Help! Might have to give up cycling due to sore bum :-(

HebdenBiker

Right - a bit of history first. Up until last year I was a happy roadie and would ride 100 miles on my Giant TCR with Flite saddle, and hardly feel it at all on my bum.

Recently I sold my road bike and bought an MTB. I fitted my Flite saddle but within 10 miles of riding my bum was too sore to continue. I have tried several different saddles including a Rolls but with no success - it's sore bum city.

Anyway I figured maybe it is the more upright position of the MTB causing a problem. I have just been to the bike shop to try a road bike. I could tell within 30 seconds of sitting on the saddle that I would get major arse problems.

The guy said he would let me take it for a ride tomorrow if the roads are dry, so I will go back with padded shorts and my trusty Flite. However, I am not hopeful.

Guys, what can be causing the pain? Different bikes, different saddles, different adjustments, still give the same pain. The pain is on and around my "sit bones", ie the part of my body that is *supposed* to support me comfortably.

If I cannot get comfortable on any bike, with any saddle, then I'm going to have to say bye bye to cycling. This would be terrible, because I love cycling so much.

Any ideas please people?

Anonymous

Sore bum punishment for buying a daft mountain bike and leaving the dark side.

Tenkfeet

When I went from a full suspension bike to a hardtail race bike it would feel like I had spent the weekend a Michael Barrymore's house .

Got the bike fitted , lowering the saddle and making sure it was level helped . Get used to getting up on the pedals on rough ground . It took a while but my backside it now used to it and I now find it comfortable .

On a road bike a proportion of the weight goes through your hands and the position is totally different so it will take a while to get used to .

This video may help . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unkIVvjZc9Y

HebdenBiker

Ah I see. This is one of those forums. I ask a genuine question and I get an instruction to "harden the f*ck up".

Shame - I'm new to the forum and thought it might be a good place to get advice.

Percy Vera

Tenkfeet gave you good advice before he finished off with some humour.. maybe you should lighten up!

HebdenBiker

OK then. I will lighten up, harden up, anything else? :roll:

Bye all.

Infamous

There's now more weight on your delicate little bottom and less on your hands.

Sell your MTB and buy a road bike.

Tenkfeet

Chill tiger . If your backside is a sensitive no wonder its sore .

Seriously don't let a bit of ribbing scare you a way from the excellent resource this forum is .

DaSy

This sounds very much like Ischial Bursitis, which I have suffered from after a stint on a Specialized Toupe saddle caused me a world of pain.

Basically it is an inflammation of the sheath that surrounds the tendons that run over your sit bones. For me this resulted in not only a lot of pain on the sit bones, but also the inflammation can cause the tendons to pull on your knees, giving pain there, and even in the heels!

It is also called weavers bottom as weavers used to get it due to sitting on hard stools for extended periods of time.

I had to have time off the bike altogether (I should have had a few weeks, but about 7 days was all I could stand), I iced the area for 15mins, 2 or 3 times a day, and took anti-inflammatories daily for a couple of weeks (ibuprofen, diclofeneac etc).

I still have a bit of discomfort after a year or so, but I have not really had to change my training schedule (about 10 hours a week), so it is no big problem.

I found that long periods of time on my rollers to be the worst thing for causing pain, so always stand up for 5 mins every 30 mins.

Hope that helps.

Anonymous

HebdenBiker wrote:

Ah I see. This is one of those forums. I ask a genuine question and I get an instruction to "harden the f*ck up".

Shame - I'm new to the forum and thought it might be a good place to get advice.

Tongue firmly in cheel mate.... Honest.

Stellite

Maybe you should have a week or so off the bike then go try the road bike. this will let any inflamation or soreness die down otherwise you will still think its the old problem rearing its head.

i ride a fizik saddle with bib shorts and dont get a sore arse, but it did in the beginning but after a week or so i got used to it

Tenkfeet

DaSy wrote:

This sounds very much like Ischial Bursitis, which I have suffered from after a stint on a Specialized Toupe saddle caused me a world of pain.
.

Now that is very interesting . When I got the bike fit done I explained my hamstrings were really tight aswell as the bottom trouble . Won't go out without padded shorts again .

muchalls

Agree it sounds very like ischial bursitis. I was developing this on my Spec. BG saddle but a change to a Fizik has averted this before it set in. Unfortunately one established it can take weeks to settle. Rest and Ibuprofen or similar
My hardtail MTB has a WTB V Speed saddle, and a suspension post. Comfy. Unfortunately the long term cure is prevention, found in that holy grail of the perfect saddle

Here's a link to some info on this very site:-

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/q ... -bum-12777

HebdenBiker

Wow - some excellent advice on here - I hadn't heard of ischial bursitis before but it may well be what I have. So that'll be ice, hamstring stretches and anti-inflammatories then. Oh, and hardening the f*ck up

hopper1

F*ck! :shock:
I was getting numb tackle, so tried and liked a BG Toupe.
Bought the Toupe for my 'best' bike and a BG Phenom for my new winter bike, replacing two Fizik Ariones!!!
Hope I don't start developing these symptoms, now...

HebdenBiker

Hmmm. Was talking about all this with the wife last night. She reminded me of our honeymoon in 2007 when I hired a bike in Oz, and how that proved that, a couple of years ago, I could ride a strange bike and a strange saddle without any discomfort.

Since then I have done very little cycling, so I cannot put my condition down to any saddle, or from riding too much.

There are some relevant factors, though:

1. In the last two years I have done little cycling
2. As a result I have lost a lot of fitness
3. And put on a load of lard
4. I spend a lot of time sitting at my desk at home. A LOT of time.
5. I've just bought my new bike, adjusted the saddle height and ridden it home in my jeans. A lot less painful than yesterday when I sat on it.

SO - the possible solutions:

1. Set my bike up right
2. Ride regularly to increase my core fitness and lose flab
3. But don't overdo it to start with
4. Treat localised pain with ice
5. Get anti-inflammatories if I need them

and as a last resort...

6. Cortizone injections

DaSy

Hopper1 - we are all different, the Toupe may be the best thing since sliced bread for you, but for me, it was okay at first, in fact I really liked it, but after a few weeks and lots of miles, I started to get this unusual pain as HebdenBiker described above, this just got worse the more I rode. I'm very familiar with my setup, so made a few minor adjustments, but nothing made any difference.

For me this ia a problem with any saddles that put all the weight right on the sit bones, along with the lack of padding etc, it all went very wrong for me. It was a long road back from that, but Ariones saved the day (again for me, they may be the same purgatory for others), but the fact it spreads the support across a bigger area helps, along with good quality padding.

HebdenBiker, setup will make a lot of difference, saddle height and angle especially.

hopper1

DaSy, I measured my arione and the BG Toupe Team and they're both about the same, Arione being slightly longer...
I found the Toupe to be about the same regarding padding and support, but think the cut out has made a difference.
As you say, we're all different, and saddles are an ordeal for most to get right.
Time will tell.....

ut_och_cykla

More lard - more weight on arse.... harden the f... no just kidding. Could be you need a wider saddle - some guys actually get on better with a ladies sadel especially if they are broader hipped. Alos make sure teh one you have is set correctly - forward/aft . If it is too far back you might not be getting your sitbones on the broadest part of the sadel thus causing all kinds of pressure issues.
hope you find a good solution - rest the painful areaif its inflamed but don't give up....

HebdenBiker

Thanks - I will take all that on board. I know you were joking about the lard but actually I think you have a point.