as you pedal, especially if you spin a high cadence in a low gear, creating a 'bumping' effect ...

Hahaa, back to doing the plank then, enjoy!

Spikedhope

Lack of core strength = meaning, do some sit ups you fat b*stard!!

mattsy666

Spikedhope wrote:

Lack of core strength = meaning, do some sit ups you fat b*stard!!

sit ups increase mainly abdominal strength ... and have very little impact on core trength .... the poster who mentioned the 'plank' had ithe right idea ...

basically best thing you can do is buy a pilates book ... low impact but highly effective ...

Spikedhope

Humm....something which I have never considered, I think I will take your advice on that and purchase a book. Thanks.

I've just come in from a 60km spin using my new Specialized Avatar...at first I wasn't going to venture out today (look away now if you don't want to know details!) but, I wanted to know why I was in so much pain this morning...downstairs. So, I took a mirror...and discovered I had managed to break the skin either side of the...erhhum.. zipper line, if you get my meaning. But, I decided to get out anyhow....and, no issues...the saddle is a joy and I didn't have an problems during the 60km. Fantastic!! Watch ebay soon for my Fizik saddle sale!!

Thanks again to everyone who has made comments, saddles with a 'groove' (not a hole!! :-) ) are the way forward!

GyatsoLa

Slightly off topic, but if you do want core strength exercises without buying a book, search 'Pilates on the fifth' on youtube, you'll find a few good examples of core exercises, and some quite fine looking ladies in tight garments.

Failing that, the 'plank', expecially with an exercise ball, is a great core exerciser.

Spikedhope

Top tip!! :-)

dennisn

BikeDynamics wrote:

Hi

If you are sore, then you are moving around a lot on the saddle which means it is probably in the wrong place or at the wrong angle.

If you are numb, a saddle with a hole in it will do wonders for you.

If you are numb and sore, I'm surprised you can do 200K's

Best of luck

www.BikeDynamics.co.uk

+1 on the moving around, wrong angle, saddle with a hole, etc.
As for 200k rides, well, I don't know too many people who aren't glad to get off ANY
saddle after distances like that. These things have never been lounge chairs. I would suggest, on long rides, that you use plenty of butt butter. Perhaps even take a small tube
with you and if you start to develope a "hot spot", well, put some more on. Sure beats
getting rubbed raw.

on-yer-bike

I had the Selle Flite Gel Flow for a month it was completely wrong for me. But I still believe a cut out is the best option and have gone back to using my toupe despite tender right sit bone. The cut out on the Flite I think was too narrow. No Fiziks have worked for me.

Spikedhope

Ok, today is a rest day...because my 'taint', or perineum is way too sore...nothing to do with the new saddle...just damage from earlier.

So, my question is - What treatment do people recommend for really sore / broken skin around the perineum area. I've got a 127km event this saturday...and I would like to enjoy it!!

graeme_s-2

I find my Fizik Arionne incredibly comfortable. I can second the earlier poster's complaint about the saddles supplied with Focus bikes. The one that came with my Variardo was absolutely crippling. Hardly any padding at all, and it actually seemed to be domed in the area where other saddles have a hole or groove. It used to make me physically gag when I moved from the tops to the drops, as certain soft areas of my body would get ground against the domed part of the saddle.

Spikedhope wrote:

So, my question is - What treatment do people recommend for really sore / broken skin around the perineum area. I've got a 127km event this saturday...and I would like to enjoy it!!

Can't comment on that exact area, but I find Sudocrem works incredibly well on those kinds of sores.

Slow1972

+1 for the SI Flite Gel flow

For me I think its a combination of the cut out and that the back end of the saddle is the right shape to support my sit bones. That's why no doubt it'll work for some and be completely worng for others. I've used the standard flite previously on mountain bikes and found them comfortable. Thought I'd try the one with the cut out on my road bike to see if it was more comfortable when I'm on the drops which seems to rotate the pelvis forward a bit and put a bit more pressure on the undercarriage, its definitely done the trick.

cannonfodder

Fizik saddles are terrible for numbness - I tried a couple then switched to Toupes which are great

Blonde

mattsy666 wrote:

lack of core strength is also a major factor in saddle issues ... if you have a weak core your body will move up and down more as you pedal, especially if you spin a high cadence in a low gear, creating a 'bumping' effect ...

So is having one leg longer than the other or simply having an undercarridge that sticks out when you sit down!

If one leg is longer than the other, even by as little as 2mm, you will tend to have set the saddle too high for the shorter leg which causes pressure on the undercarriage then you will have to rock your hips from side to side over the saddle as you pedal, creating chafing. You can remedy this by using some under-cleat shims such as LeMond Wedges, to make the effective leg lengths the same. You can also get in-shoe wedges. If the leg length difference is more than 5mm then you can use different length cranks or have a specially built up cycling shoe made.

If your male bits are numb you should try a holey saddle which should help relieve the pressure on the perenial nerve that causes the numbness. Some men stick out more than others underneath (take it from one who has seen some.....)

If your female bits are sore, a holey saddle can also help, but the placing of the hole is pretty critical and as everyone is different there is no one size fits all solution with plastic saddles. One major problem is the lack of flex to conform to individual rider anatomy. Most saddles do not have any flex at all. Those that do will flex symmetrically, but most people are not symmetrical. Even our sit bones are not symmetrical in shape, so one may dig into the saddle more than the other, as we pedal. A firm yet flexible leather "hammock" type saddle, rather than a padded, plastic-shell type saddle, could be the solution, if you still have saddle issues after trying many different plastic-shell saddles.

I use one of these:
http://www.mcmwin.com/ Check out the video clip taken from under the saddle in use (it flexes to match the individual rider's every pedal stroke). I have used it on a 600km audax ride with no soreness, prresure or chafing issues and I did not need to use any chamois cream.

keef66

I've been on the site before but never clicked on the video. Remarkable bits of film (once I'd got over the shock of thinking the the pale area was the rider's @rse rather than the underside of the saddle)

Makes me think I want one, but can't really afford one.

Blonde

They're not cheap but then neither are top end Brooks or Fizik saddles. Depends if you have any real pain or discomfort issues. Especially if you are still in pain even after all the usual bike set-up, leg length stuff has been investigated, you'll know that the saddle is one of the most important bike parts and as it ought to support nearly all your weight it's worth spending a bit to get a good one.